Robbie Ray delivered six strong innings, Luis Arraez broke the game open with a two-run single in the seventh, and the San Francisco Giants kicked off a three-game home series against the Pittsburgh Pirates with a 5-2 win on Friday night.
Rafael Devers homered, singled, and scored twice for San Francisco, which had lost eight of its previous nine games.
After Devers and Pittsburgh’s Marcell Ozuna exchanged solo home runs early, the Giants took the lead for good in the fourth inning against Pirates starter Carmen Mlodzinski (2-3) with a two-out RBI single from Heliot Ramos.
Both home runs were the fourth of the season for Devers and Ozuna, respectively.
The score stayed at 2-1 until Drew Gilbert drove in Willy Adames with a single in the seventh. Three batters later, Arraez lined a single to right field, scoring Gilbert and Ramos to complete the Giants’ scoring.
Ray (3-4) left the game with a 2-1 lead after throwing 93 pitches over six innings. He allowed four hits and four walks while striking out seven, snapping a personal three-game losing streak.
After Keaton Winn and Matt Gage each pitched a hitless inning, the Pirates threatened against Caleb Kilian in the ninth. Pittsburgh closed to 5-2 on a one-out RBI single by pinch-hitter Spencer Horwitz, but Kilian got Brandon Lowe to pop up and pinch-hitter Ryan O’Hearn to ground out to third, with both representing the potential tying run.
Mlodzinski, losing for the third time in his last four starts, allowed just two runs on seven hits over six innings. He struck out one and walked none.
Willy Adames, Heliot Ramos, and Jung Hoo Lee each joined Devers with two hits for the Giants, whose 12 hits marked their most since a 10-inning loss at Philadelphia last Thursday.
Ozuna added a single to his home run for the Pirates, who managed only five hits. The loss was just Pittsburgh’s second in its last seven games.
The only extra-base hits in the contest were the home runs from Devers and Ozuna, along with a double by Ramos.
