Giants seek fifth straight win in middle game vs. Pirates

PITTSBURGH --- After sweeping the Colorado Rockies, the San Francisco Giants continued to produce at the plate Friday night in a 13-5 win.

The Giants will attempt to stretch their winning streak to five games Saturday when they continue a three-game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

San Francisco has scored 31 runs in the last four games after getting 18 hits in the series opener.

Hunter Pence drove in five runs by getting three singles and hit by a pitch. Brandon Belt drove in four runs and Buster Posey added two RBI as the Giants tied a season high for runs and set a season high for hits.

"I said I think we'll get more consistent and start scoring more runs," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "It's hard to imagine we would stay in the rut that we were in offensively.

"Now, this is a small sample here, but it shows you what happens when you get timely hits. You have a much better chance of winning the ballgame. We're getting a ton of them right now. It's getting contagious."

Meanwhile the Pirates will be looking to rebound from going 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position.

Andrew McCutchen was 2-for-2 and reached base four times while John Jaso was 2-for-5 with a pair of RBI doubles.

McCutchen is hitting 6-for-11 in four games since returning to the third spot of the lineup. He also is batting .448 (30-for-67) in his last 20 games.

Jaso is 6-for-11 in his last three games.

"Look at the lineup. Look at the veteran guys they've got in the lineup," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "Some people just lose sight that it's hard to win in the major leagues sometimes, especially if you've got a lineup like that. Those guys aren't happy where they are and they're going out every night to try and change the direction of their season. Just like we are."

Pittsburgh will need right-hander Chad Kuhl (2-6, 5.58 ERA) to settle things after RHP Gerrit Cole struggled against Friday. The Giants scored seven runs on 10 hits off Cole in 5 1/3 innings.

Kuhl will look to go past five innings for the first time since April 18, when he allowed two runs on three hits in six innings against the St. Louis Cardinals. He has allowed fewer than four runs in four of his past five starts, but hasn't had enough to earn a quality start.

In his last appearance, Kuhl surrendered four runs on eight hits in five innings in an 8-4 loss to the Cardinals on June 25.

Giants' left-hander Matt Moore (3-8, 6.04) would gladly take that same type of help Saturday.

Moore has lacked consistency recently, which was displayed in his past two starts.

After allowing three runs in seven innings against the Atlanta Braves to earn his third win of the season on June 20, he surrendered five runs in 4 1/3 innings in his following start, an 8-2 loss to the New York Mets five days later.