PITTSBURGH—Matt Chapman homered for the third straight game, this one a three-run drive that sparked a five-run, eighth-inning rally, and the San Francisco Giants spoiled a solid start by highly touted Pittsburgh Pirates rookie Paul Skenes by surging to a 7–6 win on Thursday.
Chapman went deep off Hunter Stratton (1–1), pinch hitter Wilmer Flores drove in the tying run with a single, and Brett Wisely delivered a go-ahead single off Aroldis Chapman as the Giants overcame a big deficit for the second time in less than 24 hours.
San Francisco, which blew a four-run, ninth-inning lead in a 7–6, 10-inning loss in Tuesday’s series opener, trailed by five early in a 9–5, extra-inning victory on Wednesday.
The Giants were down 6–2 through seven on Thursday before getting going against Pittsburgh’s struggling bullpen as the Giants won consecutive games in which they trailed by at least four runs for the first time since 1998.
“Incredible,” San Francisco Manager Bob Melvin said, “It’s a complete team win, both games.”
Skenes allowed one run on six hits with a walk in six innings in his third major-league start. He exited with the Pirates comfortably ahead before things fell apart.
Matt Chapman, Wisely, Lamont Wade Jr., and Heliot Ramos, who homered, had two hits apiece for the Giants, who won for just the fifth time in their past 13 road games. Luke Jackson (2–1) picked up the win by working the seventh. With closer Camilo Doval having worked each of the previous two nights, Tyler Rogers pitched the ninth for his first save this season.
“It’s definitely nice to get into the bullpen,” said Matt Chapman, who is hitting .404 (17 of 42) with four home runs and 13 RBIs in his past 11 games. “We knew that their bullpen is pretty taxed after the last couple of days. So, we felt like if we could get into that bullpen, we’ve got a chance to come back, which is nice.”
The rally came after Skenes had long since exited following another impressive outing.
The 6-foot-6 right-hander struck out just three but expertly worked his way around traffic on the bases. All six hits against the 21-year-old rookie were singles as Skenes lowered his earned-run average to 2.25.
“Didn’t have the best stuff but made do,” Skenes said. “That’s their game, what they did today. They’re not going to punch out a whole lot, and [they] put the ball in play. Overall, pretty happy with it.”
The top pick in the 2023 amateur draft has become an immediate sensation in Pittsburgh. A crowd of 23,162—more than double what the club had been averaging for weekday matinees this season—came out to see the hard-throwing Skenes and his trademark mustache. That look is getting nearly as much attention as his 100-plus mph fastball.
Six days removed from a dominant start at Chicago in which he tossed six hitless innings against the Cubs, Skenes wasn’t quite as overpowering against the Giants. Only four of his 93 pitches reached triple digits, and he relied more on contact to work himself out of trouble, using two double plays and some solid defensive play by third baseman Jared Triolo to get through San Francisco’s lineup nearly three times.
“Our bullpen has got to be better,” Pirates Manager Derek Shelton said. “We had, what, a 5–1 lead yesterday, 6–2 lead today? We have to be better. ... We have to win games like that.”
Joey Bart hit a 434-shot off the batter’s eye behind the center-field fence in the fourth for the first grand slam of his career. Bart, taken second overall in the 2018 draft by the Giants before being acquired by Pittsburgh in April, also added a double before being ejected by first-base umpire Alex Tossi after grounding out to end the eighth inning.
Roster Moves
Giants: Placed left-hander Blake Snell on the paternity list and recalled right-hander Nick Avila from Double-A Richmond, Va. Snell is expected to return in time to make his next scheduled start.Up Next
Giants: Continue a six-game road trip Friday night when they visit the New York Mets.Pirates: Welcome the Atlanta Braves for a three-game set starting Friday.
