The San Francisco Giants completed a three-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday with an 8-7 walk-off victory in front of their home crowd.
The Pirates have now fallen to 45-70 on the season, owning just a 21-41 record on the road.
Zach Thompson started for the Bucs on Sunday, giving up five runs on seven hits in four innings. Wil Crowe suffered the loss (4-7), giving up the Giants’ game-winning runs in the bottom of the ninth.
San Francisco built a lead through the first half of the game that appeared, at the time, to be insurmountable. A double by Tommy La Stella in the bottom of the second inning got the Giants on the board, and that was followed by a three-run homerun by LaMonte Wade Jr. A double by Wilmer Flores in the fourth scored another run, and the Giants led 5-0.
The Pirates climbed their way back into the game with a three-run fifth inning. A two-run double by Bryan Reynolds made it 5-2, and a RBI groundout by Ben Gamel cut the lead to 5-3. A monster three-run homerun by Reynolds in the seventh gave the Bucs their first lead of the game at 6-5.
The Giants tied the game in the bottom of the seventh when Brandon Crawford doubled home Flores. The game remained knotted up until the ninth inning. A single by Rodolfo Castro scored Reynolds to make it 7-6 Pittsburgh. But unfortunately, the Giants would have the last laugh. Thairo Estrada would step up to the plate in the bottom of the ninth and crack a two-run game-winning homerun off Crowe to end the game.
This was a disastrous way to end a horrible weekend in San Francisco for the Pirates. Nothing seems to be going right for this team at the moment, while the losses continue to pile up. After a much-needed day off on Monday, the Bucs will return to action at PNC Park on Tuesday for a matchup against the Boston Red Sox.
Record vs. Giants: 1-5
Record vs. N.L. West: 14-17
Record on the Road: 21-41
Overall Record: 45-70
And…
As Always…
Let’s Go Bucs!
