PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pirates right-hander Jordan Lyles expects to make his next start after an injury scare Friday night.
It’s not so certain if center fielder Starling Marte and shortstop Erik González will be so lucky.
Lyles cruised through six innings before taking a line drive off his pitching hand, Marte and González were pulled after a collision in the field, and short-handed Pittsburgh beat the San Francisco Giants 4-1.
Lyles (2-0) continued his hot start, striking out six and allowing four hits in a scoreless outing that dropped his ERA to a major league-best 0.53. His hand was bruised by Joe Panik’s line drive, which González snagged for an inning-ending double play.
Lyles believes he was able to escape without serious damage.
“I got clipped on a couple fingers,” he said. “In between innings, it just started to swell up a little bit. I felt like we might’ve been better off with another guy out there. I just lost a little feeling, but we’re good to go. We did some tests and we’re good to go. I’ll be ready for my next start.”
In the eighth, Marte charged from center on a softly hit ball by Yangervis Solarte and slammed into González. González walked off, with trainers attending to his left shoulder, which took the brunt of the collision. Marte took longer to get to his feet and was driven off the field on a cart. The team did not provide an update on the status of either player.
Manger Clint Hurdle was not clear as to what caused the collision.
“The last thing I’m going to do is assess blame,” he said. “Sometimes, when you get in those situations, both guys could be calling for the ball simultaneously.”
The Pirates have eight players already on the injured list but haven’t exactly been hampered. They hold the best winning percentage in the NL with an 11-6 record.
Pittsburgh got all of its runs against Madison Bumgarner (1-3) in the first inning. Francisco Cervelli had a two-run double, and Pablo Reyes and JB Shuck added RBI singles.
Bumgarner allowed just two more hits over his final five innings. He struck out seven. He pointed to a two-out walk issued to Jung Ho Kang as the big issue in the first.
“I don’t want to give them a free baserunner out there,” he said. “That’s what we did, and he scored.”
Manager Bruce Bochy thought his team could have done more to pick up its ace. The only San Francisco run came when Buster Posey singled home Solarte in the eighth.
“He bounced back very well,” Bochy said. “He gave us five needed innings after that because we’ve used the ‘pen quite a bit. Hey, he gave us a chance. We’ve got to get these bats going. One run today, not scoring early again is making every game an uphill climb for us.”
The Giants’ next-best scoring opportunity was snuffed out in the second when Brandon Crawford tried to score on a flyball to right, but Melky Cabrera’s throw beat him easily.
Felipe Vázquez struck out the side in the ninth for his sixth save.
NEW LOOK
Cervelli’s two-out double ended an 0-for-24 skid. Cervelli grew a goatee to help change things up in the slump. It took an eight-pitch battle with Bumgarner before he finally broke through.
“I’ve got to keep it now,” he said with a smile.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Pirates: INF Adam Frazier did not play due to back spasms. … OF Lonnie Chisenhall (broken finger) began his rehab assignment with Triple-A Indianapolis, going 0 for 3. Hurdle said he’s expected to work in left field, right field, at first base and possibly at third base.
UP NEXT
Giants: LHP Derek Holland (1-2, 4.09 ERA) is scheduled to start on Saturday. He’s averaged 11 strikeouts per nine innings through four starts.
Pirates: RHP Jameson Taillon (0-2, 2.43) will make his fifth start of the season. He’s 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA in three career starts against San Francisco.
