Pittsburgh Pirates fans remember Marlon Byrd for his time with the team in 2013 and more recently, for being one of the instigators in a benches clearing incident with the Cincinnati Reds earlier this season. Though fans booed him loudly, he had a single, double and home run five innings, helping he new team, the San Francisco Giants, beat his old team 6-4 on Friday night.
Giants starter Madison Bumgarner [15-6] went 6.1 innings and threw 102 pitches while allowing three runs. It was first time he allowed more than one run in an August start.
It was a night to forget for Jeff Locke. Locke [6-8] allowed a career-high 11 hits in five innings. He came in with an 8.68 career ERA against he Giants and departed with a 9.57 mark.
“I didn’t really ever get settled in,” Locke said. “It’s not like they’re going to give away any at-bats either, they play a very similar kind of offense to what we do, so any given night you know that team can be aggressive like we can. I just never got into any kind of groove. It’s no one’s fault but your own.”
The big hit came in the second inning to his mound counterpart. Locke trailed Bumgarner 3-0 in the count and two pitches later, Bumgarner crushed a home run into the standing area behind the first level of left-field bleachers. The 418-foot homer was Bumgarner’s fifth of the season. Bumgarner is the first pitcher to hit five home runs in a season since Carlos Zambrano in 2006.
Byrd’s home run was his 20th of the season and concluded a three-run first inning. He is now the first player to hit a home run with five different teams at PNC Park [Pirates, Cubs, Reds, Phillies and Giants].
Earlier in the first inning, Nori Aoki singled and Matt Duffy walked. Buster Posey brought the first run home with a sacrifice fly before Byrd hit a 1-2 knuckle-curve 417 feet, his second-longest home run of the season.
In the bottom half of the first, Starling Marte and Andrew McCutchen each recorded one-out singles. Two batters later, Jung Ho Kang hit an RBI single placing the Pirates on the board, trailing 3-1.
Both teams scored in the second inning as Bumgarner homered, one of four hits in the inning for the Giants. In the bottom half, Marte legged out a fielder’s choice, which allowed Michael Morse to score.
In the fourth inning, Gregor Blanco recorded a lead-off single and advanced to third on an Aoki single. Brandon Belt then batted Blanco in with a single.
The Pirates scored their third and final run in the bottom of the seventh inning. Michael Morse led off with a first-pitch double, his first extra base hit since July 21. Sean Rodriguez then added a single. Pinch-hitter Neil Walker then battled before hitting a 3-2 sacrifice fly, scoring Morse. Walker’s sac fly ended Bumgarner’s night.
Gregory Polanco then entered the game to pinch-hit and recorded a first-pitch single. Polanco is now batting .460 with a 0-0 count and that was his 23rd first-pitch hit. Starling Marte grounded into a double play to end the threat.
The Pirates threatened again in the eighth inning when McCutchen hit a leadoff double, his 29th of the season. Aramis Ramirez then knocked him in with a single. With two outs, Morse added a single, putting two on. Giants manager Bruce Bochy went to the bullpen and got left-handed pitcher Josh Osich with pinch-hitter Pedro Alvarez up.
Osich was able to get Alvarez to ground out to first on a 2-2 pitch to end the threat.
Santiago Casilla pitched the ninth inning and earned his 30th save of the season.
The four-game series resumes Saturday afternoon when Gerrit Cole [14-7 2.61 ERA] takes on Mike Leake [9-6 3.52 ERA]. Cole is 3-0 with a 2.11 ERA in three career starts against the Giants.
Photo credit: Justin K. Aller/Getty Images
