Pirates rally to complete sweep of Giants
SAN FRANCISCO -- Andrew McCutchen capped a six-run fifth inning with a two-run home run Wednesday afternoon, sending the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 6-5 victory over the San Francisco Giants and a sweep of their three-game series.
A second sweep in San Francisco in the last two seasons allowed the Pirates (62-56) to move within three games of the Giants (66-54) in the National League wild-card race.
The Pirates trailed the Giants by 12 1/2 games on June 23.
Giants starter Matt Cain had allowed only one baserunner -- a single by opposing pitcher Ivan Nova -- through four innings before imploding in the fifth.
Cain hit David Freese with a pitch to open the fifth, then issued consecutive walks to John Jaso, Jordy Mercer and Eric Fryer to force in a run.
Pinch-hitter Matt Joyce followed with a two-run single to get Pittsburgh within 4-3, and the Pirates tied the game on Josh Harrison's sacrifice fly, the inning's first out.
After Cain got Starling Marte to fly to left field, McCutchen jumped on the first pitch he saw and crushed his 17th homer of the season, putting the Pirates ahead for good at 6-4.
Jeff Locke, Juan Nicasio (9-6), Felipe Rivero and Tony Watson combined to hold the Giants to one run over the final five innings for the Pirates, who completed a six-game California swing with a 5-1 mark.
For the second game in a row, Watson pitched an adventurous ninth, loading the bases on a walk and two hits with no outs while protecting a 6-4 lead.
But he got Buster Posey to ground into a double play, scoring Eduardo Nunez, before inducing Brandon Crawford to fly meekly to center field to secure his seventh save.
Pittsburgh finished the NL West portion of its schedule with a 22-11 record. It went 27-6 against Western clubs last season.
The series sweep was the Pirates' fifth of the year, their third on the road.
he Giants, who lost their fourth straight and fifth in six games to open a 10-game homestand, jumped on Nova for a pair of two-run innings in the first and third.
Crawford did most of the damage, doubling in the second run of the first inning before smacking a two-run triple in the third.
Angel Pagan and Posey scored two runs apiece in the early uprisings.
Cain (4-8), who was pulled immediately following McCutchen's homer, allowed only three hits in his 4 2/3 innings. But he was hurt by three walks and a hit batsman, all of which occurred in the fateful fifth.
Cain threw 37 of his 89 pitches in the fifth inning.
The Pirates finished with just seven hits. Jaso and Josh Harrison had doubles.
Nova allowed four runs on six hits in his four innings. He struck out five in his third start as a Pirate, all of which Pittsburgh has won.
Posey and Pagan had three hits apiece, and Crawford added two for the Giants, who out-hit the Pirates 10-7.
The Giants, who fell to 9-21 since the All-Star break, were swept for the fifth time this season.
NOTES: On his team's first day in second place since May 10, Giants manager Bruce Bochy met with several players individually or in small groups before Wednesday's game. ... Bochy disclosed before the game that he's considering skipping RHP Matt Cain's turn in the rotation next week so that the Giants can align their top three pitchers -- LHP Madison Bumgarner, RHP Johnny Cueto and LHP Matt Moore -- to face the Los Angeles Dodgers in their series that begins on Tuesday. The Giants have a day off Monday, affording Bochy the luxury of potentially adjusting his rotation. ... Pirates RHP Tyler Glasnow (sore right shoulder) reported no discomfort after throwing a bullpen session on Tuesday. He already is eligible to be reinstated from the disabled list. A decision whether to send him to the minors for an injury-rehab start has not been made. ... In the wake of Tuesday's ninth-inning miscommunication that saw LHP Tony Watson begin an intentional-walk process to Giants INF Ehire Adrianza without the manager's consent, the Pirates' Clint Hurdle reported Wednesday he's created a new hand signal to relay that sign to his catcher. Hurdle blamed crowd noise for Tuesday's mishap.