SAN FRANCISCO — David Freese touched home plate, high-fived Gregory Polanco and pointed at a heckling fan behind home plate before celebrating in the first-base dugout at AT&T Park.
The heckler, along with most of the 40,035 announced crowd, promptly exited the fog-ridden ballpark by the Bay. Freese had just hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning, punctuating the Pirates' 10-5 blowout of the Giants, a fellow Wild Card contender, Thursday night.
While the Giants, led by Andrew McCutchen, fell further out of the playoff race, a 13-hit performance, three of which were home runs, and six strong innings from Ivan Nova pushed the Pirates' record to 60-56. They're now seven back in the Central Division and four back in the Wild Card after a thorough dismantling of a perennial National League power in an unforgiving ballpark.
"This is a tough place to play. ... The bats weren’t too hot in Denver, but getting this one tonight is huge," Freese said. "Always tough conditions. We battled through and got the W."
TAP ABOVE FOR BOXSCOREThe Pirates have responded with 24 runs on 34 hits during their three-game winning streak since being shut out by the Rockies in the first game of this three-city, 10-day road trip. Nova, possibly now the Pirates' fifth-best starter after getting the ball on opening day in Detroit, allowed only three hits and struck out three. Richard Rodriguez and Dovydas Neverauskas each pitched a scoreless inning, while Casey Sadler, making his first big-league appearance since April 12, 2015, was tagged for three unearned runs in the ninth.
The pitching staff owns a 3.08 ERA since July 7, the second-lowest in the majors behind the Athletics, and it allowed only seven runs in three games at Coors Field. The difference with this team, Freese said, is the resurgence of the core players, led by Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco.
Elias Diaz, batting .291 in 49 starts this season, broke the scoreless tie in the second when he hit a hanging curveball from Andrew Suarez 379 feet, through the wind, over the wall in left. Josh Bell, activated from the 10-day disabled list Wednesday morning, cranked the very next pitch, a slider over the plate, to left for his first home run from the right side of the plate this season:
That was only Bell's seventh homer of the season, 19 less than he hit in 159 games as a rookie last season, and his second RBI in as many days. "Do you think anyone else can swing like that and pull their hands like that and hit the ball?" Clint Hurdle asked. "It shows that he’s healthy, that’s for sure. Crazy." Bell, only 25 years old, has batted .327 with 10 RBIs and 10 walks in his last 18 games. Adam Frazier singled to drive in a run following back-to-back singles in the seventh.
Frazier, relegated to the minors in June after starting 93 games last season, went 3 for 4 with two RBIs and is batting .463 with seven RBIs in 13 games since being recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis July 25. Marte, whose 28 stolen bases rank second in the majors, reached on a fielder's choice, and Polanco followed with an RBI double on a blooper to left.
Polanco ranks first among all NL outfielders with 49 extra-base hits and is batting .297 with 31 RBIs in his last 26 games. Freese followed with this swing off reliever Derek Law:
"We kept getting big swings at the right time," Hurdle said.
Freese went 2 for 5 with his 100th career home run and is batting .344 with 17 RBIs over his last 17 games. "We’re just coming together," Freese said proudly. "This year it's got that team feel. ... It starts with talent, drive and the core guys on this team are pushing. That’s huge. The guys that need to step up and need to produce are doing that this year. When you build a team like that your guys need to get it done, guys like [Starling] Marte, [Gregory] Polanco, this and that."
Since July 7, the Pirates rank first in the majors in batting average and second in runs. Marte, Polanco, Bell and Corey Dickerson have batted a combined .309 with 60 RBIs in that span. However, the starting pitching can still be volatile, as powerfully illustrated by Chris Archer's 98 pitches in five innings Wednesday at Coors Field. Three starters — Nova, Nick Kingham and Archer — combined for only 9 1/3 innings during a three-day span last week.
Nova had a 5.81 ERA over his previous six starts, pitching through the sixth inning only once in that span. He returned to form Thursday, needing only 45 pitches through four innings until he allowed two runs in the fifth. With two on and a runner at first, Nova got back-to-back ground-ball outs to keep the Pirates' lead at 3-2.
Nova then walked a batter with two outs in the sixth, only to strike out Austin Slater to end his start. "It starts with pitching," Freese said. "Guys that grab the ball. It’s tough to do all year long. Pitching makes the game go smoothly and makes the year go smoothly. It gives you a little flow. If we can get those timely hits, play some D, it will work out. Our arms are doing great. We’re pumped about that."
The Pirates own the best record in the NL since July 7, winners in 18 of their last 25, and have five teams to jump in the Wild Card race. Despite winning only 13 of 45 games in one stretch earlier this season, they're in the thick of a playoff hunt.
"Whether it’s the top half or bottom half of the lineup, we know we're a force to be reckoned with," Bell said.
1. Nova's outstanding 'bounce back.'
Nova's been the weak link of the rotation for the past month. His curveball hasn't had the same bite and his two-seam fastball has been hit hard. Opponents batted .331 against him in his previous six starts and he walked 10 batters in that span. He walked 15 over his first 15 starts and only three in 11 starts after being acquired by the Pirates in 2016.
This was one of his best starts of the season, though. Sure, he allowed an RBI triple to Alen Hanson in a 26-pitch fifth, but this was the best his curveball and two-seamer have looked in over a month. "Everything was on point," he said.
That was Nova's final pitch of the night, a knee-buckling curveball out of the zone to fool Slater for a swinging third strike. He threw 89 pitches, 55 of which were strikes, and he got seven ground-ball outs. Nova held McCutchen, Buster Posey, Evan Longoria and Brandon Crawford to a combined 0 for 10 with a pair of strikeouts.
Nova's difficult July was similar to last season, when he struggled in the second half because of a lingering knee injury. That caused him to revamp his workout regimen this past offseason, which helped him lose 10 pounds. Well, it appears his plan has worked.
"We did," Hurdle said when asked if the coaching staff saw more movement on Nova's two-seam fastball. "As we go through the season there are cycles. When you're going to talk about a guy making 30, 35 starts, there's a rhythm. There are times things get out of calibration or out of synch a little bit. ... This movement was clean. It was crisp. Proud of his bounce back."
2. McCutchen's still got it.
The Giants are bad. They're now two games under .500 and seven games back in both the Wild Card and West Division. Sure, injuries have killed them, particularly to the rotation, but there's no excuse for the offense to be as bad as it is. They rank 24th in the majors in runs and 25th in home runs, despite having two former National League MVPs.
They're also terrible on defense and will surely fall out of the race in the coming weeks. It's unlikely McCutchen will finish the season here. After all, he's batted .286 over the past week, and there's no question he's an above-average right fielder. This ballpark doesn't give him much of a chance to flash that ability; however, he made two outstanding plays against his former team.
First, McCutchen collected a ball that caromed off the wall in foul territory, throwing out Frazier trying to stretch a single into a double to lead off the game. Then, McCutchen made a diving catch to rob Diaz of a hit in the sixth inning.
What playoff contender wouldn't want him? It won't cost much since he's a free agent this winter. The Giants are likely to revamp their roster this offseason and began that process last month by recalling center fielder Steven Duggar. Although McCutchen's already beloved among fans, the Giants are unlikely to match his price tag this offseason.
3. Only spelling the rotation?
Hurdle is going to take heat for the Pirates' decision to start Clay Holmes for the second game of this series, rather than having Trevor Williams make his scheduled turn.
Hurdle said this plan has been in place since shortly after the All-Star break because the Pirates want the rotation to get some additional time off after pitching in Denver. The timing is interesting, though. Jameson Taillon pitched a complete game Tuesday and Joe Musgrove threw seven innings Monday.
Both could use rest for a few reasons, but the Pirates are in the middle of a playoff race with only 46 games to play. Holmes, a former ninth-round draft pick, pitched six scoreless innings in a start against the Brewers last month, but he allowed four runs in only 2 1/3 innings against the Dodgers July 3.
On one hand, he's having a career year at Triple-A — 92 strikeouts in 89 1/3 innings — and is deserving of a start. On the other hand, such a move has an impact beyond this series. Archer will now miss a crucial series against the Cubs next weekend. There could be more going on here than a manager simply buying his starters an extra day of rest. Either way, this decision could have an impact beyond Friday night.