Belt leads Giants to team’s 6th straight win

PITTSBURGH — The San Francisco Giants’ recent run of success hasn’t surprised Brandon Belt.

Belt also wasn’t surprised when he helped continue that success Sunday.

Trailing 2-0, Belt started San Francisco’s comeback with an RBI single in a three-run seventh inning, then added a two-run homer in the eighth as the Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-3 Sunday at PNC Park for their season-high sixth straight win.

“I think there’s a confidence and expectation to win now,” Belt said. “Whereas before, I don’t think we had that. It actually might have been the opposite. Not sure what triggered it, but this is the way we feel we should’ve been playing the whole time. This is how our team should be playing.”

Jordy Mercer’s two-run homer in the third off Jeff Samardzija (49) put the Pirates ahead.

Trevor Williams took a two-hit shutout into the seventh, when Hunter Pence walked leading off and Buster Posey doubled. Belt and Brandon Crawford hit consecutive run-scoring singles off left-hander Tony Watson (4-2), and Kelby Tomlinson’s sacrifice fly gave San Francisco a 3-2 lead.

Belt homered in the eighth off Edgar Santana, his 16th this season.

Pittsburgh lost second consecutive game while leading after five innings.

San Francisco’s Brandon Belt hits a pitch from Pittsburgh reliever Edgar Santana for a two-run home run in the eighth inning Sunday in Pittsburgh.

“It’s all about playing a complete game,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “We weren’t able to finish the last two games. We were in position to win them.”

Samardzija won his second straight start, allowing two runs and six hits in six innings. John Jaso homered against Steven Okert in the eighth, and Sam Dyson Keith Srakocic / The Associated Press

pitched a perfect ninth for his second save this season.

“We’re going out there and I don’t think we’re looking it as a whole right now,” Samardzija said. “I think we’re looking at it as a game-by-game moving forward. I just think we need to go out every day and set a tone with the way we start.”

The pitching as a whole impressed Giants manager Bruce Bochy. “What a great job they did this series.”