Giants knocked out of first with loss to Pirates
SAN FRANCISCO -- Jung Ho Kang broke an eighth-inning tie with a two-out, two-strike solo home run, lifting the Pittsburgh Pirates to a second straight victory over the San Francisco Giants, 4-3 Tuesday night.
The loss knocked the Giants (66-53) out of first place in the National League West for the first time since May 10. The Los Angeles Dodgers (66-62), a 15-5 winner at Philadelphia, took over the top spot by a half-game.
Rookie Jameson Taillon kept the Pirates in the game with six effective innings and the Pittsburgh bullpen pitched shutout ball after that, allowing the National League wild-card hopeful to win for the fifth time in their last six games.
With the win, the Pirates (61-56) remained one game behind St. Louis (63-56) for the second wild-card spot.
The Giants, who held an eight-game lead over the Dodgers on June 27, currently hold the top wild-card spot.
Kang's homer, his 14th, came one pitch after Giants catcher Buster Posey had thrown out Andrew McCutchen trying to steal second base for the second out of the eighth inning.
The homer, Kang's third in the last four games, came off the third Giants pitcher, Derek Law (4-2).
The run allowed by Law was the first in his last 20 outings dating back to June 30.
Antonio Bastardo (1-0), Neftali Feliz and Tony Watson shut down the Giants from there, with Watson earning his sixth save in seven opportunities since taking over the closer's role from Mark Melancon, who was dealt at the trade deadline.
The Giants put runners on second and third against Watson with one out in the bottom of the ninth on an error and a double by Joe Panik. But Watson got Ahire Adrianza to pop out and Denard Span to ground to second to end it.
The Giants had tied the game at 3-3 on Hunter Pence's infield out in the last of the sixth off Taillon, scoring Posey.
Making his first start in three days, Posey had two of the Giants' eight hits, including a two-run double in the first inning.
Posey, Pence, Panik, Adrianza and Brandon Crawford all had doubles for the Giants, who totaled eight hits.
The loss was San Francisco's 20th in 29 games since the All-Star break, and four in five games to start a 10-game homestand.
Gregory Polanco drove in two of the three runs the Pirates scored off Giants starter Jeff Samardzija.
McCutchen had a triple, and Francisco Cervelli and John Jaso had doubles for the Pirates, who have won five in a row in San Francisco.
Pittsburgh improved to 21-11 against the NL West this season.
Neither starting pitcher got a decision, which was fitting in that they posted identical stat lines: six innings, six hits, three runs, one walk and five strikeouts.
Both starting pitchers settled down after shaky starts.
The Pirates scored single runs off Samardzija in the first and second innings. Francisco Cervelli and John Jaso had back-to-back doubles to produce the run in the second.
In between, the Giants took a 2-1 lead off Taillon in the first on inning-opening singles by Denard Span and Angel Pagan, and Posey's two-run double.
Neither team scored again until the sixth, when McCutchen's triple led to a tiebreaking run on Gregory Polanco's infield out.
NOTES: The game began with the Giants leading the Pirates by five games in the overall National League standings. On June 23, following a 5-3 Giants win in Pittsburgh, that margin was 12 1/2. ... The Giants took the field fully aware that the Los Angeles Dodgers were well on their way to a win at Philadelphia. ... Before the game, the Giants announced the signing of RHP Joe Nathan to a minor-league contract. Nathan, who was designated for assignment earlier this month by the Chicago Cubs, will be sent to Double-A Richmond. ... Nathan, a sixth-round draft pick in 1995, played his first four seasons with the Giants before being dealt along with Francisco Liriano and Boof Bonser to Minnesota for A.J. Pierzynski.