Pirates Finally Lose As Giants Score 5 Off Erik Bedard In 4th

The Pirates finally lost, 6-5, against the Giants, as Erik Bedard had another rough start. The Bucs jumped out to a 3-0 lead, scoring one in the first on an RBI single by Andrew McCutchen, and two in the third. Josh Harrison walked, and McCutchen (see the picture above) brought him home on a drive to the notch. It looked like Giants center fielder Angel Pagan jogged a little bit, and McCutchen got to third easily. He then came home on a double by Neil Walker that just missed going over the wall in left.

Unfortunately, the top of the fourth proved to be Bedard's undoing. The first five batters of the inning all scored. Justin Christian walked, then Ryan Theriot doubled him in (thanks in part to a weird bounce that caused McCutchen to run right by the ball in center field). Then Melky Cabrera homered, on a very awkward swing on a low breaking ball. Then Buster Posey walked, and Pablo Sandoval singled. Posey came home on Hector Sanchez's single, and Sandoval scored on an error by Harrison.

In the fifth inning, Casey McGehee hit hit sixth homer of the year, a solo shot to make it 5-4 Giants. But a Joaquin Arias leadoff double led to an insurance run for the Giants in the top of the seventh, and the Pirates only managed one more run, on a mammoth eighth-inning blast to right-center by Pedro Alvarez, his 16th homer of the year.

It didn't look like the Cabrera homer was really Bedard's fault, but clearly, he wasn't sharp tonight, and he's been terrible the last six weeks or so. Hopefully the All-Star break will do him some good.