Pirates get a season-high 20 hits and blow out Giants
SAN FRANCISCO — Nick Gonzales and Joey Bart each had four hits, Brandon Lowe drove in four runs and the Pittsburgh Pirates had a season-high 20 hits in a 13-3 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Saturday night.
Every Pittsburgh starter recorded a hit. Oneil Cruz finished with three hits, while Lowe and Ryan O’Hearn each had two.
Braxton Ashcraft (2-2) went seven innings, allowing six hits and striking out six. Landon Roupp (5-3) struck out eight and gave up one run in four-plus innings before the Pirates pounced on the Giants' bullpen.
Ryan Borucki replaced Roupp after a leadoff single by Bart in the fifth and but got just two outs before manager Tony Vitello pulled him in favor of Ryan Walker, who got San Francisco out of the inning.
Bryce Eldridge, the Giants' 21-year-old designated hitter, quickly answered with a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth, his first in the majors, after getting the call-up from Sacramento earlier this week.
However, Walker surrendered two runs on back-to-back hits from Konnor Griffin and Bart, putting the Pirates ahead 4-1 in the sixth.
And in the seventh, the Pirates piled it on, getting four runs off JT Brubaker and then two more off Gregory Santos to take a 10-1 lead, garnering loud boos from Giants fans.
Giants second baseman Christian Koss left in the ninth inning after getting hit by a pitch on the shoulder.
Pirates RHP Bubba Chandler (1-4, 4.76 ERA) opposes Giants RHP Tyler Mahle (1-4, 5.00 ERA) Sunday afternoon for the final game of the series.
