Giants Salvage Finale 5-0

Ivan Nova did his mama proud in the first; he gave up three loud flies (all had exit velos of 100 MPH+), but the balls found leather waiting at the track for an eight pitch, 1-2-3 start. Cervy, in his first career at-bat as leadoff, worked a walk off Derek Holland for all the Bucco action. The Giants got a two-out single in the second on the first ball they hit that wasn't a bullet but instead fluttered into center. Corey D opened with a two-bagger on a well-placed bloop; two outs later, Jordy was given an intentional pass and Ivan bounced out. A single, whiff and DP was the Giant's third-inning menu. Joey O doubled with an out; he was promptly tossed out at third trying to advance on a grounder to short, a Little League 101 fail. J-Bell walked, negated Osuna's TOOTBLAN, but Corey D couldn't move the ducks along. Brandon Belt doubled with an out in the fourth but stayed anchored thanks to a nice stop by Freeser followed by a sliding catch by Starling to end the frame.

Starling had a couple of knocks today (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Freeser singled and S-Rod walked to put the Bucs in business but rang up "no sale" with an around-the-horn DP from Jordy and a line out by Ivan. The BABIP gods are smiling on both pitchers today. Brandon Crawford opened the fifth with a hot shot that J-Bell couldn't field cleanly, but the bottom of the order couldn't move him. Starling doubled for the Pirates with two gone and was left aboard. The zippos were broken in the sixth when Gorkys Hernandez homered; with an out, the Giants got back-to-back knocks, one a routine comebacker deflected by Ivan. Crawford doubled in another run and Richard Rodriguez was waved in. He gave up a first pitch homer to Nick Hundley (on a day of barrelled outs, this was just a big pop down the line that carried by an eyelash, barely dropping beyond Dickerson's grab) and then a single before shutting the door, but just like that it was 5-0. Holland tossed a clean frame. Ric Rod was back for the seventh and picked up a couple of K while giving up a rap. Reyes Moronta was tapped for a Joey O knock, who was wild-pitched to second. Marte legged out a knock after a successful challenge, but J-Bell whiffed to end the party.

Tyler Glasnow got the ball in the eighth. He gave up an opening rap, then whiffed two of the next three Giants. Will Smith took the horsehide and sat the Bucs down. Cutch drew a two-out walk, getting a couple of calls like he was Joey Votto. A double sent him to third before Ty sealed the envelope. Hunter Strickland gave up a two-out two-bagger to Cervy, prolonging the game by four pitches.

Tyler put up a couple of zeroes (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Ivan was smacked around today, leaving a zillion pitches at the belt, until fate and Clint caught up in the sixth. Fate found some grass at long last for the Giants and Hurdle because he had committed to Ivan. It was the third time through the order but he didn't have anyone loosening in the pen, and we feel that leads to some cold arms thrown into the fire; he does, after all, have eight arms to use. But it was a team effort - Holland kept the ball down, especially his slider that he buried at the shins and which proved irresistible to the Pirates. They K'ed 11 times, and six were on foul tips when they swung over the ball and gently ticked it into Nick Hundley's mitt. We won't mention the 1-for-11 RISP; they were due for game heavy with LOBs. So it was a bad day at the office all around, but taking the series was the big thing, and they did.

Notes:

• Pittsburgh had seven hits; Joey O and Starling each had a pair.
• Pre game ceremony: Bucco players, coaches and staffers caught the first pitch from their mothers, just like in the ol' backyard days.

J-Hay is getting close... (image AT&T SportsNet)

• Josh Harrison will begin a rehab assignment with the Altoona Curve tomorrow. They're home all week, so that points to a short stay for J-Hay.
• There were 22,649 in attendance on a day that ended up decent until the rain finally arrived for a brief spell in the eighth inning.
• Clint's pre-game rap session and Neal's Sunday radio show both hinted at George Kontos' being on a very short leash, if not out, as set-up man. No mention of how a new back end would look if he was kicked downstairs; we'd hazard a guess that Michael Feliz would be bumped up and Richard Rodriguez/Edgar Santana would get seventh inning work.
• Huntington added that they want to get Joe Musgrove to six innings/100 pitches before freeing him from rehab, so looks like Nick Kingham may get another spot start next week before Joe's return. Musgrove went six frames for Indy in his last outing, spinning 79 pitches, so he's almost there.
• C Jin-De Jhang, who has been out since camp, has been cleared to report to Altoona. Jhang, 24, is probably the best hitting catcher in the Bucco system but still a work in progress defensively.