Pittsburgh Pirates Shut Out San Francisco Giants

Published: 28^th Apr 11 1:06 am

Danielle Parenteau
Danielle Parenteau

1 Rant »

James McDonald and Madison Bumgarner pitched their best games of 2011 as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the San Francisco Giants 2-0 yesterday.

A shaky second inning by Bumgarner put the Pirates on the board first.

Leading off, Neil Walker hit a groundball to Bumgarner. The pitcher mishandled, allowing Walker to reach safely. (The play was ruled a hit, though it should have been an error.)

A double by Steve Pearce moved Walker to third.

After a single by Chris Snyder, Aaron Rowand made a good play to keep Pearce on second, but Walker still came in to score.

Despite the early stumble, Bumgarner put up his strongest outing of the season.

Failing to make it out of the third inning in his last start, he came into this game with a 7.79 ERA and 0-3 record.

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Last night, he only allowed that one run on five hits, also walking one and striking out seven.

Unfortunately for the Giants, Pittsburgh starter James McDonald also turned in his best performance so far.

Like Bumgarner, he came in without a win (0-2) and with a poor ERA (10.13).

While Bumgarner remains winless, McDonald got his first victory by shutting out the Giants for six innings.

The Pittsburgh bullpen held San Francisco scoreless for the final three.

The Giants bullpen would not have the same result after Bumgarner’s exit.

Dan Runzler came on in the seventh and allowed singles to Pedro Alvarez and Brandon Wood, the first two batters in the frame.

A bunt force out erased Alvarez and moved Wood into scoring position.

Then, Guillermo Mota entered the game and struck out the first batter he faced, Andrew McCutchen. However, he then surrendered a single to Snyder, which drove in Wood.

The series wraps up today at 9:35 a.m. PDT.

Probable Pitchers: Ryan Vogelsong (0-0, 0.00) vs. Jeff Karstens (2-0, 3.94)

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