PITTSBURGH -- Pirates starter Jameson Taillon left Pittsburgh's 11-2 win over the Giants at PNC Park on Friday after three innings due to a finger laceration on his right hand.
Taillon struck out five and allowed one hit over three excellent innings to begin the night. He felt the skin on the inside of his middle finger begin to peel away in the first inning -- likely the result of his thumbnail scraping his finger while throwing a curveball, he said. He pitched through it until he noticed the cut had grown in the third inning.
"I felt like I had pine tar on the ball, and I looked down and it was blood. I was like, 'Ah, I don't know about this,'" Taillon said. "We didn't want to risk my mechanics messing up or switching the way I grip the ball or anything."
Taillon twice struck out Andrew McCutchen, who faced his former teammates for the first time in a Giants uniform. The right-hander pitched two perfect innings before Alen Hanson singled, stole second and advanced to third on an error in the third inning. Taillon walked leadoff man Gregor Blanco, then struck out McCutchen to strand a pair of runners on the corners.

"It just got worse and worse. It's tough in the short term to come out of a game, but hopefully by coming out when I did, we've kind of mitigated it," Taillon said. "Hopefully I won't miss starts down the road. Hopefully we caught it early enough to where it won't bother me for the rest of the year or anything."
Taillon has dealt with blister issues in the past, but this was more of a cut than a similar injury. His finger was wrapped as he spoke with reporters after the game. Director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said Taillon "will do anything and everything he can to prepare for his next start."

Left-hander Steven Brault replaced Taillon to start the fourth inning. He allowed two runs in the fourth, then five relievers each pitched a scoreless inning to seal the victory.
"It was frustrating. At least it's not arm or body or anything like that," Taillon said. "I don't think it'll be too, too serious. I'm glad the bullpen picked me up. It seemed like every move we made tonight ended up working out, and Brault got a win. Good for us. Good for him."