San Francisco Giants Suffer First Loss On Roadtrip, Tim Hudson Stellar Again
May 6, 2014; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates left fielder Starling Marte (6) slides into home beating a tag by San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey (28) to score the game winning run during the ninth inning at PNC Park. The Pirates won 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
The San Francisco Giants fell to the Pittsburgh Pirates by the final score of 2-1. The game was a complete 180 from yesterday’s wild, high-scoring affair, and this evening the Giants could not prevail.
Once again Tim Hudson was fantastic on the mound for San Francisco, but unfortunately tonight he did not get the run support he deserved. Hudson would finish with a very impressive line that includes two runs allowed, one earned, and five strikeouts in 8.2 innings (complete game).
Of the two runs, the most damaging was the one scored in the bottom of the ninth, and partly because it was unearned. It came with two outs and started when Starling Marte hit a triple off the right field wall.
But, the play was not over as Adrianza made a bad throw to third, allowing Marte to head to home. He was subsequently called out on the play, but after video review the play was correctly overturned, leading to a walk-off for the Pirates.
The first run scored on Hudson came in the bottom of the second inning when Marte scored from third. Marte first got on base hit, then advanced to third base on a hit-and-run. The next batter Tony Sanchez then grounded out to Pablo Sandoval at third, but in the process brought Marte home from third.
For the Giants, one run was all they could muster, and that run came in the second inning right before the Pirates scored their run. Brandon Belt was the beneficiary of a bad throw by Pittsburgh catcher Sanchez on a steal attempt of second. Belt not only took second, but advanced to third on the errand throw. Two batters later he scored in a sacrifice fly by Ehire Adrianza. That made it 1-0, though the Pirates would score in the bottom of the inning.
In the top of ninth the San Francisco Giants threatened again with runners on second and third and two outs, but Adrianza popped out to end the inning. Unfortunately, failing to score with the game still at one apiece came to bite them in the butt in the end.
This will be a tough loss to swallow for the San Francisco Giants who got a complete game out of Hudson in another stellar performance. You can’t win them all though, and with the loss the Giants have fallen to 4-1 on the road trip. Tomorrow they will look to get back on track in the rubber-match against the Pirates.