The San Francisco Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-2, to take the series two games to one over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Once again it was a lack of clutch hitting that did the Pirates in.
Pittsburgh drew first blood at PNC Park when Liover Peguero and Tommy Pham opened the bottom of the first inning with back-to-back walks off Robbie Ray, and Nick Gonzales followed with a two-out RBI single that brought Peguero home for a 1–0 lead. San Francisco answered in the top of the fifth, as Jerar Encarnacion belted a 442-foot solo homer to even the score at 1–1. The Pirates reclaimed the advantage later in that frame when Andrew Heaney induced a sacrifice fly from Tommy Pham, scoring Isiah Kiner-Falefa and giving Pittsburgh a 2–1 edge.
The deadlock held until the top of the eighth, when Giants third baseman Matt Chapman lofted a sacrifice fly to left field, plating Patrick Bailey and knotting the game at 2–2.
In the ninth, San Francisco turned momentum into runs. Jung Hoo Lee led off with a double down the right-field line, and pinch-hitter Dominic Smith followed with a two-out double to bring Lee home. Patrick Bailey then added an insurance run with an RBI single, and Randy Rodríguez closed out the contest with a perfect ninth inning for his third save.
Pittsburgh’s lineup was held to just two runs, stranding eight runners in scoring position and extending a season-long offensive slump that ranks them among the National League's poorest teams in scoring runs and hitting with runners in scoring position.
On Thursday, the Pirates will send right-hander Paul Skenes (6–8, 2.02 ERA) to the mound against Cincinnati’s Brady Singer (9–8, 4.36 ERA) to open a four-game series at PNC Park.
(photo courtesy of MLB.com)