Fogg picks up first win
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Josh Fogg came to San Francisco last season and pitched six scoreless innings and left with nothing to show for it. Not this time.
Fogg pitched five-plus strong innings for his first win of the season, Craig Wilson homered and the Pittsburgh Pirates held on for a 6-4 victory over the Giants on Saturday.
“I had a good start here last year,” Fogg said. “I had to be pinch-hit for because we had a chance to score runs. I’ve had some bad luck early and I’ve been giving up runs on some good pitches. I’ve created my own luck pretty much.
“It’s great to get this out of the way. I just had to keep plugging. I couldn’t start pressing and start thinking about when I was going to win the first one.”
Jason Kendall drove in three runs and Jason Bay added a two-run single for the Pirates, who welcomed back manager Lloyd McClendon after he served a one-game suspension Friday night.
The Pirates have won three straight and four of five following a season-worst six-game losing streak.
Fogg (1-4) retired the first eight San Francisco batters, four on strikeouts, and 15 of 18 to start the game. He didn’t allow a baserunner past first until giving up back-to-back singles to Ray Durham and J.T. Snow in the sixth. Fogg struck out five in 5 2-3 innings and allowed two earned runs on six hits.
“My change really was on,” Fogg said. “It felt good coming out of my hands.”
The Giants loaded the bases against Jose Mesa with one out in the ninth, but he got Marquis Grissom to ground into a game-ending double play – San Francisco’s major league-leading 46th – for his 11th save in as many chances.
“The double play – no question – with the bases loaded – it’s awesome,” Mesa said. “A normal save is a lot better. I’ll take 1-2-3 anytime.”
Edgardo Alfonzo had a homer and a two-run single among his three hits for the Giants, who have lost three in a row. Alfonzo is batting .500 (7-for-14) with four RBIs during the six-game homestand.
Durham was lifted for a pinch-runner in the ninth because he was favoring his left leg. Durham, who is recovering from a strained patellar tendon in his left knee, will be re-evaluated Sunday.
Wilson connected for his ninth homer on the first pitch from Brett Tomko (1-3) with two outs in the third. The ball sailed just above the glove of a leaping Grissom in center field.
Barry Bonds missed his second straight game because of back spasms, and the Giants don’t expect the slugger in the lineup again until Tuesday’s game against the Cubs in Chicago. That means his former team won’t have a chance to walk him – Bonds leads the majors with 54 free passes in 32 games.
“I believe it gives the other team psychological security” without Bonds in the lineup, Giants manager Felipe Alou said.
Even if Alou had wanted to use the six-time NL MVP to pinch-hit in the ninth, it wouldn’t have happened because Bonds had left for home earlier in the game.
Durham went 3-for-4 with a walk and an RBI single in the seventh. Alfonzo hit his first homer of the year leading off the eighth, a solo shot to left. He had a two-run single in the sixth.
But that was about it for the Giants’ offense.
“Any ideas anybody?” Alou asked to open his post-game press conference.
Tomko retired the side in order in the second and fifth innings, but those were his only easy innings. He threw 118 pitches over six innings, struck out three and walked four.
Bay drove in two runs with his two-out single in the first to give the Pirates the lead, but both were unearned after Durham’s fielding error at second on a potential double-play ball.
After Wilson’s homer in the third, Kendall hit his two-run single in the fourth to make it 5-0. Kendall added an RBI single in the eighth.
“I had some mechanics trouble,” Tomko said. “The first three or four innings kind of felt a little out of whack. I regrouped and found a happy medium of what I wanted to do and what I had to do.”
McClendon was suspended for the first time in his career for “inappropriate conduct” during the 10th inning of last Sunday’s game against Los Angeles.