Pirates 8, Giants 2
Gerrit Cole dazzled in his major-league debut, carrying a shutout into the seventh inning and driving in two runs as host Pittsburgh beat San Francisco.
Cole (1-0), the top overall pick in the 2011 draft, allowed two runs on seven hits with no walks and two strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings. He mixed a high-90s fastball with a solid breaking ball, and added a two-run single to right-center in his first major-league at-bat in the second inning.
San Francisco starter Tim Lincecum (4-6) allowed four runs (two earned) on seven hits in 4 2/3 innings. Pedro Alvarez went 3-for-3 with a two-run homer and Starling Marte added a solo shot for Pittsburgh, which has won 12 of its past 15 games at PNC Park.
Andrew McCutchen scored in the fifth when Hunter Pence played Garrett Jones’ single into a two-base error and Alvarez drove home Jones on an infield single. Marte’s homer with two outs in the sixth staked Pittsburgh to a 5-0 advantage.
San Francisco scored twice in the seventh on Tony Abreu’s pinch-hit double and Brett Pill’s groundout. But reliever Vin Mazzaro induced an inning-ending fielder’s choice from Buster Posey, and Alvarez’s blast to deep right-center capped a three-run bottom of the seventh and made it 8-2.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Cole, who went 5-3 with a 2.91 ERA at Triple-A Indianapolis, threw 59 of his 81 pitches for strikes. … Giants 2B Marco Scutaro left the game after being hit in the hand with a pitch in the seventh. ... San Francisco reliever George Kontos and manager Bruce Bochy were
ejected in the bottom of the eighth. Kontos, who had been warned by
home-plate umpire Wally Bell after nearly hitting Marte, plunked McCutchen two batters later.