Will Craig homers in debut, but Pirates fall to Giants 3-1

If the Pittsburgh Pirates didn’t call up Will Craig prior to tonight’s game against the Giants, we very likely would have seen another shutout.

Luckily Craig did get the call-up from AAA and the start tonight at first, but the rest of the Pirates couldn’t get on the board, resulting in a 3-1 defeat at the hands of the Giants to start the four-game weekend set.

Another Wil (drop the second L), last name Crowe, got the start on the mound tonight for the Buccos and pitched four scoreless innings before getting into trouble in the fifth inning. He surrendered a home run to Steven Duggar and a triple to Mike Yazstremski to make the game 3-0.

The Pirates simply couldn’t create enough chances to close the gap until the 8th, when Craig sent a ball high and deep to right field.

That’s the one mistake the Giants pitching staff made tonight. They were extremely solid all the way through with Anthony DeSclafani starting the game, giving up one hit over five innings. He handed the ball off to four relievers who took them home and it was bookended by Sam Rogers, who picked up his third save of the season.

The Pirates have struggled to score runs this season, and tonight was no different. Putting Will Craig in the lineup gives the team some potential pop, but it’s going to take more than just that to wake up the bats.

The Pirates return to PNC tomorrow night for Game 2 of the four-game series. Kevin Gausman takes the hill against Tyler Anderson. First pitch is at 6:35 p.m. EST.