Pittsburgh Pirates lose to San Francisco Giants 5-6 at PNC Park – MLB Update
Pittsburgh Pirates lost to San Francisco Giants 5-6 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Friday, July 6 in the opening game of their three match series of the 2012 Major League Baseball regular season.
The Pirates, who had a great time against Houston Astros in their previous series, were unable to take advantage of their home conditions on Friday afternoon and the Giants held on to secure a narrow 6-5 win.
Despite taking the loss, the Pirates are still placed first on the National League Central Division standings. Credit must be given to the Manager Clint Hurdle who has given enormous confidence to the players. Hurdle and company will be looking to turn the
tables on their opponents in Game 2 and Game 3 to finish the first half of the season on a high note.
Andrew McCutchen singled to left in the first inning to put the Pirates 1-0 ahead. Showing great composure, McCutchen continued to play aggressively, securing a triple to deep-centre to double Pirates advantage 2-0.
The Giants fought back superbly against the struggling starting pitcher Erik Bedard as they scored five runs in the fourth to turn the deficit into a 5-3 lead. Casey McGehee and Pedro Alvarez homered for the Pirates in closing stages of the game but Sergio
Romo pitched a perfect ninth to help the Giants prevail.
"We all have roles," Romo said. "I'm pretty fortunate to be in tough situations, so every time I'm in the game I look at it like I have to save the game in that situation. I don't really look at it as a closer or whatever. ... I don't need that title. I
just want an opportunity to pitch."
"I give Z credit, he stayed out of a real big inning and kept the damage at a minimum and gave us a chance," San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said of starter Barry Zito.
With their win against the Pirates, San Francisco have now moved six games past the third placed Arizona Diamondbacks on the National League West Division standings table. Surely, they will be looking to dominate Pittsburgh in the next two games to replace
the leaders Los Angeles Dodgers before the All Star Break.
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