Pirates swept by Giants after walkoff seals 8-7 defeat

The Pittsburgh Pirates finally shook off the offensive doldrums against the San Francisco Giants, but it still wasn’t enough to snag a win, as the Giants won it on a ninth-inning walkoff home run by Thairo Estrada off of Wil Crowe.

It was a back and forth contest before that, however, that saw the Pirates down big early after the Giants built a 5-0 lead off of starter Zach Thompson, including a three-run dinger from LaMonte Wade Jr., who absolutely killed the Bucs this series. Thompson went four innings for Pittsburgh, giving up five runs on seven hits with two walks and five strikeouts.

But Bryan Reynolds came to the rescue, smacking a two-RBI double in the fifth and a three-run homer in the seventh. Ben Gamel had an RBI groundout in between those big hits (that scored Reynolds), and suddenly the Buccos were up 6-5. Reynolds finished the day 3-for-4 with three runs scored and five RBIs.

The Giants then tied it up in the bottom of the seventh after a flubbed pop-up between Kevin Newman and Oneil Cruz, setting the stage for a wild ninth inning that saw Rodolfo Castro hit a grounder to third that scored Reynolds.

Following a throwing error by Giants hot corner man Evan Longoria, Ben Gamel also tried to score but was thrown out by Giants first baseman Wilmer Flores. The Bucs challenged the play, saying San Fran catcher Joey Bart blocked the plate, but the play was upheld. The Bucs headed into the bottom of the inning up 7-6, but Estrada took Crowe deep with a runner on to end it.

Crowe fell to 4-7 on the year, and the Bucs fell to 45-70 on the season with the sweep. They are now off Monday but will return to action Tuesday against the Boston Red Sox.