Giants 2 - 5 Pirates
Final
  for this game

Giants-Pirates Preview

Aug 23, 2015 - 12:59 AM Jung Ho Kang keeps coming up big in tightly contested games, and the Pittsburgh Pirates keep coming out on top.

They'll look for Kang and red-hot Starling Marte to help them to a series victory against the visiting San Francisco Giants on Sunday night.

Kang went deep twice against San Francisco in his first career multihomer game Saturday before Marte hit a walkoff shot against George Kontos for a 3-2 victory - the Pirates' 19th in their last 24 games at PNC Park.

Kang is batting .290 in one-run games with 20 RBIs and a team-leading eight of his 12 home runs. Pittsburgh (73-48) has been flourishing in one-run games, too, winning 13 of 15 since June 30. The Pirates improved to 27-15 on the year with Saturday's win, which is tied with the Chicago Cubs for the second-most one-run victories behind St. Louis' 28.

Pittsburgh's bullpen has also been crucial in close games, winning 18 straight decisions - the majors' longest streak since 1909 - since its last loss June 25. Although the bullpen was shaky Saturday with Joakim Soria blowing a save, the unit owns a 0.82 ERA over the last eight games.

Meanwhile, Marte was 2 for 4 and robbed Brandon Crawford of a second-inning homer. He's batting .375 with eight runs and six extra-base hits during a seven-game hit streak.

"He's an exciting player," manager Clint Hurdle said.

The Giants (66-57) were held to fewer than four runs for the fifth time in six games after breaking out for 14 hits in Friday's 6-4 win. Marlon Byrd was 0 for 4 with three strikeouts after going 3 for 5 with a homer in his club debut a day earlier.

San Francisco's Ryan Vogelsong (9-8, 3.93 ERA) has been tough to hit in three starts since rejoining the rotation after Mike Leake's injury, holding opponents to a .196 batting average. He yielded one run over 11 innings while striking out 13 in back-to-back victories against Washington and St. Louis.

Vogelsong is 2-4 with a 3.55 ERA in six starts against the Pirates, for whom he pitched 103 games from 2001-06. He gave up three earned runs over six innings in a 4-3 home loss June 1.

Neil Walker is batting .167 over his last seven games but owns a .421 average in 19 at-bats versus Vogelsong.

Francisco Liriano (8-6, 3.35) hasn't lost in nine starts, but he's been less than stellar recently with a 5.82 ERA in the last four while yielding a .394 on-base percentage compared to his previous .265 mark. He gave up five runs over seven-plus innings in Pittsburgh's 9-8, 15-inning victory against Arizona on Tuesday.

He struck out five and walked three, and owns a 1.6 ratio in his last three outings. Liriano's season strikeout-to-walk ratio is 3.0, his best since 2010.

The left-hander won a 5-2 final at San Francisco on June 3, allowing one run in seven innings - the second straight time he posted that line against the Giants.

San Francisco's .268 average against lefties is one of the best in the majors. Buster Posey is 5 for 11 against Liriano, while Byrd is 5 for 13.






Related News