SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Giants needed four innings to figure out Cleveland starter Zach McAllister.
SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Giants needed four innings to figure out Cleveland starter Zach McAllister.
Hunter Pence hit a two-run single in San Francisco’s four-run fifth, leading the Giants to a 5-3 victory over the Indians on Saturday.
“That one inning, it just got contagious,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said.
McAllister (3-1) retired 12 in a row before Michael Morse led off the fifth with a single to center. Morse advanced to third on Brandon Crawford’s one-out single and scored on Gregor Blanco’s pinch-hit single that came on a first-pitch fastball.
“Coming off the bench, it’s not that easy to do,” Blanco said. “In that situation to get a pinch hit and drive one in … you just got to be aggressive.”
Angel Pagan had a sacrifice fly before Pence’s two-out hit gave the Giants a 4-3 lead.
McAllister left after Brandon Belt struck out to end the inning. He allowed five hits, struck out six and walked one after winning his previous three starts.
Buster Posey added a solo homer in the sixth as San Francisco earned its third consecutive win. Posey, who won the NL MVP award in 2012, went 1 for 3 and is batting .103 (4 for 39) over his last 13 games.
“I was happy for Buster,” Bochy said. “You go through these tough streaks and it’s not easy.”
Giants starter Tim Lincecum lasted just 4 2-3 innings, but managed to lower his ERA to 5.96. He was charged with three runs, two earned, and nine hits.
“We did a really good job of making (Lincecum) work,” Cleveland manager Terry Francona said. “We just weren’t able to get that one more hit to tack on.”
Lincecum has pitched just 25 2-3 innings in five starts in his first season since he signed a $35 million, two-year contract over the winter.
“I had my game plan. I just wasn’t executing it,” Lincecum said. “That kind of exacerbated the feeling of hopelessness, I guess. Well, not hopelessness, but just things aren’t going right. Fix that tomorrow.”
But San Francisco continued to get strong work from its bullpen. Juan Gutierrez (1-1), Jean Machi, Jeremy Affeldt and Sergio Romo combined for 4 1-3 hitless innings after Lincecum departed.
Romo got three outs for his sixth save in six chances as San Francisco’s bullpen lowered its MLB-best home ERA to 0.45 in 11 games.
“Very impressive,” Bochy said. “They won the game for us today with the job they did.”
Bochy went out of his way to praise Gutierrez for striking out Yan Gomes with the bases loaded to end the fifth inning.
Michael Bourn, Nick Swisher and David Murphy had two hits apiece for Cleveland. Jason Kipnis drove in two runs.
Cleveland scored in the first, third and fifth to build a 3-0 lead. Kipnis singled in Bourn in the first and drove in Swisher with a grounder in the third. Swisher doubled home Bourn in the fifth.
Saturday marked the 257th straight regular-season sellout at AT&T Park, matching the National League record set by the Philadelphia Phillies from July 7, 2009 to Aug. 5, 2012. Up next on the MLB sellout streak list is the Indians, who sold out Jacobs Field 455 times from June 12, 1995 to April 2, 2001.
NATIONALS 4
PADRES 0
WASHINGTON — Tanner Roark pitched a three-hitter for the first complete game of his career as the Washington Nationals beat the San Diego Padres.
Roark set down the first 16 batters before San Diego catcher Rene Rivera, an .074 batter entering the game, hit a solid single to center field with one out in the sixth inning.
Roark (2-0) walked one and struck out eight, including Jedd Gyorko to end the game on his 105th pitch. The 27-year-old right-hander extended his run of consecutive scoreless innings to 18, improved to 4-0 in his career at Nationals Park. In 35 innings there he has given up one earned run.
Ian Desmond had three hits for Washington, including a run-scoring double — the game’s only extra-base hit — which highlighted a three-run first inning off losing pitcher Andrew Cashner (2-3).
Washington got all the offense it needed in the first inning as singles by Anthony Rendon, Jayson Werth, and Adam LaRoche produced one run. Desmond’s double to the right-field corner brought in another. Danny Espinosa’s sacrifice fly gave the Nationals a 3-0 lead.
PIRATES 6
CARDINALS 1
ST. LOUIS — Gaby Sanchez had two RBIs in a four-run fourth inning and Pittsburgh’s bullpen worked seven strong innings after starter Francisco Liriano left with flu-like symptoms and dizziness in a victory over St. Louis.
Matt Holliday had an RBI double for the Cardinals, who have mustered five runs in their last six games. They got three hits and a run in seven innings off five Pittsburgh relievers.
Yadier Molina was a bust on his jersey giveaway day, striking out with the bases loaded to end the third against Stolmy Pimentel (2-0) and popping out with runners on second and third to end the fifth against Jared Hughes. He entered batting .431 during a 15-game hitting streak.
Andrew McCutchen and Jose Tabata each added an RBI off Tyler Lyons (0-2) in the fourth, with the first four runners reaching safely after the lefty opened with three perfect innings. Tabata totaled three hits and is a career .345 hitter at Busch Stadium.
YANKEES 4
ANGELS 3
NEW YORK — John Ryan Murphy hit his first big league homer and drove in three runs, Dellin Betances earned his first win in the majors and the New York Yankees bounced back to beat the Los Angeles Angels.
David Robertson posted his first save since coming off the disabled list. Mike Trout singled with one out in a nervy ninth and stole second, but Robertson retired Albert Pujols on a flyball and struck out Howie Kendrick to end it.
A day after the Angels homered four times in a 13-1 romp, they started strong when Trout hit a solo shot on the seventh pitch of the afternoon.
Murphy lined a two-out, two-run single in the second that gave the Yankees a 3-1 lead. The backup catcher then homered on the first pitch in the fifth, tagging Hector Santiago (0-4) for a 4-3 lead.
Betances (1-0) took over in the fifth for shaky starter Vidal Nuno and pitched two scoreless innings.
RED SOX 7
BLUE JAYS 6
TORONTO — A.J. Pierzynski hit his eighth career grand slam and Will Middlebrooks added a solo homer, powering Boston to the road win.
Jose Bautista and Juan Francisco hit solo home runs for the Blue Jays, who have lost a season-high four straight games.
Middlebrooks has five home runs and 10 extra base hits in 13 career games at Toronto’s Rogers Centre. He had a three-homer game against the Blue Jays on April 7, 2013.
Clay Buchholz survived a shaky first inning to win for the first time in five starts this season. Buchholz (1-2) allowed three runs and six hits in seven innings. Koji Uehara got four outs for his fifth save.
Blue Jays right-hander Brandon Morrow (1-2) issued a career-worst eight walks in 2 2-3 innings, allowing four runs without giving up a hit.
TWINS 5, TIGERS 3
MINNEAPOLIS — Phil Hughes threw seven strong innings and Josmil Pinto hit his fifth homer, leading Minnesota to the victory.
Hughes (2-1) had six strikeouts with no walks. He retired 16 straight at one point and has won two straight — a welcome sight for a Twins rotation that had produced only six quality starts this season.
Jared Burton pitched a scoreless eighth and Glen Perkins worked the ninth for his sixth save in seven chances.
Detroit led 2-0 before starter Anibal Sanchez left in the third with a blister on his middle finger on his throwing hand, forcing newly recalled Jose Ortega (0-1) into action.
Ortega, who had just arrived from Triple-A Toledo, and Phil Coke then combined to walk six Twins batters — five in the fifth.