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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Pirates rip Giants 11-2 in McCutchen’s return to Pittsburgh
By WILL GRAVES, AP Sports Writer
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The men Andrew McCutchen used to call his teammates wanted to make sure McCutchen would have his moment. So when the San Francisco Giants outfielder stepped out of the batter’s box on Friday night to acknowledge the standing ovation at PNC Park in the five-time All-Star’s first game back since being traded in January, the Pittsburgh Pirates clapped right along.
Then McCutchen put his helmet on, dug in and went back to work. The Pirates did, too. Six pitches later McCutchen was headed back to the dugout after striking out looking, and Pittsburgh set about showcasing that the franchise remains very much alive even without the player most vital to its turnaround.
“We can’t just dwell on the past and wish he was here the whole time,” Pirates shortstop Jordy Mercer said. “It’s time to move on.”
That’s easier to do when you’re hitting the ball all over the yard.
Starling Marte, Josh Bell and Jose Osuna all hit two-run homers, Max Moroff added a three-run blast and the Pirates beat the Giants 11-2 on Friday night.
McCutchen, who played his first nine seasons in Pittsburgh before being shipped to the Giants four months ago, let the outpouring from the largest crowd to watch a Pirates home game this season pour over him when he came to bat in the first inning. He finished 1 for 5 with a double and threw out Pittsburgh’s Colin Moran at home to end the sixth while being cheered whenever he came to bat or made a play in the field.
“I don’t think there was anything normal about it,” McCutchen said about the response. “You try to make it as normal as possible, but you’re playing against guys you played with for a long time and that’s not normal. I tried my best not to think about it, but I think they had the advantage over me. I was trying to ride through it. I did my best.”
Steven Brault (3-1) picked up the win in relief after Pittsburgh starter Jameson Taillon left after three innings with a laceration on his right hand. Mercer went 3 for 4 and scored twice for the Pirates, who have won five of six.
San Francisco rookie Andrew Suarez (1-2) lasted just four innings in his fourth career start, giving up five runs on seven hits, including home runs to Marte in the first and Osuna in the fourth. Austin Jackson’s two-run double off Brault in the fourth briefly tied the game at 2, but Suarez struggled in the bottom of the inning as the Giants dropped their fifth straight.
“(The key) is starting pitching,” San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said. “That’s how you get on a roll, good starting pitching. If you’re struggling, it’s usually because your starters are in a little rut and that’s what’s happening with us right now.”
The Giants went 2 for 16 with runners in scoring position and struck out 14 times. San Francisco has fanned 68 times during its five-game slide.
“We’re having a hard time making contact or even getting a productive out,” Bochy said. “That’s why we have had five ugly losses. We’re not doing anything offensively, the (opposing) pitchers are on top of their games and that’s why we’re in the little streak that we’re on right now.”
Pittsburgh is off to a solid start in the competitive NL Central despite a roster makeover that included sending McCutchen — the 2013 NL MVP — west in exchange for reliever Kyle Crick, outfield prospect Bryan Reynolds and international bonus slot money.
General manager Neal Huntington described the decision to trade McCutchen as tough but necessary. So far, it looks prescient.
Marte, McCutchen’s replacement in center, drilled a two-run shot off Suarez in the first. Osuna added a pinch-hit homer to the bleachers in left field in the fifth to put the Pirates up 5-2, and Pittsburgh poured it on from there.
“I answered a lot of questions over the winter about where the power is going to come from,” Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. “The power is coming from a lot of different places.”
APPRECIATIVE CROWD
Attendance was announced at 34,720, and many fans showed their appreciation for McCutchen by wearing versions of his No. 22 jersey.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Giants: OF Mac Williamson (concussion) remains out indefinitely. Bochy said it will be at least another week before Williamson is cleared to exit the concussion protocol program. Williamson hasn’t played since he was injured on April 24. … Bochy said OF Hunter Pence’s strained right thumb is “doing better.”
UP NEXT
Giants: Jeff Samardzija (1-2, 6.62 ERA) will try to bounce back Saturday after getting drilled in an 11-0 loss to Philadelphia last Monday. Samardzija is 6-4 with a 2.80 ERA in his career against Pittsburgh.
Pirates: Chad Kuhl (4-2, 4.12) is 3-1 in his last four starts and tied a career high with eight strikeouts in a victory over Milwaukee last Sunday.
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• Pirates win 6-5 with 4-run 9th, White Sox fall to 9-25
  BY MIKE HELFGOT, Associated Press
  CHICAGO (AP) — Colin Moran hit a two-run homer that capped a four-run rally against Nate Jones in the ninth inning, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates over Chicago 6-5 on Wednesday and sending the last-place White Sox to their ninth loss in 10 games.
  Chicago took a 5-2 lead into the ninth behind Reynaldo Lopez, who allowed two runs and three hits in a career-high 7 1/3 innings.
  Jace Fry struck out the final two batters of the eighth, but Jones (2-1) blew a save for the second time in three chances as the White Sox lost their fifth in a row and fell to 9-25. Chicago is off to its second-worst 34-game start behind an 8-26 opening in 1948. The White Sox have the poorest home record in the major leagues at 3-15.
  Starling Marte and Josh Bell singled on consecutive pitches off Jones, Corey Dickerson grounded out and Elias Diaz cut the lead to one with a two-run double on an 0-2 pitch.
  Moran took a ball and then hit drive to right-center.
  Richard Rodriguez (1-1) won despite allowing consecutive doubles to Jose Rondon and Welington Castillo in the eighth. Felipe Vazquez pitched a perfect ninth for his seventh save in seven chances.
  Jordy Mercer and Gregory Polanco hit solo home runs in the sixth for the Pirates, who had trailed 4-0. Tim Anderson and Daniel Palka hit two-run homers for the White Sox.
  Pittsburgh starter Trevor Williams allowed a season-high four runs and seven hits in five innings.
  TRAINER’S ROOM
  Pirates: RHP Joe Musgrove (right shoulder strain) is expected to make his next start for Triple-A Indianapolis. He pitched four scoreless innings for Double-A Altoona on Monday.
  White Sox: 3B prospect Jake Burger has torn his left Achilles tendon again and will be sidelined for an additional year. Burger first tore the tendon Feb. 26 while running out a ground ball during an exhibition game against Oakland. Burger was the taken by the White Sox with the 11th overall pick in last year’s amateur draft. … OF Nicky Delmonico (bruised right quadriceps) left in the fifth, two innings after colliding with Pirates 1B Josh Bell while rounding the base on a single. … 2B Yoan Moncada (left hamstring tightness) took ground balls before the game. The team is optimistic that can be activated from the 10-day DL when eligible on May 15.
  UP NEXT
  Pirates: RHP Jameson Taillon (2-3, 4.42) started Friday at San Francisco. He is 0-3 in his last five starts.
  White Sox: RHP Carson Fulmer (2-2, 5.02 ERA) starts Friday at Wrigley Field.
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Moran gets key hit as Pirates rally past White Sox 10-6
By JAY COHEN, AP Sports Writer
CHICAGO (AP) — When it comes to interleague play, the Pittsburgh Pirates sail along like no other team in the National League.
Colin Moran hit a key two-run double, Jordy Mercer also drove in two runs and the Pirates beat the lowly Chicago White Sox 10-6 on Tuesday night.
Corey Dickerson had four of Pittsburgh’s 16 hits, atoning for an early fielding miscue and helping the Pirates improve to 3-5 on a nine-game trip. Starling Marte finished with three hits.
“Everybody contributed,” manager Clint Hurdle said.
Pittsburgh had dropped five of seven, but the Pirates love to plunder the American League, specifically their counterparts in the AL Central. They improved to 7-2 in interleague play this year and 65-44 over the last six seasons, tops in the NL. They have won 23 of 32 against the AL Central dating to June 15, 2015, including 14 of 18 on the road.
“Our advance scouts have done a fantastic job,” Hurdle said. “It’s a pop test for us. It’s a pop quiz, you know, more often than not. … We’ve got good scouting and then the other part of it, the way it’s worked out, we have done a good job pitching.”
Welington Castillo homered twice for the last-place White Sox, who have lost four straight and eight of nine. Yolmer Sanchez had three hits and scored twice, and Jose Abreu drove in two runs.
Sanchez’s sinking liner in the first turned into an RBI triple when Dickerson appeared to have trouble tracking the ball in left. Sanchez then scored on Abreu’s grounder, and Castillo hit a two-run homer off Ivan Nova for a 4-0 lead.
But Pittsburgh responded with four in the second — capped by run-scoring hits for Gregory Polanco and Marte against Lucas Giolito — and went ahead to stay with three in the fifth. Moran’s double to deep center made it 6-5, and Mercer followed with an RBI single off Chris Volstad (0-2).
“We tried to minimize everything with the relief and just fell short,” White Sox manager Rick Renteria said.
Dickerson contributed RBI singles in the sixth and eighth as the Pirates extended their lead to 10-5.
“After the first inning, you just kind of put your head down and try to get to work,” Moran said. “Try to get on base, try to score runs any way possible. A lot of the guys were putting together really good at-bats, and that was probably the key to the success.”
Nova was pulled after just two innings, but Tyler Glasnow (1-1), Edgar Santana, Michael Feliz, George Kontos and Felipe Vasquez combined for nearly spotless relief. The one blemish was Castillo’s fourth homer off Kontos in the eighth.
Giolito allowed four runs and seven hits in four innings. He threw 60 strikes in 98 pitches.
“To throw that many pitches in that few innings, I mean it’s just not getting the job done as a starting pitcher,” Giolito said. “I should be going five at least.”
HE’S HERE
Pittsburgh recalled infielder Jose Osuna from Triple-A Indianapolis. He started at first base and went 1 for 5 in his second major league game of the season.
Osuna takes the roster spot of right-hander Nick Kingham, who was sent down on Monday. The Pirates are off Thursday and next Monday, eliminating the need for a fifth starter for a short time.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Pirates: RHP Joe Musgrove (right shoulder strain) pitched four innings in a rehab start with Double-A Altoona on Monday night. He allowed one run and two hits, struck out four and walked none.
White Sox: RHP Miguel Gonzalez (rotator cuff inflammation) threw live batting practice to OFs Avisail Garcia and Daniel Palka. He got up and down three times while making about 35 pitches. Depending on how he feels Wednesday, he could head out for a minor league rehab stint. … Garcia, who is on the disabled list with a right hamstring strain, is doing “very, very well,” according to Renteria. “He feels good. No discomfort,” Renteria said. “Just have to build him back up and get him back out there.” … 2B Yoan Moncada (left hamstring tightness) is doing strengthening exercises. “The hope is that he’ll be ready to go toward next week sometime,” Renteria said.
UP NEXT
Pirates right-hander Trevor Williams and White Sox right-hander Reynaldo Lopez get the ball for the series finale Wednesday afternoon. Williams (4-2, 2.63 ERA) allowed a season-high three runs in 5 2/3 innings in a 3-1 loss at Washington in his previous start. Lopez (0-2, 2.43 ERA) is coming off three straight no-decisions, allowing seven earned runs in 18 innings.
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Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap
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