Will Craig, fresh off the boat from Indianapolis, got his first major league home run, in fact his first hit. That was the extent of the Pirates’ offense, though, as they lost to San Francisco, 3-1.
Wil Crowe made the start and cruised through the first four innings. He ran into trouble, though, in the fifth. Steven Duggar hit a home run with one out. After a pair of two-out singles, a wild pickoff throw by Jacob Stallings let in one run. Then Mike Yastrzemski dropped a fly ball into the right field corner for a triple. Gregory Polanco made a stumbling attempt to catch the ball, but it probably wasn’t catchable any way.
Crowe left after the fifth, having thrown 94 pitches. He gave up six hits and a walk, and fanned five.
The Giants got nothing more after that, as Chasen Shreve, Chris Stratton and Clay Holmes threw four scoreless innings, two by Stratton. They fanned six.
Getting another well pitched game didn’t matter, though, as the Pirates hit like you’d expect from a lineup mostly loaded with Mendoza Line Wonders. The lineup sleep-walked through five innings against Anthony DeSclafani with one hit. Four relievers held them to just four more hits. The Pirates never assembled anything resembling a rally and went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position. They’re 8-for-87 w/RISP in their last 11 games.
The only relief from the misery came in the eighth, when Craig connected on a bomb to right-center. Hopefully that won’t get him hurdled tomorrow.
Postscript: Todd “.086” Frazier has elected free agency.
