If any Giants fans were concerned that the All-Star break might slow down rookie sensation Patrick Bailey, the catcher needed all but one game to remind fans how much he can impact the orange and black.
Bailey’s seventh inning single scored two and put the Giants on top for good in a 6-4 win over the Pirates on Friday in Pittsburgh.
With the Giants down one to start the seventh, Bailey got a chance to hit with runners in scoring position after Wilmer Flores doubled, J.D. Davis walked and both advanced on a passed ball. In a 2-1 count with one out, Bailey pulled Colin Holderman’s fastball to right field for a single, scoring Flores.
J.D. Davis initially slowed up at third, but when Pirates rookie Henry Davis — usually a catcher, but playing right field on Friday — bobbled the ball, Giants third base coach Mark Hallberg sent J.D. to the plate and got the go-ahead run home without a throw.
After a pitching change, Bailey would then steal second on the first pitch for his first big league stolen base and score from second on fellow rookie Luis Matos’ two-out single, providing a much needed insurance run.
Bailey then caught two clean innings from Tyler Rogers and a scoreless ninth from Camilo Doval, who picked up his MLB-leading 27th save.
In the first game of a four-city, 11-day, 11-game road trip, Giants starter Ross Stripling matched zeroes with Pirates lefty Rich Hill for four innings until the fifth, when Michael Conforto hit a two-run single to score Brandon Crawford and Austin Slater.
Pittsburgh answered back with two in the fifth on a Ji Man Choi leadoff homer and a Stripling balk, which sent the tying run in from third. Stripling finished the game allowing those two runs on five hits and no walks in 4.2 innings pitched, striking out six. He has yet to win this season in eight starts and 13 appearances overall.
The Giants would take the lead again in the sixth when Matos singled, advanced to third on a Casey Schmitt double and scored on a Crawford groundout. But Pittsburgh would take the lead in the sixth on sacrifice flies from Choi and Tucupita Marcano.
Even though he allowed an inherited runner to score on the Marcano sac fly, Mauricio Llovera got two outs to pick up his first win as a Giant and second win in the Majors in relief. A right-hander who was called up on July 6 before the All-Star break, Llovera had previously won one game in 2021 with the Phillies and has pitched a total of 26.2 innings in the big leagues over four years.
San Francisco is now 50-41 on the season and will carry a three-game winning streak into today’s 4:05 p.m. game. All-Star right-hander Alex Cobb (6-2, 2.91 ERA) will take the mound for the Giants after pitching a scoreless fourth inning in Tuesday’s All-Star Game. The Pirates will counter with righty Johan Oviedo (3-10, 4.75 ERA).
It also kept the Giants at pace with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who took the NL West lead by beating the Mets 6-0 in New York. San Francisco is still 2.5 games behind Los Angeles, but only 1.5 games back of Arizona, who lost 7-2 at Toronto.
Injury notes
– Right-handed starter Anthony DeSclafani (right shoulder fatigue) is likely to be activated during a four-game series in Cincinnati that starts Monday. He made a rehab start Thursday in the Arizona Complex League and allowed one run on five hits in four innings with five strikeouts.
– Right-handed reliever Luke Jackson (lower back strain) also pitched in that game and struck out three in one scoreless inning. He is expected to return sometime during the road trip.
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