Polanco, Pirates beat Padres 5-4 for 8th win in 9 games
By JOHN PERROTTO, Associated Press
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Pirates weren’t expected to contend in the strong NL Central this season, especially after trading stars Andrew McCutchen and Gerrit Cole in January.
Yet the Pirates are on top of a division in which four of the five teams are at least four games over .500.
Gregory Polanco led off the seventh inning with a double and scored the go-ahead run on an error, leading the Pirates over the San Diego Padres 5-4 Thursday night for their eighth win in nine games.
Polanco took third on Francisco Cervelli’s deep flyball, then came home when rookie third baseman Christian Villanueva misplayed Corey Dickerson’s two-out grounder.
Pittsburgh (26-17) moved nine games over .500.
“You really can’t predict baseball,” Dickerson said. “Every year you have teams that have good seasons when they aren’t expected to, players who no one knows about who end up having big years. You just never know in this game. We’re playing very well, and we feel like we have a very good team.”
Pittsburgh’s Josh Bell and Sean Rodriguez each had two hits.
Eric Hosmer drove in three runs for San Diego. Freddy Galvis had two hits before being ejected by home plate umpire Will Little after taking a called third strike from Michael Feliz to end the eighth inning.
Rookie Edgar Santana (2-0) retired the only batter he faced, getting Jose Pirela to ground out to end the seventh with a runner on second. He was credited with another win a day after notching his first major league victory against the Chicago White Sox.
“It’s fun to get a chance to pitch in those situations,” Santana said. “The hitters are up looking for RBIs and you know they are going to try a little extra hard to drive in the run. I try to use that to my advantage and stay calm.”
Felipe Vazquez worked a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his ninth save in as many opportunities.
Matt Strahm (0-1) took the loss.
“He did everything he had to do to get the groundball to get out of that inning,” San Diego manager Andy Green. “We didn’t make the play for him there.”
Both starters were chased in the fifth inning as Padres rookie left-hander Eric Lauer and Chad Kuhl allowed four runs and six hits each.
“I had some trouble pitching out of the stretch and that hurt me,” Kuhl said.
The Pirates tied the score at 4 on Bell’s RBI single in the fifth. Hosmer hit a two-run double in the top of the inning.
The Padres opened the scoring with a two-run third as Travis Jankowski hit an RBI single and Hosmer drove into a run with a grounder.
The Pirates answered with three runs in the fourth. Dickerson doubled in a run, David Freese hit a sacrifice fly and Rodriguez capped the inning with an RBI double.
“Things were going smooth then all of a sudden I wouldn’t say I lost it, but I started making worse pitches,” Lauer said. “Just missing spots by a little bit.”
MEADOWS ON THE WAY
The Pirates plan to recall top outfield prospect Austin Meadows from Triple-A Indianapolis in time for Friday night’s game. The announcement came while center fielder Starling Marte missed his second straight game with a strained right oblique.
Meadows, 23, is hitting .281 with one home run, 15 RBIs and eight stolen bases in 31 games. The Pirates selected him in the first round of the 2013 amateur draft with the ninth overall pick from Grayson High School in Loganville, Georgia.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Pirates: While Marte was out of the lineup, Cervelli (bruised right forearm) returned after sitting out Wednesday and the catcher went 0 for 2 with two walks. … RHP Joe Musgrove (strained right shoulder) is scheduled to make his last rehab start for Triple-A Indianapolis on Friday. … 2B Josh Harrison (broken left hand) is 1 for 8 in his first two rehab games with Double-A Altoona.
Padres: OF Hunter Renfroe (right elbow inflammation) began a rehab assignment Thursday with Triple-A El Paso. He has been out since April 18. … LHP Joey Lucchesi (strained right hip) played catch and the Padres are hopeful he will miss only one start. . C Austin Hedges (right elbow tendinitis) has been serving as a designated hitter in extended spring training games but not been cleared to throw.
UP NEXT
Padres: RHP Tyson Ross (2-3, 3.40 ERA) is 0-2 in his last five starts despite a 3.34 ERA.
Pirates: RHP Ivan Nova (2-5, 5.01) is 0-2 with a 10.22 ERA in his past three starts, pitching a combined 12 1/3 innings.

Bell’s single lifts Pirates over reeling White Sox 3-2
By JOHN PERROTTO, Associated Press
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pinch-hitter Josh Bell singled to break a seventh-inning tie, and the streaking Pittsburgh Pirates beat the skidding Chicago White Sox 3-2 Wednesday.
Pittsburgh has won seven of eight and improved to 10-2 in interleague play this season.
Chicago has lost eight of nine and 13 of 15. A major league-worst 10-29, the White Sox have matched their worst start since 1948.
Pittsburgh has won eight straight over Chicago, outscoring the White Sox 45-17. The Pirates also swept a two-game series last week against them in Chicago.
With the score tied 2-2, Elias Diaz doubled off Joakim Soria (0-2) leading off the seventh and Jordy Mercer walked with one out. Bell, rested from the starting lineup in a day game after a night game, grounded a single into left.
Rookie Edgar Santana (1-0) allowed one hit in 1 1/3 scoreless innings for his first major league win. Felipe Vazquez allowed Welington Castillo’s two-out single in the ninth, then got Jose Abreu to hit into a game-ending forceout. Vazquez remained perfect in eight save opportunities.
Chicago lost despite outhitting the Pirates 8-4.
Leury Garcia homered in the second and Yolmer Sanchez in the fifth.
Pittsburgh’s Sean Rodriguez hit a two-run double in the second.
Pirates starter Jameson Taillon went 5 2/3 innings and showed no ill effects from a cut right index finger that forced him from Friday’s start against San Francisco after three innings.
Hector Santiago pitched five innings for Chicago in place of Carson Fulmer, who was pushed back to Saturday against Texas to allow extra work with pitching coach Don Cooper.
ANDERSON’S DAY OFF
White Sox SS Tim Anderson was not in the lineup after starting each of the first 37 games. He pinch hit in the ninth and flied out. Sanchez, the regular third baseman, played shortstop and Matt Davidson, normally the designated hitter, started at third.
Sanchez made a sliding over-the-shoulder catch in short left field to take away a hit from David Freese in the seventh inning.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Pirates: C Francisco Cervelli (bruised right forearm) and CF Starling Marte (strained right oblique) were out of the lineup after leaving Tuesday night’s 7-0 win. Both are lday to day. … RHP Joe Musgrove (strained right shoulder) is expected to make his last rehab start Thursday for Triple-A Indianapolis then make his Pirates’ debut Tuesday at Cincinnati. He was acquired from Houston in the offseason.
UP NEXT
White Sox: RHP James Shields (1-4, 5.44 ERA) starts Thursday’s opener of a four-game series against visiting Texas and LHP Cole Hamels (2-4, 3.48). Shields is winless in eight starts since beating the Royals at Kansas City on opening day.
Pirates: RHP Chad Kuhl (4-2, 4.17) will be on the mound Thursday for the start of a four-game series at San Diego. LHP Eric Lauer (1-2, 8.27) starts for the Padres. Kuhl is 3-1 in his last five starts.
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By ALAN SAUNDERS, Associated Press
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Trevor Williams had a better outing against the struggling Chicago White Sox this time while facing them for the second straight start.
Williams scattered six hits and struck out six without a walk in seven innings and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the White Sox 7-0 Tuesday night.
Four days earlier, he gave up four runs and seven hits — including two home runs — in five innings before the Pirates rallied for a 6-5 win in Chicago. Williams said he didn’t make any drastic changes to his approach, and credited the pitcher-friendly PNC Park as an aid.
“I thought we did our homework well last time,” he said. “I thought it was just two pitches that left the yard. If we were playing at their yard today, some would have left the yard, as well.”
Chicago has lost eight of nine and 12 of 14, dropping to a major league-worst 10-28. The White Sox have matched the poorest 38-game start in team history.
Williams (5-2) was also helped by a Pirates offense that continued to roll. Pittsburgh scored four runs in the first inning and chased Chicago starter Reynaldo Lopez in the third.
Staked with an advantage, Williams pitched through the seventh inning for the first time this season.
“It was a really strong effort and a really good back-on-track outing for him,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said.
Kyle Crick and Richard Rodriguez completed the seven-hitter for Pittsburgh’s major league league-best seventh shutout.
The tables turned from the previous game on the other side of the ball, as well. The Pirates jumped all over Lopez (0-3) after he had held them to two runs in 7 1/3 innings the last time out.
Pittsburgh built its 4-0 first-inning lead on Adam Frazier’s homer, Josh Bell’s two-run double and Colin Moran’s RBI double. Sean Rodriguez and Bell also had run-scoring hits in the second.
“Last time through, he was throwing a lot of off-speed early,” Bell said of Lopez. “I feel like, for the most part, we were anticipating slower, earlier and it kind of just worked out for us.”
Bell went 2 for 4 with 3 RBIs. Gregory Polanco, who also had two hits, added an RBI double in the sixth.
Lopez allowed six runs and seven hits while walking two and hitting one in his shortest outing of the year.
“I think he didn’t really feel comfortable in the beginning,” White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. “Today was one of those days where he wasn’t able to rebound and refocus and get back into a particular zone.”
The Pirates are now 9-2 in interleague play, including 3-0 against Chicago, while the White Sox are 1-7.
TRAINER’S ROOM
White Sox: 2B Yoan Moncada (left hamstring tightness) was activated from the disabled list and went 1 for 4. He had been out since May 4.
Pirates: CF Starling Marte left the game at the end of the first inning with discomfort in his right side. Marte doubled and scored in the bottom of the first. He was replaced by Rodriguez. … C Francisco Cervelli left the game at the end of the third inning with right forearm discomfort. He was hit by a 93 mph fastball in the bottom of the inning by Lopez. Cervelli was replaced by Elias Diaz.
UP NEXT
White Sox: LHP Hector Santiago (0-1, 5.60 ERA) will make a spot start on Wednesday in the series finale. Santiago has made two starts this season. He’ll be replacing RHP Carson Fulmer, whose scheduled start was pushed back to Saturday.
Pirates: RHP Jameson Taillon (2-3, 4.08 ERA) is expected to start on Wednesday. He left his previous start on May 11 after just three innings with a laceration on the middle finger of his right hand.
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Hernandez, Hundley help Giants beat Pirates 5-0, stop slide
By ALAN SAUNDERS, Associated Press
PITTSBURGH (AP) — San Francisco turned some of those fly-ball outs into home runs.
Gorkys Hernandez homered off Ivan Nova to spark a five-run sixth inning, Nick Hundley added a three-run drive and the Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-0 Sunday to stop a season-high six game-losing streak.
“We hit probably nine, 10 balls right on the screws that their outfielders made plays on,” Hundley said. “So, it was nice to get a couple over the wall then open up the game a little bit.”
San Francisco averaged 8.25 runs per game while winning four straight from May 2-6 but averaged just two runs per game in the first five games of its losing streak. With back-to-back five-run bursts, manager Bruce Bochy hopes the offense may have reignited,
“I think we had some really good at bats and finally broke through,” Bochy said. “Last couple days, they’ve been a lot better.”
Derek Holland (2-4) allowed four hits and five walks in 6 1/3 innings with seven strikeouts, repeatedly pitching out of trouble. Pittsburgh went 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position, including 0 for 8 against Holland, who allowed runners to reach second in four innings.
“I’m still a little upset with this one even though I got to go 6 1/3,” Holland said. “The five walks, that’s the killer. I did a good job, though, of keeping them from scoring.”
Reyes Moronto, Will Smith and Hunter Strickland completed a seven-hitter, the fourth shutout for the Giants this season. The Pirates were blanked for the third time this year.
Andrew McCutchen was 1 for 4 with a walk and went 4 for 14 (.286) with three doubles in his first series at Pittsburgh since the Pirates traded the five-time All-Star to the Giants during the offseason. He extended his hitting streak to 12 games, and he is 16 for 43 (.372) in that stretch.
Nova (2-3) gave up four runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings and is 0-2 in five starts since beating Miami on April 15.
Brandon Belt and Pablo Sandoval singled following Hernandez’s homer, and Hundley homered on the first pitch from Richard Rodriguez.
Nova He blamed himself for not being able to field Pablo Sandoval’s sixth-inning grounder.
“If I make that play, it’s three outs,” he said “I didn’t make it. I paid for it.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Giants: LHP Madison Bumgarner (broken left hand) is expected to throw off a mound on Monday. If his rehab goes well, could be ready when he is eligible to be reinstated from the 60-day disabled list on May 25. … INF Alen Hanson was held out with a strained left hamstring.
Pirates: RHP Joe Musgrove (right shoulder strain) will have one more rehab start after throwing 5 2/3 innings on Saturday. … 2B Josh Harrison (broken left hand) has taken batting practice and is ready for a rehab stint. He is expected to return to big league action in about two weeks. … RHP Jameson Taillon (right finger laceration) is unsure whether he can make his scheduled start Wednesday. Taillon left his outing on Friday after three innings.
UP NEXT
Giants: RHP Chris Stratton (3-3, 4.60) is to start Monday at home against Cincinnati. The Giants have been outscored 35-9 in his losses.
Pirates: RHP Trevor Williams (4-2, 3.13 ERA) is slated to pitch Tuesday’s opener of a two-game series against the visiting Chicago White Sox. The Pirates are 8-2 in Interleague play.
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Pirates top Giants 6-5 for 5th straight win
By WILL GRAVES, AP Sports Writer
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Gregory Polanco and Francisco Cervelli homered and the Pittsburgh Pirates took advantage of a sloppy inning by former closer Tony Watson to slip by the San Francisco Giants 6-5 on Saturday for their fifth straight victory.
Watson (1-2), an All-Star for Pittsburgh during his six-plus seasons with the club, loaded the bases in the eighth, and then gave the Pirates the lead when he hit former teammate Jordy Mercer to force in Josh Bell. Felipe Vazquez (2-0), who took over as Pirates closer when Watson faltered last season, got the final five outs after Pittsburgh blew a two-run lead earlier in the night.
Bell finished with two hits and his adept baserunning kept Pittsburgh’s eighth-inning rally alive. Bell was at third when pinch-hitter David Freese hit a chopper up the third-base line. Bell avoided Evan Longoria’s tag to make it back to third safely and Freese reached first without a throw. Watson then plunked Mercer to put the Pirates in front.
Former Pirates star Andrew McCutchen went 2 for 5 to extend his hitting streak to 11 games. Longoria and Alen Hanson homered in San Francisco’s sixth straight loss.
McCutchen received multiple standing ovations and two video tributes in his initial return to PNC Park on Friday night, with chants of “MVP” raining down from the upper deck before his first at-bat. The moment proved cathartic for both McCutchen and his former team, which blasted four home runs on its way to an 11-2 victory.
Things were a bit more muted 24 hours later, thanks in part to a 93-minute rain delay that left most of the crowd hiding under ponchos for protection from an intermittent downpour. Just like Friday, however, the crowd rose to its feet when McCutchen walked toward the batter’s box in the first. McCutchen took off his helmet as the applause washed over him. He tried to cut it a bit shorter than the one on Friday, but Cervelli wouldn’t let him. The catcher stood on the infield grass and refused to move toward his usual spot behind the plate to make sure his former teammate drank it all in.
Then the baseball began and the Pirates kept right on rolling even without the player most responsible for the franchise’s turnaround.
The team that finished 29th in the majors in home runs and 28th in runs last season is currently in the top 10 in both categories a quarter of the way into 2018. Polanco and Cervelli — who combined for just 16 homers in 2017 — now have 14 between the two of them. Polanco sent a shot to the seats in right-center just out of McCutchen’s reach in the third and Cervelli took advantage of Jeff Samardzija late.
Samardzija has struggled to find anything resembling rhythm this season and failed to go longer than five innings in each of his first four starters this season. He worked into the sixth this time around and stuck around at least one batter too many. Cervelli drove Samardzija’s 98th pitch over the fence in center to put Pittsburgh in front.
Samardzija allowed five runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings as his ERA rose to 6.94.
Pittsburgh starter Chad Kuhl recovered from a shaky start to pitch six innings, giving up three runs and six hits with four walks and six strikeouts.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Giants: OF Hunter Pence (sprained right thumb) began a rehab assignment at Triple-A Sacramento. Manager Bruce Bochy said there’s a chance Pence, who has not played since April 18, could return at some point during a seven-game homestand that starts Monday against Cincinnati.
Pirates: RHP Joe Musgrove (strained right shoulder) pitched 5 2/3 no-hit innings in a rehab start at Triple-A Indianapolis. Musgrove threw 60 of his 79 pitches for strikes. … Pittsburgh is hopeful Jameson Taillon can make his next scheduled start. He exited after three innings on Friday due to a laceration on his right ring finger.
UP NEXT
Giants: Derek Holland (1-4, 5.66 ERA) will look for his first road win in nearly a year on Sunday. Holland’s last road victory came on May 21, 2017, while pitching for the Chicago White Sox.
Pirates: Ivan Nova (2-2, 4.84 ERA) lasted just two innings in his previous start on Tuesday in Chicago. Nova has given up 10 runs in his last 5 2/3 innings.
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