PITTSBURGH (AP) — The San Francisco Giants don’t overwhelm with their bats. Or their pitching. Or their defense. Their margin of error isn’t quite as wide as the two rivals they are trying to chase down in the loaded NL West.
That’s fine with manager Gabe Kapler, who is happy to play the matchups, substitute freely and rely on a fair amount of grit and veteran leadership to hang around in one of the hottest races in baseball.
Brandon Crawford delivered a pair of late RBIs and the Giants took advantage of a shaky performance by Pittsburgh’s bullpen to rally for a 7-5 win on Saturday that pushed San Francisco to a season-best 10 games over .500 (37-27).
The surge has the Giants in the mix with the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres in one of the toughest divisions in the majors.
“We’re a mix-and-match team style of club … the team that finishes the game is probably not going to be the team that starts the game,” Kapler said.
It certainly wasn’t at sun-splashed PNC Park. Seven different Giants scored, six different players drove in runs, and starting pitcher Alex Wood (5-5) and five relievers did just enough to give San Francisco its 13th win in its last 19 games.
“We’re pretty comfortable making sure that everybody is ready for every big moment and then those guys do a great job of preparing themselves for those,” Kapler said.
Crawford tied the game at 4 with an RBI single off Pirates reliever Wil Crowe (3-4) in the sixth and provided some insurance with a n RBI double in the ninth after Pittsburgh intentionally walked Brandon Belt.
The 35-year-old Crawford — a three-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion who entered the day hitting just .219 as he nears the midway point of his 12th season in San Francisco — still bristles when opponents make it a…