The Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants had ample opportunities to come out on top in their elongated series finale Sunday at Oracle Park.
In a game that featured 14 pitchers, it was the Giants who prevailed 7-6, courtesy of a 12th-inning, bases-loaded Jesus Rodriguez RBI single for the series win.
Justin Lawrence (0-2, 6.46 ERA) took the loss for the Pirates (22-19), who failed to do any damage with the bases juiced in the top of the 12th and went 2 for 15 with runners in scoring position.
“We can always look back in tough moments (but) we had chances to win,” manager Don Kelly said on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show. “Sometimes, you focus on one thing or another, but there were so many opportunities in that game for us to score more runs, hold them. Unfortunately, it just didn’t go our way.”
The teams were tied 4-4 after nine innings, but the Pirates (22-19) quickly appeared on the verge of shutting the door in the 10th, as Spencer Horwitz blasted a two-run RBI double into the right-center field gap.
Entering the game looking to protect the 6-4 lead in the bottom of the 10th was Yohan Ramirez, and despite Ramirez recording two outs, Willy Adames still came through in the clutch with a tying, two-run single.
Ramirez then proceeded to plunk Matt Chapman and Drew Gilbert, before striking out Rodriguez with the bases loaded to extend the game.
Staying on in the 11th, Ramirez again escaped a jam. After intentionally walking a pair to load the bases with one out, he got soft groundouts by Christian Koss and Heliot Ramos to avoid any damage.
Former Pirate Ryan Borucki (1-1) was Sunday’s winning pitcher, having allowed no runs in the 11th and 12th.
Bubba Chandler, who started for the Pirates, lasted five innings in a no-decision, allowing two runs on five hits with a walk and three strikeouts.
Despite a shorter outing, which ended by design after 77 pitches, the 23-year-old’s command improved considerably as compared to his recent outings, which had seen his walks climb to second most in MLB.
“I made a bunch of mistakes, a few of them (the Giants) capitalized (on), but overall felt good,” Chandler said. “Pounded the zone, kept the guys in it. Felt fine.”
Horwitz went 2 for 5 with three RBIs, the only Pirate with multiple hits, both of which were RBI doubles.
One night after racking up a season-high 20 hits and going 10 for 22 with runners in scoring position, the Pirates were far less opportunistic.
“I think that when we’ve won games, like last night, we’ve gotten a lot of hits with runners in scoring position,” Kelly said. “Today, I think we were 2 for 15. We just need to find a way to come through with guys on base.”
Rookie Konnor Griffin hit his third homer of the year in the second inning, and Oneil Cruz hit home run No. 10 in the fifth. Both were solo shots off Giants (16-24) starter Tyler Mahle, who allowed four runs in 5 2/3 innings.
The Pirates gave Chandler an early 1-0 cushion, as Nick Gonzales singled home Cruz in the top of the first inning. Cruz drew a leadoff walk, stole second and took third on an errant throw by Rodriguez from behind the plate.
In the second, Griffin launched a homer 413 feet to center field, putting the Pirates up 2-0.
The Giants trimmed the Pirates’ lead in the third. Jung Hoo Lee doubled into the right-field corner with two outs, and Luis Arraez singled through the infield to score him, making it 2-1.
The Giants tied things in the fourth when Ramos hit a solo home run off Chandler, but the 2-2 score didn’t last long.
With two outs in the fifth, Cruz connected on a Mahle splitter and went opposite field for a home run, putting the Pirates back on top 3-2.
The Pirates added some insurance in the sixth, leading to Mahle’s departure from the contest. After Ryan O’Hearn singled, Horwitz brought him home with an RBI double to make it 4-2.
Chandler’s afternoon ended after the fifth and his relief, Isaac Mattson, ran into trouble fast, letting up three doubles to Rafael Devers, Ramos and Chapman, with San Francisco tying the score 4-4.
Relieving Mattson was Mason Montgomery, who delivered 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
Santana took over in the bottom of the eighth, allowing a leadoff double to Devers that narrowly avoided leaving the yard.
Devers, admiring what he thought was a home run from the batter’s box for a few extra seconds, settled for two bases. Adames got on board with an infield single.
After recording the second out of the inning, Santana was replaced by Soto, who needed only one pitch to escape the jam.
The Pirates were unable to capitalize off a leadoff walk by Henry Davis in the top of the ninth, but Soto stayed on and delivered a clean bottom of the inning, sending the game to extras.
“Tough loss, especially getting extra innings there,” Kelly said. “ … It was a tough game.”