Bryce Eldridge hit his first MLB home run for the San Francisco Giants, but the team suffered a heavy 13-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates at Oracle Park.
Key points
Bryce Eldridge hit his first MLB home run
Giants lost to Pirates 13-3
Eldridge's homer occurred in the fifth inning
Giants were down 2-1 after the homer
Giants' bullpen struggled after Eldridge's hit
San Francisco GiantsPittsburgh PiratesBryce Eldridge
Eldridge, a young phenom in Giants manager Tony Vitello's lineup, smashed his first MLB homer, a solo shot in the home half of the fifth inning. That put San Francisco within 2-1 at the time.
And then, well, the Giants' bullpen imploded.
The Pirates' hitters must have been feeling pretty good as they waited their turns in the on-deck circle. Pittsburgh scored two runs in the fifth and sixth innings, but roared to life with a six-run seventh. They capped their big offensive night with a three-run ninth inning.
Giants starter Landen Roupp took the loss, falling to 5-3 this season. Roupp worked four innings, giving up three hits and one run (earned). Roupp walked three and struck out eight Pirates hitters.
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It just was not a good night at the ballpark for Giants pitching at all after Roupp left the game.
Pirates starter Braxton Ashcraft worked seven innings en route to picking up the win. He's now 2-2 this season. Reliever Cam Sanders, the third pitcher used by Pirates manager Don Kelly on Saturday night, gave up two earned runs in his work out of the Pittsburgh bullpen.
Pirates third baseman Nick Gonzales went 4-for-6 on Saturday night with a run scored, while Oneil Cruz went 3-for-6 and scored three runs. Catcher Joey Bart went 4-for-5 with two RBIs and three runs scored.
Now, Pittsburgh had plenty of other opportunities to add to their run total. At game's end, the Pirates were 10-for-22 with runners in scoring position. They left 11 runners on base on Saturday night. The Buckos also amassed 20 hits against Giants pitching.
Yes, Giants fans, it could have been much, much worse.
As for San Francisco, it was 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left seven runners on base.
After Saturday night's beatdown, the Giants are now 15-24 this season and sit in fifth place in the National League West Division. The Pirates are now 22-18 overall and in fourth place in the National League East Division.
With the Bailey trade happening earlier on Saturday, there was even more news out of the Giants' camp.
Giants starting pitcher Logan Webb was placed on the 15-day Injured List retroactive to Wednesday with right knee bursitis. With Webb on the IL, he's going to miss his next start in the rotation. That'll be the first time that has happened for Webb in five years.
In corresponding moves, the Giants called up pitcher Trevor McDonald from the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats. One of McDonald's teammates also joined the Giants on Saturday. The team purchased the contract of catcher Logan Porter from Sacramento.
Vitello told Giants beat reporter Maria Guardado of MLB.com that it was not easy getting Webb to take time off.
"He fought that pretty good,” Vitello said. “He fights anything good as it relates to him being out there and posting.”
Coming Up
The Giants and Pirates wrap up their three-game weekend series at Oracle Park on Sunday afternoon.
Then, San Francisco takes a plane trip down to Southern California. The Giants will start a 10-game road trip with a four-game series against the National League West Division-leading Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday.
After that, the Giants head back up the West Coast to Sacramento, Calif., for a three-game weekend series against the Athletics. Then, they'll head to Chase Field in Downtown Phoenix for a three-game weekend series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
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