Pittsburgh Pirates overcome errors in 5-2 win over San Francisco Giants

The Pittsburgh Pirates attacked Ryan Vogelsong early on their way to a 5-2 win over the San Francisco Giants Sunday night. The Pirates scored three runs in the first inning and Francisco Liriano gave up two runs (both unearned) in his ninth win of the year. Pittsburgh overcame three errors on their way to the 74th win of the season for the organization. The Bucs will be three and a half games back of the St. Louis Cardinals entering play on Monday.

Vogelsong got himself into trouble right away in the first inning when the bases were loaded and he walked Jung Ho Kang to give the rookie an easy RBI. Neil Walker followed with a single into right field to score Andrew McCutchen. In the next at bat Pedro Alvarez hit a sacrifice fly to left field to bring in Aramis Ramirez.

Liriano pitched around the bases being loaded in the second inning and got out of it unscathed. In their half of the inning the Pirates had a runner in scoring position after Gregory Polanco‘s triple, but none of his teammates were able to knock him in. The issue of leaving runners on base continued in the third inning when Liriano struck out with the bases loaded.

The defense really fell apart in the fifth inning. First a ball dropped in right field and Walker committed a throwing error which allowed Matt Duffy to move to third. On the very next play Alvarez could not catch Ramirez’s throw and the Giants got their first run of the game.

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In the top of the sixth Alvarez committed his second error of the game and 18th of the season when he let the ball get by him and Gregor Blanco made it to second. Juan Perez‘s single knocked Blanco in and the Giants were within one run. Liriano’s night came to an end and Clint Hurdle brought in Arquimedes Caminero. He induced a double play which the Giants challenged but ultimately lost to end the inning.

McCutchen gave the Pirates a two run lead when he hit his 19th home run of the season to center field in the sixth inning. The top of the seventh saw Jordy Mercer make his return to the field with a throw to first to record the first out of the inning. Brandon Crawford hit a ball to the area affectionately known as the North Side Notch that fortunately (for the Pirates) bounced into the stands and resulted in the runners staying at second and third.

Alvarez connected for his 20th home run of the season to give the Pirates a three run lead and from there the bullpen continued to keep San Francisco from scoring. Joakim Soria and Tony Watson both pitched clean innings before Mark Melancon came in and earned his MLB leading 39th save of the season.

What Stood Out

The Pirates were able to win on Sunday in spite of the three errors in the field. Alvarez continues to be a huge liability at first base, which is becoming more concerning as the stretch run continues. Unless something drastic is done by management, fans will just have to hold their breath every time a fellow infielder throws a ball to him. Or a ground is hit directly to him.

But he did hit a home run! He still provides that great power when he gets a hold of one. McCutchen’s home run and RBI total continues to climb and 100 RBIs is not out of reach at this point. Kang added another RBI and will most definitely see the majority of the playing time moving forward.

What’s Next

The Pirates travel to Miami for a four game series against the Marlins that begins on Monday. J.A. Happ will take the ball for Pittsburgh and will look to earn his second win in a Bucco uniform. He went six innings his last time out and gave up no runs on two while striking out three. Happ will face Tom Koehler, who has been held winless since his start on July 23rd in San Diego. In his last start Koehler was pulled after four and one third innings and surrender seven runs to the Milwaukee Brewers in the process.

Next: A Review of the Pittsburgh Pirates Season Since the Halfway Mark