Giants 6, Pirates 4
PITTSBURGH -- Marlon Byrd had three hits, including a home run, in his Giants' debut and Madison Bumgarner won his 15th game and hit his fifth homer of the season as San Francisco beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-4 on Friday night.
Bryd started in right field a night after being acquired from the Cincinnati Reds and hit a two-run home run in his first at-bat during a three-run first inning. He also doubled while going 3-for-5 after going just 5-for-33 in his last 10 games with the Reds.
Bumgarner (15-6) allowed three runs and six hits in 6 1/3 innings with six strikeouts and one walk in tying Chicago Cubs right-hander Jake Arrieta for the National League lead in wins.
The left-hander also hit a two-run homer in the second inning while winning his fourth consecutive start. Bumgarner has the most home runs in a season by a major league pitcher since Carlos Zambrano hit six for the Chicago Cubs in 2006.
The Giants' six runs were as many as they scored in their previous four games combined, losing three of them.
Left fielder Nori Aoki also had three of the Giants' 14 hits. First baseman Brandon Belt and center fielder Gregor Blanco added two hits each.
Closer Santiago Casilla pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his 30th save.
That came after the Pirates cut the lead to 6-4 on pinch hitter Neil Walker's sacrifice fly in the seventh and third baseman Aramis Ramirez's single in the eight that scored center fielder Andrew McCutchen, who had doubled.
San Francisco (66-56) entered the night trailing the Los Angeles Dodgers by 2 1/2 games in the National League Central and remained 4 1/2 games behind the Chicago Cubs for the second NL wild card.
Pittsburgh (72-48) lost for the just the second time in nine games overall and the fifth time in its last 23 home game as its lead in the NL wild card race over the Cubs sliced to three games.
Pirates left-hander Jeff Locke (6-8) was tagged for six runs and 11 hits in five innings. He has failed to pitch at least six innings in any of his last six starts, going 1-2 with a 6.39 ERA in that span.
McCutchen, first baseman Michael Morse and right fielder Sean Rodriguez had two hits apiece for the Pirates. Left fielder Starling Marte extended his hitting streak to six games.
The Giants broke to a 5-2 lead after two innings by scoring three runs in the first and two in the second.
Catcher Buster Posey opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly, and Byrd followed with his two-run homer run to make it 3-0.
In the second, Gregor Blanco doubled and scored on Bumgarner's home run, increasing the Giants' lead to 5-1.
The Pirates scored single runs in each of the first two innings. Rookie shortstop Jung Ho Kang hit an RBI single in the first, and Marte brought home a run in the second on a fielder's choice grounder.
Belt's RBI double in the fourth pushed the Giants' lead to 6-2.
NOTES: San Francisco will activate RHP Mike Leake (0-1, 2.84 ERA) from the 15-day disabled list Saturday afternoon and start him against Pittsburgh RHP Gerrit Cole (14-7, 2.61 ERA) in the third game of the four-game series. Leake went on the disabled list Aug. 3 with a strained left hamstring after making only one start for the Giants following his acquisition from Cincinnati. ... OF Marlon Byrd reported to the Giants a day after being acquired from the Reds and started in right field, batting fifth. RHP Chris Heston was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento. The Giants want to rest the rookie, who has pitched 145 2/3 innings while going 11-7 with a 3.34 ERA in 24 starts, including a no-hitter against the Mets on June 9 at New York. ... Pittsburgh INF/OF Josh Harrison was activated from the 15-day DL and started at second base after being out since July 6 with a torn ligament in his left thumb that required surgery. RHP Josh Wall was designated for assignment.