SAN FRANCISCO_The San Francisco Giants, front-runners in the National League West since May 10, suddenly find themselves looking up in the division from second place.
Jung Ho Kang's eighth-inning, two-out solo homer off Bruce Bochy's most reliable reliever, rookie Derek Law, gave the Pittsburgh Pirates a 4-3 victory over the reeling Giants at AT&T Park and knocked them out of the top spot.
The Giants came into their game holding a half-game lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers, but by the time their game started, the Dodgers were well on their way to a 15-5 pounding of the Philadelphia Phillies back East.
The Giants, 9-20 since the All-Star break, have been badly victimized by the home run in the second half and this latest game was no exception, Kang's blast was 41st the Giants have given up in the 29 games since the break while they've hit just 23 of their own_and none on this night.
Law, who had given up just one homer in 48 previous appearances this season, appeared to have worked out of a jam in the eighth. After ending the seventh with a strikeout of Starling Marte with two on, the hard-throwing right-hander walked Andrew McCutchen to lead off the eighth.
But Gregory Polanco hit a fly out to center and catcher Buster Posey gunned down McCutchen trying to steal with Kang at the plate. But on a 1-2 pitch, Kang got a pitch into the air to deep center and it cleared the wall for his 14th homer.
Law hadn't given up a home run since the Braves' Freddie Freeman took him deep in Atlanta on June 1 in a 5-4 Giants' 11th-inning defeat. It was also Law's last personal loss, but this one stung a lot more.
It stung a lot more for the Giants, too, who had a golden opportunity to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth. Pirates shortstop Jordy Mercer led pinch-hitter Trevor Brown's one-out roller go under his glove, and after Gregor Blanco came in to pinch-run, Joe Panik doubled to left field.
But the rally fizzled. Ehire Adrianza, who had entered the game as a defensive replacement, hit a first-pitch popout to second base, and Denard Span grounded out to second base to end the game.
The Giants got a solid starting performance from Jeff Samardzija, who pitched the first six innings and allowed three runs on six hits while striking out five. But the bullpen once again buckled in a big moment.
Samardzija survived the first and second innings allowing just one run in each when it could have been a lot worse. In the top of the first, he allowed back-to-back one-out singles to Marte and McCutchen, and when Polanco hit a chopper between the mound and first, Samardzija fielded the ball and elected to try and come home. The speedy Marte easily beat his throw to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead, but Kang followed by hitting a double-play grounder to second baseman Panik.
The Giants answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first against Pirates rookie starter Jameson Taillon. Span and Angel Pagan opened with back-to-back singles, Pagan stole second, and following a Brandon Belt pop-up, Posey doubled into the right-center gap to bring home both runners.
Samardzija gave his lead right back, however, when Francisco Cervelli and John Jaso opened the bottom of the second with back-to-back doubles, and appeared to be on the ropes early when No. 8 hitter followed with a walk. But attempting to sacrifice, Taillon hit into a double play and Samardzija retired Josh Harrison on a grounder to second to minimize the damage.
Both starters subsequently settled in. Samardzija retired seven straight hitters and pitched three scoreless innings heading into the sixth, while Taillon retired 10 in a row following the Posey double and also cruised into the sixth.
The Pirates finally broke through in the top of the sixth when McCutchen tripled to center and the Giants, playing their infield deep, conceded the run on a Polanco groundout. But San Francisco tied it right back up in the bottom half of the inning, when Posey singled, advanced to third on Brandon Crawford's double to right center and scored on Hunter Pence's grounder to short.
_The Giants have signed 41-year-old veteran reliever Joe Nathan to a minor league deal, and he'll pitch for Double-A Richmond to start to be near his East Coast home. Bochy said it's worth seeing what Nathan, who was originally drafted by the Giants as a shortstop, has to offer.
"He brings an experienced, he's been in the fire," Bochy said. "He's not going to be afraid, we know that about him. You have to like the resume this guy has. He's an experienced closer, and those guys are invaluable, it doesn't matter where they pitch _ 7th, 8th, 9th innings_because they're accustomed to pitching with the game on the line."
