Catcher's pitching only laugh as Pirates routed by Giants
PITTSBURGH — The loudest cheers of the game came when the third-string catcher struck out one of the opponent’s best hitters.
It was one of those nights for the Pittsburgh Pirates — an all-too-familiar one in recent weeks.
Angel Pagan hit a grand slam during a seven-run fourth inning, Johnny Cueto shut down Pittsburgh into the seventh and the San Francisco Giants clobbered the Pirates 15-4 on Tuesday night.
It was the 11th loss in the last 13 games for the Pirates, who have tumbled into sixth place in the National League wild-card standings in their quest for a fourth consecutive playoff berth. The Pirates have allowed 10 or more runs four times over their past 12 games.
Making matters worse, their leading hitter, Starling Marte, left the game in the eighth inning because of left foot discomfort.
At least the Pirates could enjoy a light moment when 36-year-old, third-string catcher Erik Kratz struck out Giants’ No. 3 hitter Brandon Belt during a scoreless ninth inning.
“You just have to enjoy it,” said Kratz, who also pitched an inning April 26 for Houston against Seattle. “I figured I could probably throw the ball over the plate, and that’s what I tried to do. There’s nothing really scientific about. I was just trying to throw strikes and not blow my arm out.”
It was the only scoreless outing of more than a third of an inning by any of the six Pirates who pitched Tuesday.
Recalled earlier in the day from Triple-A, Pittsburgh’s Wilfredo Boscan (1-1) allowed one baserunner over the first three innings of his first major league start, but did not retire any of the seven batters he faced in the fourth.
“I did feel ready walking to that mound at the beginning of the game to start it off,” said Boscan, who was filling in for Juan Nicasio (restricted list). “I felt ready, I felt prepared, and for the first three innings, I was productive. The fourth one got a little challenging.”
After Brandon Crawford drove in the game’s first run by drawing an 11-pitch walk, Pagan took the next pitch Boscan threw into the seats in right-center for his third homer of the season and second grand slam of his career.
After Blanco doubled, Conor Gillaspie homered to chase Boscan from the game.
San Francisco, which also had a five-run eighth inning, had season highs in runs and hits (22) a night after having an eight-game winning streak snapped in a 1-0 loss to Pittsburgh.
“Whatever happened last night, this is just another game,” Pagan said. “Obviously we were trying to win a ballgame (Monday), but we didn’t. Today we just came with a brand new opportunity to go out there and try to put together the best at bats possible.”
Every Giants starter reached base at least once; all but Cueto had at least one hit.
Cueto (11-1) moved into a tie for the National League lead in wins by allowing one run on four hits in 6 2/3 innings. He extended his career-best winning streak to eight and improved to 19-4 against the Pirates.
As he exited the game, Cueto made motions toward booing fans at PNC Park. During the 2013 wild-card game loss here, Cueto seemed to get rattled when fans chanted “Cue-to” at him.
There were few, if any, such chants Tuesday.
“I guess they were not calling my name because they know that I always win against them,” Cueto said through a translator.
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