SAN FRANCISCO — David Freese touched home plate, high-fived Gregory Polanco and pointed at a heckling fan behind home plate before celebrating in the first-base dugout at AT&T Park.
The heckler, along with most of the 40,035 announced crowd, promptly exited the fog-ridden ballpark by the Bay. Freese had just hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning, punctuating the Pirates' 10-5 blowout of the Giants, a fellow Wild Card contender, Thursday night.
While the Giants, led by Andrew McCutchen, fell further out of the playoff race, a 13-hit performance, three of which were home runs, and six strong innings from Ivan Nova pushed the Pirates' record to 60-56. They're now seven back in the Central Division and four back in the Wild Card after a thorough dismantling of a perennial National League power in an unforgiving ballpark.
"This is a tough place to play. ... The bats weren’t too hot in Denver, but getting this one tonight is huge," Freese said. "Always tough conditions. We battled through and got the W."
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TAP ABOVE FOR BOXSCORE[/caption]
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