Pirates survive a wild 13-12 finish as a 9th-inning throwing error seals win over Giants

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Brandon Lowe scored from third when San Francisco third baseman Oseilvis Basabe short-hopped a throw to first with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Giants 13-12 on Tuesday night.

Lowe led off the ninth against Carson Seymour (0-1) with his fourth hit of the night, before eventually moving to third on a single by Nick Gonzales and a fielder’s choice by Oneil Cruz.

Pittsburgh backup catcher Rafael Flores Jr. then laced a hard grounder to third that Basabe picked cleanly, only to see his throw to first get away from first baseman Rafael Devers.

Lowe’s four-hit night included his 29th home run of the season. Cruz had four hits and drove in four runs for Pittsburgh, which recovered later after blowing a six-run lead.

The Pirates have won five of seven despite allowing the Giants to rally to tie it at 12 thanks to a five-run eighth, the final two runs scoring on Drew Cavanaugh’s double.

Gonzales had three hits for Pittsburgh to boost his batting average to .310. Spencer Horwitz and Jacob Gonzalez added two hits each for the Pirates.

Mason Montgomery (6-3) worked around two hits in the ninth to keep the game tied and put Pittsburgh in position to win it.

The late heroics hardly seemed necessary after the Pirates erupted for nine runs in the third. Bryan Reynolds led off with a single against Logan Webb, and the Pirates spent the next 34 minutes chipping away against Webb and reliever Braxton Roxy behind eight singles, two walks and a hit batter.

Reigning NL Cy Young winner Paul Skenes, who has endured a bit of a slog during his third season in the majors, gave up five runs in 4 2/3 innings. He failed to lock down his first win since mid-July when he allowed consecutive two-out hits in the fifth and was removed after throwing 95 pitches. The right-hander allowed five runs on eight hits with three walks and four strikeouts as his ERA ticked up to 3.97.

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Turner Hill had four hits for San Francisco. Cavanaugh finished with three and Christian Koss added two hits for the Giants, who fell to a National League-worst 24-46 on the road.

Up next

The series continues on Wednesday. Landen Roupp (8-13, 4.25 ERA) starts for the Giants against Pittsburgh’s Bubba Chandler (6-9, 4.26).

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb