After a disappointing rain-shortened 3-1 loss on Saturday the Giants bounced back this afternoon to edge the Pirates 3-2 and snap their four-game skid. Dereck Rodriguez allowed four hits in his 5-2/3 but one of them was a two-run homer from Josh Bell that put the Bucs up 2-0 in the 4th inning. Buster Posey responded in the very next frame with a three-run blast to straightaway center field off Chris Archer to give the Giants the lead. Reyes Moronta and Tony Watson held on through the 8th and turned it over to Will Smith in the 9th. He walked catcher Francisco Cervelli with one out and then induced a perfect double-play grounder from Jung Ho Kang to Brandon Crawford who, shockingly, bobbled it and only got the lead runner. Former Giants farmhand Brian Reynolds (part of the McCutchen deal) roped a double into the right field corner that looked like it would tie the game. But Steven Duggar and Joe Panik teamed up to get the ball to Buster who made the final putout on Kang trying to score from first and the Giants left town with a win. It was a little close for comfort but I think we'll take it. The Giants were 31-50 (.383) on the road last season, this year they are 4-9 (.308). Let's hope they pick up the pace.
Jeff Samardzija goes Tuesday in Toronto at 4:07 PDT.
--M.C.
p.s. D-Rod led off the 5th with a single and Duggar's bunt single put the two runners on that Buster brought home with his homer. Posey also doubled in the 3rd inning.
4 comments:
AmyG tweeted that this was Buster's first-ever HR vs. Pittsburgh which now gives him at least one bomb against every NL team.
Every time Crawford makes a rare error, or even a minor misplay, the team seems to fall apart. At least this time they immediately recovered. I am awaiting a nice long winning streak for the giants. The whole team slumped at one time, it is time for the entire team to get hot at once.
I did not realize how long Buster had been without a homerun. You could sure feel his joy when he returned to the dugout. This was a very exciting game, as you say too close for comfort.
Looking forward to seeing how Pillar reacts to his return to Toronto.
Life is good. Life is BETTER when the Giants win!
Post a Comment