Pittsburgh Pirates Suffer Costly Series Loss vs Lowly Giants

The Pittsburgh Pirates suffered a very costly series loss on Wednesday afternoon

Wednesday afternoon’s loss was a tough pill for the Pittsburgh Pirates to swallow. The Pirates lost to the Giants by a score of 2-1, losing their 3 game series. This was a series loss the Pirates could not afford right now, especially against the team with the second worst record in the National League.

With the loss, the Pirates are now 50-52 overall on the year and 2-4 on their current 6 game road trip. They now find themselves 4 games out of first place in the National League Central, with the results of the Brewers and Cubs games tonight pending.

Trevor Williams started for the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday afternoon. After scuffling in the bottom of the 1st inning, he went on to turn in another strong start.

With 1 out in the bottom of the 1st inning, Joe Panik doubled off of Williams.

The Pirates would quickly tie the game.

With 1 out in the top of the 1st inning John Jaso walked. This was followed by a Francisco Cervelli base hit. Adam Frazier then hit a double to score Jaso, tying the game at 1. After Brandon Belt and Buster Posey drew back-to-back walks, the bases were loaded with just 1 out.

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Trevor Williams was then looking for a ground ball to get out of the inning and got it. However, his defense would let him down.

Brandon Crawford grounded out to shortstop, but an iffy at best throw by Jordy Mercer became tough for Adam Frazier to corral at second base. Due to this, any chance the Pirates had of turning a double play was eliminated and the Giants led 1-0.

After Jordy Mercer was intentionally walked, Trevor Williams stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and just 1 out. Williams hit a chopper that San Francisco starting pitcher made a fantastic barehanded play on to retire Cervelli at the plate. Starling Marte then popped out to end the inning.

After the top of the 2nd inning, both Williams and Samardzija would cruise the rest of the afternoon.

Trevor Williams would go on to pitch 6 innings for the Pirates, allowing just the 1 run on 5 hits, 3 walks (including an intentional walk), and 2 strikeouts. Jeff Samardzija was even better for the Giants, holding the Pirates to 1 run while striking out 8 in 7 innings of work. Samardzija’s 2nd inning defense also cost the Pirates at least one run.

The Pittsburgh Pirates would get burnt by bad defense once again in the bottom of the 7th inning.

Tony Watson allowed a double to start the inning, but after a sacrifice bunt and a ground out he was an out away of wiggling out of the jam. Watson would do his job by inducing a fly ball from Brandon Belt, however, left fielder Starling Marte lost the ball in the sun allowing it to drop. This gave the Giants a 2-1 lead.

After Juan Nicasio pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the 8th inning for the Pirates, the Giants called upon Sam Dyson to pitch the top of the 9th. Dyson would retire the Pirates in order, ending the game in a San Francisco victory.

The biggest reason the Pirates lost on Wednesday afternoon was due to poor defense. This is what made the loss so frustrating. If the Pirates want to continue to contend for the National League Central pennant, they can not afford to be losing series against teams like the Giants.

Losing this series to the Giants is very disappointing. However, the Pittsburgh Pirates have been down much worse than this at points this season and bounced back. It is now time to get ready to bounce back once again.

Next: Trade Target: Pat Neshek

After a day off on Thursday, the Pirates travel to Petco Park for a weekend series against the lowly San Diego Padres. This series is an absolute must win for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Game 1 is scheduled for 10:10 in the East on Friday night. Ivan Nova is scheduled to start for the Pirates, while the Padres plan to go with Dinelson Lamet.

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