SAN FRANCISCO -- If the advent of “openers” and the rarity of complete games have eroded your memories of what “ace” pitchers do, here are some reminders:
An ace performs without complaint under physical duress. An ace will dominate opponents. An ace leads and, most importantly, wins.
Joe Musgrove hasn’t reached the stature of Justin Verlander or Clayton Kershaw or Zack Greinke, but right now, he’s the closest to an ace that the Pirates have. He proved that on Thursday afternoon in Pittsburgh’s 4-2 victory over San Francisco, giving the Bucs their third win in the four-game series at Oracle Park.
Ignoring the soreness in his right foot that forced him to skip his scheduled start last Friday at St. Louis, Musgrove blanked the Giants for five innings while walking none. He allowed four hits and struck out seven. For good measure, Musgrove scored a key run after tripling to open the fifth inning.
With Jameson Taillon and Chris Archer sidelined by injuries, Musgrove (10-12) has become the leader of Pittsburgh’s pitching staff. It’s the first time in his four-year career he’s reached double digits in victories.
The 26-year-old righty may not have anticipated being thrust to the forefront of the Pirates’ ongoing climb toward respectability, but he’ll accept any challenge.
“It’s something that’s new for me,” Musgrove said. “I feel like I’ve always had the label of being somewhat of a leader. But I’ve never been a verbal leader. I’ve always just done things the right way. But we have a lot of young guys in here. So someone’s going to have to step up and take that role. I don’t want it to be just me.”
On Thursday, it wasn’t just Musgrove who helped the Pirates win. Catcher Jacob Stallings delivered his second homer of the series. Felipe Vázquez created a first-and-third, nobody-out jam for himself in the ninth, but he emerged with his fifth consecutive save and 28th overall. Vazquez’s effort concluded an impressive series for Pittsburgh’s bullpen, which limited San Francisco to two runs and five hits in 15 1/3 innings. The Giants batted .096 (5-for-52) against the Bucs’ bullpen.
Nevertheless, Musgrove set the tempo, as starters tend to do. Shrugging off the discomfort in his foot was literally his first step. Stallings helped Musgrove establish the proper mindset after pregame warmups.
“The last thing he told me before I went out was, ‘Mind over matter,’ ” Musgrove said. “Just hearing that helped me block out the pain and focus on one pitch at a time.”
Demonstrating the sharpness of that focus, Musgrove threw first-pitch strikes to 18 of the 19 batters he faced.
“That’s sick,” said Pirates manager Clint Hurdle. ”That put him in play for everything else. The curveball and slider played off each other. His fastball command was good with the two-seamer and four-seamer.”
Musgrove’s triple was the first by a Bucs pitcher since Brian Burres hit one on May 29, 2010. He scored on Adam Frazier’s single. That proved helpful, since it increased Pittsburgh’s lead to 3-0.
“Making an out right there might have been a benefit to him, but the run played out pretty well for us,” Hurdle said. “That’s one-ninth of your offense in the National League. It’s real. When it’s not good, it’s painful. When it plays, it’s helpful.”