PITTSBURGH — The Giants haven’t had many complete team victories in recent weeks. Their romping of the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night at PNC Park certainly qualifies.
Christian Koss, Jerar Encarnacion and Willy Adames. Patrick Bailey drove in two runs, and Heliot Ramos reached base four times. Logan Webb pitched six innings of one-run ball and totaled 10 strikeouts to one walk. Matt Gage and Tristan Beck combined for three scoreless innings of relief.
The result? An 8-1 thumping of the Pirates, a victory that ensures that the Giants (57-57) will split this six-game road trip at the minimum. On Wednesday afternoon, they’ll have a chance to take four of six and creep back over the .500 mark.
Webb appears to have course corrected since his three-start stretch where he allowed 16 earned runs, the most he’s allowed in a three-start span in his career. Over his last two starts, both of which have been against the Pirates, Webb has allowed one run over 11 2/3 innings with 21 strikeouts.
This marks the second time in Webb’s career that he’s totaled at least 10 strikeouts in back-to-back starts, the other instance being on July 3 and July 9, 2023. Webb also crossed the 1000-inning threshold for his career, joining Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner, Tim Lincecum, Barry Zito, Jason Schmidt and Kirk Reuter as the only other Giants to log at least 1000 innings this millenium.
Encarnacion’s home run, a solo shot in the top of the fourth, was his first of the season, a much-needed swing of the back after being sidelined by two separate injuries.
Koss put the Giants on the scoreboard in the top of the third by turning a middle-middle fastball from Mike Burrows into a two-run no-doubter, giving the Giants a 2-0 lead. The Pirates scored a run in the bottom of the frame while making Webb throw 35 pitches, but San Francisco got that run right back on Encarnacion’s solo home run to dead center, his first homer of the season.
In the top of the fifth, the Giants put up a three-spot thanks in large part to an embarrassing error by left fielder Tommy Pham. With two outs, Heliot Ramos ripped a single to left field. Ramos was intent on remaining at first, but Pham spiked his throw to second base and Ramos scampered to second.
Rafael Devers followed up by driving in Ramos with a single, then Adames continued padding the lead with an opposite-field two-run home run, his 18th homer of the season. The Giants entered blowout territory in the top of the sixth when Patrick Bailey drove in two runs with a single, expanding the lead to 8-1.