Pittsburgh Pirates’ Neil Walker, right, slides to score as San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey waits for the ball in the first inning of a baseball game on Monday in San Francisco. Walker scored on a sacrifice fly by Pittsburgh’s Gregory Polanco.
Vance Worley tossed a four-hitter for his first shutout, and the Pittsburgh Pirates pounded Madison Bumgarner early in a 5-0 win over the struggling Giants on Monday.
''Just glad I gave them something fun to watch,’’ said Worley, who didn’t grow up a Giants fan but heard ‘’a lot of lip’’ from friends after coming up in the Phillies organisation.
Worley sure seems to bring his best against San Francisco.
Worley (4-1) struck out three and walked one in an efficient 100-pitch outing. His only other complete game came in a 7-2 win over the Giants on July 26, 2011, in Philadelphia.
Four players drove in a run off Bumgarner (12-8) in the first, and Josh Harrison hit his seventh homer in the second to provide all of Pittsburgh’s pop
Worley worked over batters the rest of the way to hand San Francisco its fifth straight loss and 12th shutout this season.
The right-hander was acquired from Minnesota on March 25 for a player to be named or cash. He spent time in extended spring training and with Triple-A Indianapolis before being thrust into Pittsburgh’s rotation because of injuries.
Worley has made the most of his opportunities in the majors. He has a 2.54 ERA in eight appearances this season, including seven starts
"He had to fight back. He had to make some adjustments,’’ Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "He’s been focused. He’s been prepared. He’s not doing anything he hasn’t done before. His confidence is playing. The command is what’s showing up.”
Elsewhere, Rookie right-hander Jake Odorizzi delivered another strong outing as the Tampa Bay Rays rallied for a 2-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.
The 24-year-old had outdueled Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright in his previous start and on Monday outlasted Brewers veteran Kyle Lohse, allowing one run and three hits over seven innings.
James Loney hit a two-run single in the sixth inning to lift Tampa Bay (52-54) to their 10th win in their last 11 games, continuing a surge back into playoff contention.
The Rays moved to within seven games of the idle AL East-leading Orioles.
The Brewers (59-48), who lead the NL Central, are on a tough six-game road trip against Tampa Bay and St Louis.
Scoring four runs in the bottom of the ninth, the Miami Marlins earned a walk-off 7-6 win over the Washington Nationals.
With two outs in the ninth, Miami (52-53) second baseman Jeff Baker singled to deep left off lefty reliever Jerry Blevins and the Marlins recorded their eighth win in nine games.
Washington (57-46) led 6-0 with two outs in the seventh inning but let it get away. The Nationals’ lead over the Atlanta Braves in the National League East is down to a half-game.
Evan Gattis homered leading off the seventh inning to break up a scoreless duel between Ervin Santana and San Diego fill-in starter Jason Lane, and the Braves defeated the Padres 2-0.
Santana (10-6) allowed five hits in eight innings, walked none and matched his career high with 11 strikeouts.
Atlanta (58-48) pulled to within a half-game of Washington in the NL East.
Brett Oberholtzer tossed a solid outing and the Houston Astros backed him with four home runs in a win over the Major League-best Oakland Athletics.
Oberholtzer (3-7) surrendered three runs over 6 2/3 innings and retired seven consecutive batters before Athletics shortstop Jed Lowrie chased him with a two-out triple to left field in the seventh inning.
The Astros (43-63) snapped a five-game losing streak while the Athletics (65-40) failed to match the franchise record of 66 wins through 105 games set in 1971 and matched four years later.