Giants ride timely hitting to gutsy win over Pirates

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It wasn't easy, but the Giants were able to put away the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday to clinch a series victory on the road. 

Beating Pittsburgh 7-5 at PNC Park on Saturday afternoon, the Giants moved to 10 games above .500 for the first time this season. 

Lefty Alex Wood (W, 5.1 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 Ks) got the start for the Giants and pitched into the sixth inning after some mid-inning negotiating with Giants manager Gabe Kapler. 

"We won, that's all I care about," Wood said after the game. 

"When he came out in the fifth, I was glad he let me stay in. Usually, when I see him, I'm leaving the game. It was nice, he came out and talked to me, gave me a breather, let me stay in and finish that inning and then obviously felt good to get back out and get the lefty and hand it over to the pen."

The Giants' offense was an underwhelming 4-for-14 with runners in scoring position on Saturday but still managed to score seven runs. 

"I still think we're kind of right there, pushing right up against the line but not able to make the dam break right now," Kapler told reporters postgame. "That's going to come, just keep getting on base via the walk, keep having good, quality at-bats, working pitchers, and I think the net result will be we'll come up with a big hit and clear the bases at some point, we just haven't gotten there over the last couple of days."

Solo home runs from Wilmer Flores and Austin Slater in the first and fifth innings, paired with timely hits from Darin Ruf, Luis González and two from Brandon Crawford capped off the Giants' scoring after the Pirates jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the third with Diego Castillo's three-run homer off Wood. 

After Wood departed with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Giants' bullpen was -- for the most part -- solid other than Dominic Leone's near-disastrous inning in the bottom of the eighth. 

First he allowed a solo home run to Daniel Vogelbach to lead off the inning, then Leone proceeded to load the bases with the Giants leading just 6-5 at that point. Jake McGee came on to record the final out and preserve the lead. 

Crawford tacked on an RBI double in the top of the ninth to give the Giants an insurance run before closer Camilo Doval came on for a 1-2-3 ninth inning. 

"[Alex Wood] other than one mistake to Castillo pitched really well," Crawford said postgame. "We played good defense and had good at-bats up and down the lineup. [Evan Longoria] I think had three walks, Gonzo with a big hit ... and just kept adding on. That ended up being a big deal because they were fighting back too."

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The Giants have clinched a series victory over the Pirates and will go for the sweep on Sunday morning at PNC Park. 

Starter Alex Cobb is expected to be activated from the injured list and will face off against Pirates righty Mitch Keller. 

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