Pittsburgh Pirates Blown Out in Game 2 in San Francisco

The Pittsburgh Pirates fell back below .500 on Tuesday night

After trouncing the San Francisco Giants by a 11-3 score on Monday night, the Pittsburgh Pirates were destroyed by the Giants on Tuesday night. With the loss, the Pirates are now 50-51 this season. This puts them 3.5 games out of first place in the National League Central.

Poor pitching, awful defense, and lack of offense resulted in Tuesday night’s game being one of the worst of the season for the Pirates. After Tuesday night’s disaster, the Pirates are now 2-3 on their current 9 game road trip. They are also just 1-3 against the lowly Giants this season.

The San Francisco Giants would grab a lead in the bottom of the 2nd inning.

Buster Posey and Brandon Crawford hit back-to-back singles to start the inning. Then, Hunter Pence grounded out to Pirate first baseman Josh Bell. Unfortunately, Bell’s throw to second base would go awry allowing Crawford and Pence to both be safe and Posey to score. This made it 1-0 Giants.

Then with 1 out and runners on second and third, Gorkys Hernandez grounded out to bring home Crawford. This extended the Giant lead to 2-0. With the way Madison Bumgarner pitched on Tuesday night, 2 runs would be plenty for the Giants.

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The Pirates would threaten to tie the game in the top of the 3rd inning but came up short.

With 1 out, Josh Harrison reached on an Eduardo Nunez error. David Freese then hit a 2 out double, unfortunately, due to a perfect bounce off the wall to Hunter Pence Harrison had to be held at third base on the play. However, Josh Bell would fly out to right field to end the inning.

Denard Span singled to start the bottom of the 3rd inning, and this was followed by Jameson Taillon hitting Eduardo Nunez with a pitch. Then with 1 out, Span and Nunez executed a double steal to put runners on second and third with just 1 out.

Buster Posey then hit a double to right field to score Span and make it 3-0 Giants. This was ball that right fielder Jose Osuna played incredibly poorly, and it led to the Giants still having men on second and third with 1 out.

Joe Panik then ripped a bases clearing triple with 2 outs to make the score 6-0 Giants. At this point, the rout was on.

Jameson Taillon’s miserable night and the Pirates’ poor defense continued in the bottom of the 4th inning. After allowing 4 straight hits to start the inning, a misplay by Josh Bell, and multiple hiccups from Jose Osuna the Giants led 9-0 and Taillon’s night was, mercifully, over.

In the worst start of his Major League career, Jameson Taillon allowed 10 runs on 9 hits, a walk, and a strikeout in 3+ innings pitched.

Adam Frazier recorded a pinch-hit single to start the top of the 5th inning. Then with 1 out, Josh Harrison collected his second base hit of the night. David Freese then collected a 2-out RBI to score Frazier and get the Pirates on the board, cutting the Giants’ lead to 10-1.

Following Jameson Taillon’s disastrous start, Clint Hurdle looked to Steven Brault to give the Pirates innings. To his credit, Brault worked around some control issues and hard contact allowed to give the Pirates length. In 3 scoreless innings pitched Brault allowe 2 runs, he walked a batter, and he struck out a pair.

Steven Brault also helped the Pirates almost plate a run in the top of the 7th. After Adam Frazier doubled to start the inning, Brault delivered a 1-out seeing eye single to put runners on the corners. After John Jaso walked to load the bases, David Freese would hit into an inning ending 6-4-3 double play.

The Pirates were able to cut the Giants lead to 10-2 in the top of the 8th inning. Singles by Josh Bell, Jose Osuna, and Max Moroff loaded the bases. Then with 1 out, Adam Frazier hit a sacrifice fly to plate Bell. After not starting the game, Frazier had a strong night going 2-for-2 with a double and a sacrifice fly.

Starling Marte would then deliver a bloop single to center field. This scored Osuna and cut the Giant lead to 10-3.

Wade LeBlanc pitched the bottom of the 8th inning for the Pirates. With 2 outs he would allow back-to-back doubles to Brandon Crawford and Hunter Pence. This continued LeBlanc’s recent struggles, and extended the Giants’ lead to 11-3.

Tuesday night was one of the worst games the Pirates have played in quite awhile. The pitching was bad, the offense did nothing, and the defense was poor as well. All of this resulted in a blowout 11-3 loss.

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The rubber match of this series is scheduled for 3:45 Eastern Time on Wednesday afternoon. Trevor Williams will start for the Pirates, while the Giants counter with Jeff Samardzija. This is an important game for the Pirates, who can not afford a series loss against the second worst team in the National League right now.

Wednesday afternoon’s game is a must win for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

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