Are the Bucs back on the winning track? Huge series with the Brewers coming up in Milwaukee. Dejan Kovacevic will be covering the big weekend series for the Trib. Ken Laird and Guy Junker start talking Bucs 9am Thursday morning. Friday-TribLIVE Radio will have a big preview segment for the series.
Rob Biertempfel's story on the Bucs win.
SAN FRANCISCO – The Pirates were willing to wait for Jonathan Sanchez's erratic control to cause him problems today. It didn't take long.
The San Francisco Giants left-hander didn't make it through the fifth inning. The Pirates parlayed five hits and four walks off Sanchez into an easy, 9-2 victory.
It was the Pirates' biggest single-game run production since July 10. They finished with 10 hits, including seven singles, and put 18 runners on base.
Andrew McCutchen reached base five times – three walks, a hit by pitch and a two-run homer – stole two bases and scored four runs. Matt Diaz had a pair of RBI hits, Ryan Ludwick went 3 for 4 and Brandon Wood hit a two-run single.
Before the game, manager Clint Hurdle said the Pirates would have a simple approach against Sanchez.
"We've got to make him throw strikes and get him over the plate," Hurdle said. "There's a lot of chase involved when he's on. You want to show some discipline. You want to be ready to hit in the strike zone. Make him throw strikes."
The Pirates followed the plan perfectly.
Sanchez (4-7) began the game by walking McCutchen on four pitches. McCutchen stole second and scored on Ryan Ludwick's two-out single.
In the third, Jeff Karstens drew a leadoff walk. McCutchen followed with a homer deep into the left field seats. Steve Pearce walked on four pitches, went to third on an error and scored on Diaz's two-out, bloop single.
Another walk by McCutchen led to another run in the fifth. McCutchen advanced on a wild pitch, then scored on Jones' broken-bat single to right.
Garrett Jones' single knocked Sanchez out of the game. Sanchez threw 83 pitches, only 45 of them strikes.
Karstens (9-6) worked six innings and amassed a career-high nine strikeouts. The righty gave up two runs on eight hits.