Giants prevail, pillage series from Pirates
Thairo Estrada and Mike Yastrzemski hit back-to-back home runs in the third inning, and rookie righthander Keaton Winn had another strong start to lead the Giants to a 3-2 victory Sunday over the Pirates.
Rookie shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald added three hits for the Giants, who took two of three from the Pirates and finished their longest homestand of the season 6-4. San Francisco will hit the road for 10 games, beginning Tuesday night in Boston for the first of three against the Red Sox.
Pittsburgh lost for the 10th time in 13 games.
Winn (3-3) held the Pirates to one run over six innings, his line over the past three starts, all victories. He walked one, struck out five. He also hit Edward Olivares to start the fifth inning, leading to a run on Rowdy Tellez’s RBI double.
Erik Miller and Ryan Walker each pitched a scoreless inning in relief of Winn. Closer Camilo Doval allowed a ninth-inning run, but retired Joey Bart on a ground ball with the potential tying and go-ahead runs on base for his fifth save.
Estrada hit the first pitch of the inning into the bleachers in left-center for his fourth of the season. Yastrzemski followed by driving a 2-and-2 pitch over the wall in straightaway center. The Giants had three more hits in the inning and scored a third run on LaMonte Wade Jr.’s no-out sacrifice fly.
Yastrzemski had a tough start to the season but has heated up ahead of the Giants’ first visit to Boston in five years. As a rookie in 2019, Yastrzemski homered in his first game at Fenway Park in the presence of his grandfather, Red
Sox legend and Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski. Before that game, Carl threw the ceremonial first pitch to Mike.
Yastrzemski hit .409 in 22 at-bats on the homestand, with two homers and eight RBIs.
Langford circles bases
Wyatt Langford’s first big league homer was a memorable sprint around the bases for the promising rookie. Langford hit an inside-the-park homer, helping the Rangers put together a fast start in a 4-3 win over the visiting Reds.
Batting with Jonah Heim on first with two out in the first inning, Langford drove a 3-and-2 fastball from lefthander Andrew Abbott toward right-center field. The ball hit about halfway up the wall at the 374-foot mark, which briefly angles out at 45 degrees. It bounced past right fielder Jake Fraley toward the right-field corner. The 22-year-old Langford took off after seeing the ball get past Fraley and scored without a throw, giving the Rangers a 4-0 lead.
“It’s super cool,” Langford said. “I’ll definitely remember it forever.”
Langford became the fourth player for the Rangers to hit an insider-the-parker for his first big league homer. The previous one was hit by teammate Josh Smith in July 2022.
Perez, Tigers have a blast
Wenceel Perez hit a two-run drive for his first major league homer, and the host Tigers beat the Royals, 4-1.
Jake Rogers also homered for the Tigers, who have won five of seven. It was Detroit’s 10th come-from-behind win of the season on its way to a 16-12 record.
The Royals have lost two in a row after a four-game winning streak.
Tarik Skubal (4-0) pitched seven innings of one-run ball for Detroit. Jason Foley notched his ninth save.
The Royals’ Michael Wacha (1-3) permitted four runs and nine hits in 5„ innings.
Kansas City’s Salvador Perez walked in the ninth, extending his on-base streak to 18 games.