San Francisco pitcher Jonathan Sanchez gears up as he prepares to throw a ball against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday, September 7, 2008. The Giants defeated the Pirates 11-6. Photo By George Nikitin/AP.

SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Giants demolished the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday, September 7, 2008 defeating their opponents, 11-6.   The Giants won two of three games in their series against the team.   The team was massacred by the Pirates 7-0, on Friday, September 5, 2008.   The Pirates controlled the pace of the game for the first three innings, scoring 3 runs in the 3rd and 2 runs in the 4th, giving them a 5-0 lead.   The Giants came roaring back, scoring a phenomenal 10 runs in the 4th inning alone to tackle the lead from the Pirates. The team scored an additional run in the sixth inning to seal the deal.  The surge of offense from San Francisco appeared to halt Pittsburgh, who was unable to make a comeback.   The Pirates did score an additional run in the 8th, but it was already too late.

Leading the Giants to victory was Pablo Sandoval, who had 5 RBI’s, 2 hits and 1 run in the game.   Players Randy Winn and Emmanuel Burriss each scored 2 runs and 2 hits apiece in the team’s victory.   Players Schierholtz, McClain, Lewis, Ishikawa, Velez and Yabu all contributed runs in the game.

Leading the Pirates in scoring were players Nate McLouth and Freddy Sanchez who each scored 2 runs and combined for a total of 3 hits.   Left fielder Jason Michaels had 1 run, 2 hits and 2 RBI’s in the game.   The Pirates had a total of 9 hits in the game compared to the 12 hits that San Francisco delivered. 

Pittsburgh pitcher Jeff Karstens didn’t have a stellar performance in Sunday’s loss. Karstens gave up 6 hits and 8 runs, but did manage to strike out 3 players during the three innings he pitched.   San Francisco Jonathan Sanchez had much better luck, only giving up 5 hits and 3 runs during the three innings he played.   Sanchez also struck out 5 players.   San Francisco pitchers Osiris Matos and Brad Hennessey gave up a combined total of 3 hits and 3 runs during the 1½ innings they played.  

The Giants are still listed in fourth place in the NL West , 10 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers who are currently still holding on to that top spot in the division.