Pirates use bullpen game, small ball to win rubber match vs. Giants

PITTSBURGH — This article originally appeared on PGHBaseballNOW.com.

Behind a bullpen game, the Pirates used small ball to defeat the Giants 5-2 in a Thursday afternoon rubber match at PNC Park.

Scoring Plays

Bottom 1st, 2-0 PIT: The Pirates (69-72) only had one hit in the inning but had five baserunners and scored a pair of runs off Blade Tidwell (0-2). Oneil Cruz drew a walk with the bases loaded and Jake Mangum was hit by a pitch in the next at-bat.

Bottom 6th, 4-0 PIT: Cruz drew a leadoff walk and stole second. Jake Mangum followed with a bunt, and Reiver Sanmartín threw the ball away to first, allowing both runners to move up. Mangum scored when Jared Triolo beat out a potential double play ball.

Top 7th, 4-2 PIT: Khristian Curtis (1-0) walked the first two of the seventh inning and allowed an RBI double to pinch-hitter Jung Hoo Lee. After Yohan Ramírez entered, the Giants (58-83) tacked on another on a Nate Furman groundout to first with runners on second and third.

Bottom 8th, 5-2 PIT: After Nick Yorke advanced Mangum to third on a sacrifice bunt, Triolo tacked on an insurance run with a sacrifice fly to center.

Key Moments

Yohan Ramírez took over for Khristian Curtis with two runners in scoring position and one out but held the Giants to just one run. The right-hander struck out pinch-hitter Drew Cavanaugh, traded a run for an out by getting Nate Furman to groundout to second before getting Christian Koss to line out softly to first base.

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