Giants Take Advantage Of Pirates Bullpen

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The San Francisco Giants don’t overwhelm with their bats. Or their pitching. Or their defense. Their margin of error isn’t quite as wide as the two rivals they are trying to chase down in the loaded NL West. That’s fine with manager Gabe Kapler, who is happy to play the matchups, substitute freely and rely on a fair amount of grit and veteran leadership to hang around in one of the hottest races in baseball. Brandon Crawford delivered a pair of late RBI and the Giants took advantage of a shaky performance by Pittsburgh’s bullpen to rally for a 7-5 win on Saturday that pushed San Francisco to a season-best 10 games over .500 (37-27). The surge has the Giants in the mix with the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres in one of the toughest divisions in the majors. Seven different Giants scored, six different players drove in runs, and starting pitcher Alex Wood (5-5) and five relievers did just enough to give San Francisco its 13th win in its last 19 games. Crawford tied the game at 4 with an RBI single off Pirates reliever Wil Crowe (3-4) in the sixth and provided some insurance with an RBI double in the ninth after Pittsburgh intentionally walked Brandon Belt. Wilmer Flores and Austin Slater homered for the Giants and Luis González added two hits for San Francisco, including an RBI double in the eighth. Alex Wood (5-5) surrendered a three-run homer to Pittsburgh’s Diego Castillo in the fourth but hung around long enough to win his second straight start. Wood allowed four runs on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. San Francisco reliever Jake McGee got Pittsburgh’s Tyler Heineman to pop out to Flores at first base with the bases loaded to end the eighth after a 10-pitch at-bat to preserve a one-run lead. Camilo Doval retired the Pirates in order for his 11th save and second in two days. Pittsburgh starter Jose Quintana allowed three runs in 5 1/3 innings before the bullpen let it slip away.