Musgrove sharp, Stallings homers as Pirates top Giants 4-2
By GIDEON RUBIN Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Joe Musgrove pitched five shutout innings and hit a triple, Jacob Stallings homered and the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the San Francisco Giants 4-2 on Thursday.
The Pirates took three of four in the series, and have won 14 of their last 20 games in San Francisco dating to 2014.
Evan Longoria homered for the Giants, who’ve lost four of five. San Francisco has dropped nine of its last 11 home games and is 31-41 at Oracle Park this season.
Musgrove (10-12) struck out seven, gave up four hits and walked none.
Pirates closer Felipe Vázquez worked around a first-and-third, no-outs situation in the ninth for his 28th save in 31 attempts.
Joey Rickard drew a leadoff walk to start the ninth and Donovan Solano followed with a single, but Vázquez struck out Corban Joseph and Mike Yastrzemski, and then got Buster Posey to ground out.
José Osuna doubled in a run in the top of the first, and Cole Tucker tripled and scored on Kevin Kramer’s sacrifice fly to give Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead in the fourth.
Musgrove tripled leading off the fifth and scored on Adam Frazier’s single to make it 3-0.
Longoria hit a two-run homer off reliever Yacksel Ríos — his 19th — in the Giants sixth.
Stallings hit his sixth homer and second of the series leading off the seventh against starter Jeff Samardzija (10-12).
TRIPLES ALLEY
Musgrove’s triple was the first by a Pirates pitcher since May 29, 2010, when Brian Burres did it.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Pirates: CF Starling Marte was out of the lineup for a fourth straight game with a left wrist sprain he suffered making sliding catch on Sunday against St. Louis.
Giants: Manager Bruce Bochy moved up RHP Johnny Cueto’s next scheduled start two days to Sunday, the finale of a three-game series against Miami. The two-time All-Star, who pitched five shutout innings in his first game back from Tommy John surgery on Tuesday, had been scheduled to make his next start on Sept. 17 in Boston. . LHP Will Smith (back inflammation) will play catch on Friday. Bochy said his All-Star closer could be back on the mound as soon as this weekend. . OF Alex Dickerson (right oblique injury) took 40 swings on Wednesday and planned to do the same on Thursday. He’ll hit against a machine on Friday and could pinch hit over the weekend, Bochy said. . OF Jaylin Davis left the game for a pinch runner after being struck by a pitch in from Ríos in the sixth.
UP NEXT
Pirates: LHP Steven Brault (4-4, 4.13 ERA) will face Cubs left-hander Jon Lester on Friday in Chicago. Brault is 0-1 with a 6.31 ERA in 13 career appearances (four starts) against the Cubs.
Giants: RHP Tyler Beede (4-9, 5-33) will pitch Friday’s series open against Miami. Beede ended a streak of nine winless starts in his most recent outing on Sept. 7, when he pitched five innings of four-hit ball in a 1-0 victory over the Dodgers.
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Pirates take fight to Giants, Vázquez closes out 27th save
By JANIE McCAULEY AP Baseball Writer
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Through a long, losing season, the Pittsburgh Pirates have learned to celebrate each other for even the small accomplishments and try to push forward from the times of turmoil — like this week’s embarrassing clubhouse fight between a pair of relief pitchers.
Felipe Vázquez earned his 27th save two days after punching Kyle Crick in the clubhouse as the Pirates beat the San Francisco Giants 6-3 on Wednesday night. Pittsburgh got a welcome lift after Crick required season-ending finger surgery Tuesday following the scrap with Vázquez before Monday’s win, which prompted a team meeting.
Since an injury-plagued month of May for manager Clint Hurdle’s club, there have been so many other issues.
“There’s been some more miles on the tires since then,” Hurdle said before the game, when Pittsburgh went through extra defensive skill work.
Cole Tucker hit an RBI double for a key insurance run in the sixth, and Jose Osuna added a pair of doubles.
Tucker’s double marked the Pirates’ majors-best 50th pinch-hit RBI. Those are the kinds of things Hurdle appreciates right now.
A night earlier, the Pirates lost 5-4 after taking the series opener in comeback fashion Monday 6-4.
“My encouragement was there’s winning and there’s losing, and there’s winning and learning,” Hurdle said. “If you’re losing and not learning you’re wasting your time up here. You’ll get run out of this game. So there’s lessons to be learned and I think we’ve been able to have solid reviews when things haven’t gone our way.”
Jaylin Davis singled home a run, Corban Joseph had an RBI groundout and Mauricio Dubon drew a bases-loaded walk as the Giants got on the board in the fifth against starter Dario Agrazal before winner Michael Feliz (3-4) took over.
“Between walks, errors, we gave up some cheap runs and it came back to haunt us,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “Offensively we didn’t do much.”
Adam Frazier and Kevin Kramer hit RBI singles in the second for the Pirates, who are 13-6 over their last 19 in San Francisco. Giants righty Logan Webb (1-2), making his fifth major league start, threw a pair of wild pitches that inning and was done after 4 2/3.
Stephen Vogt started a second straight day at catcher for San Francisco after hitting a two-run homer and driving in four runs in Tuesday’s 5-4 win. Bochy had planned to start Buster Posey either Wednesday or Thursday, so he will be behind the plate Thursday afternoon.
Pittsburgh rookie Kevin Newman has a 17-game road hitting streak.
VOGEY’S VISIT
Former Giants and Pirates right-hander Ryan Vogelsong returned to the ballpark and wore his old Giants uniform to observe and work with San Francisco pitching coach Curt Young and the pitching staff.
“It’s good to see Ryan, isn’t it?” Bochy said, noting it’s more about “really just to have him around. He’s good for the players talking baseball. He’s got a great way about him. He provided leadership when he was here.”
Vogelsong played 12 major league seasons between the Giants and Pirates from 2000-2016, going 61-75 with a 4.48 ERA in 179 starts and 289 total appearances covering 1,190 innings.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Pirates: RHP Joe Musgrove (9-12, 4.67 ERA) threw on flat ground and the Pirates determined he would be fine to start Thursday against the Giants after he was scratched last Friday because of pain in his right foot. He hasn’t pitched since Aug. 31 at Colorado. … CF Starling Marte was out of the lineup for a third straight game nursing a tender left wrist. He is limited to pinch running. … RHP Nick Burdi underwent forearm surgery Wednesday in Dallas performed by Dr. Keith Meister. Burdi is expected to be fully healthy by the start of spring training.
Giants: RHP Reyes Moronta’s shoulder surgery in Los Angeles on Tuesday went better than expected. Doctors repaired his labrum but the capsule didn’t need a fix. … RHP Johnny Cueto played catch a day after pitching five scoreless innings in his first start since July 28 last year and returning from Tommy John surgery. His next outing is scheduled for Tuesday at Boston. … 3B Evan Longoria had the night off.
UP NEXT
Musgrove (9-12, 4.67 ERA) will pitch opposite RHP Jeff Samardzija (10-11, 3.64), who owns a 6-4 career record vs. Pittsburgh over 26 outings and 15 starts.
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