Mark Alberti-USA TODAY Sports
Mauricio Dubon made the right kind of outs on the bases.
Buster Posey just doesn’t make outs, while the Giants’ bullpen recorded enough.
After crushing losses Friday and Saturday, the Giants bounced back behind a strong pitching effort, Dubon’s fielding and just enough offense that Posey highlighted in a 4-1 win over the Pirates at PNC Park on Sunday, salvaging a split of a series from which the Giants wanted more.
After 40 games and about a quarter of the season, the Giants (24-16) moved a full game up of the Padres and 1.5 up on the Dodgers, who both play later Sunday. San Francisco crept ahead in the sixth and then got three scoreless innings from Caleb Baragar, Matt Wisler and Tyler Rogers.
Jake McGee wasn’t available after pitching in back-to-back games, and Gabe Kapler was not going to go to Camilo Doval again.
Baragar was shaky, throwing six straight balls at one point, but he recorded three outs against the heart of the Pirates’ order. Next came Wisler, who threw 13 pitches and 13 sliders, going 1-2-3 in a one-run game.
After Mike Yastrzemski’s ninth-inning, two-run shot — his fifth of the year but first since April 24 — Rogers had some breathing room.
Their work made six strong, one-run innings from Alex Wood stand up. He was not the same dominant southpaw he has been throughout this season, Pittsburgh knocking six hits off of him. But much of the contact was weak, the hits inside-outed or blooped in. He pitched his way out of a couple jams and got some serious help from Dubon — who has so had much running the bases this year — in the fifth.
The first out of the inning was made via the second baseman dashing toward the stands and making a nifty running catch nearly against the netting in foul territory. If he looked like a center fielder playing second, well, there’s a reason for that.
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His next play would be more impressive, though. Bryan Reynolds tried to steal second — or at least feigned as if he were — and pulled up early, trying to get in a rundown that would allow Adam Newman to score from third. Dubon chased down Reynolds for a few steps before spinning and firing in one motion. Evan Longoria applied a quick tag to catch Newman just in time. In an inning that had two hits and a wild pitch, Wood and his defense didn’t allow a run to score.
Before Yastrzemski’s blast, the Giants did their damage mostly quietly. Mike Tauchman, who had a nice day at the plate but only had two walks to show for it, got one of those bases on balls to lead off the game then stole second. He advanced to third on a Posey infield single, then scored on an Alex Dickerson ground out.
The Pirates tied it in the fourth but did not take the lead in an inning they loaded the bases without an out. Ka’ai Tom sacrificed one in, but Wood got a flyout and ground out to escape without losing the lead.
The Giants threatened often — they finished with nine hits and went just 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position — but only took the lead again in the sixth, when Longoria singled, eventually advanced to third and scored on a wild pitch.
The offense was not pretty outside of the catcher who was not supposed to provide offense anymore. Posey went 3-for-4 with a walk, improving his OPS to 1.151; his career best, in his MVP season of 2012, was .957. This is not just a returned-to-form Posey, but a Posey better than he was before.
The Giants will tell you as valuable as his bat is, it’s his glove and mind that make him indispensable. He handled Wood and an improved bullpen well Sunday.