Pirates win finale, complete series over Giants 5-2
The Giants dropped the finale in Pittsburgh 5-2, falling to 58-83 and officially eliminated at 25.5 games back in the NL West.
Skenes' rough night wasn't enough to save the opener
Pittsburgh opened the series by outlasting San Francisco 13-12, walking it off after erasing an 11-5 deficit and trailing 12-7 in the eighth before the Giants tied it back up, per FoulTerritoryTV and TalkinBaseball_. Paul Skenes started for the Pirates and lasted only 4.2 innings, allowing 5 earned runs on 8 hits with 4 strikeouts and 3 walks, per TalkinBaseball_. Devers' throwing error on a ball that bounced to him let the winning run come around, per AlexJStumpf.
Pirates12-13Pirates5-4Pirates2-5The Giants answered by winning the next game 5-4 in 10 innings on September 2, per AlexJStumpf, before Pittsburgh took the finale 5-2 on September 3 — the Pirates' third straight series win, per AlexJStumpf. Blade Tidwell started that finale for San Francisco and allowed 2 earned runs over 5 innings, striking out 5 and walking 5.
Eliminated, 25.5 games back of the Dodgers
San Francisco sits at 58-83, 25.5 games behind the first-place Dodgers (83-57) in the NL West, and the standings already carry an 'E' next to their name — the Giants are mathematically eliminated. Arizona (74-67) and San Diego (73-67) remain in it behind Los Angeles, each with an elimination number of 13, while only Colorado (54-86, 29.0 back) sits further out than San Francisco.
None of that changes what the last five games looked like: a 3-2 stretch that included a 7-2 win over Arizona and a 7-3 win at Atlanta before the split in Pittsburgh. There's no race left to affect, but a club playing better than .500 over its last five is still worth watching for what it says about next season.
Upcoming
The Giants are in New York tonight, sending Matt Wilkinson (0-2, 4.63 ERA) to face Nolan McLean (10-8, 3.06 ERA) for the Mets. Wilkinson lost his last start against Arizona on August 29, allowing 2 earned runs over 6 innings with 4 strikeouts and 2 walks; McLean was sharp in his last time out, throwing 7 shutout innings against Houston on August 29 with 4 strikeouts and just 2 hits allowed.
New York is favored at home, and the total is read as middling — not a game the market expects to turn into a slugfest. McLean's command has been the story of his last start, and if it holds against a Giants lineup that put up double-digit runs twice against Pittsburgh, San Francisco's best path is getting to Wilkinson's shorter track record before New York's bullpen takes over.