SAN FRANCISCO — The arrival of the organization’s top pitching prospect wasn’t enough to stop the skid.
Carson Whisenhunt overcame a rocky start as he allowed four runs over five innings in his major-league debut, but the Giants’ losing streak hit four games as they fell to the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-5 on Monday night at Oracle Park. With Thursday’s trade deadline looming, San Francisco has lost 10 of its last 12 games.
With two vacancies in the rotation, manager Bob Melvin said pregame Whisenhunt will have an opportunity to earn a spot in the starting rotation if he pitches well.
“If he performs well, it’s going to be a spot,” Melvin said.
The Pirates had no problem seeing Whisenhunt’s signature changeup early on.
Nick Gonzales opened up the scoring in the top of the first by sending a changeup into the left-field bleachers to give Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead. In the second, Isiah Kiner-Falefa sent a changeup from Whisenhunt off the left-center field wall to drive home two runs. Tommy Pham followed Kiner-Falefa by driving him by sending Whisenhunt’s offspeed offering into left field for a single.
Whisenhunt settled in after allowing four runs over his first two innings. The lefty didn’t allow a run over his final three innings, the only hits he allowed being a pair of harmless singles.
The Giants were not without a response. They scored a run in the first on Matt Chapman’s RBI single, then two more in the second on an RBI ground-rule double from Brett Wisely and an RBI single from Willy Adames. San Francisco not only scored three runs off Keller but made him throw 73 pitches through two innings, forcing manager Don Kelly to go to his bullpen early.
Adames tied the game up at four apiece with a single to left field in the bottom of the fourth, but that would be the only run that the Giants would score off Pittsburgh’s bullpen.
Andrew McCutchen gave the Pirates a 6-4 lead in the top of the seventh, sending a hanging slider from Carson Seymour into the left-field stands for a two-run homer. McCutchen became one of 11 players in baseball history to hit at least 10 homers over their first 17 seasons, a list that includes Barry Bonds (19), Jeff Kent (17) and Willie McCovey (17).
The Giants entered the bottom of the ninth inning trailing 6-4 and tasked with facing Pirates closer David Bednar, who had not allowed a run since May 23.
Adames set the table in the bottom of the ninth inning with an opposite-field bloop double that barely stayed fair. After Chapman flew out, Jung Hoo Lee cut the Pirates’ lead to 6-5 with an opposite-field single that scored Adames.
Wilmer Flores followed up Lee with a single of his own that put runners on first and second with one out, but Bednar would hold firm to secure the save.