SF Giants take series from Pirates as Encarnacion homers, leaves with injury

PITTSBURGH — Jerar Encarnacion cannot catch a break.

The Giants’ 4-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday at PNC Park was dimmed by Encarnacion sustaining a right hamstring injury after hitting his second home run in as many days. Encarnacion still needs to undergo an MRI, but manager Bob Melvin did not sugarcoat the prognosis.

“It doesn’t look good,” Melvin said. “You get hurt in spring training, you’re playing catch up all the time. We get him back here the first time. Now, finally gets enough at-bats. We see the type of at-bats and what we’ve been wanting from him, especially as far as (against) left-handed pitching. He’s going to be down for a while now, unfortunately. It just ends up being, so far, a really tough year for him.”

The Giants lessened the blow of losing Encarnacion by taking two of three from the Pirates after taking two of three from the New York Mets. This 4-2 road trip comes after San Francisco was swept by both New York and Pittsburgh right before the trade deadline during its most recent homestand.

There was no shortage of contributors as the Giants improved to 58-57 on the season.

Dominic Smith delivered a go-ahead, pinch-hit RBI double in the top of the ninth. Robbie Ray tossed six innings of two-run ball with eight strikeouts. Patrick Bailey had a run, an RBI and two hits after entering as a pinch-hitter. Randy Rodríguez bounced back from Monday’s blown save to shut the door with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

And there was also Encarnacion, who showed off his elite power with an awe-inspiring, no-doubter to left field, his second homer in the last 24 hours. At 442 feet, Encarnacion’s solo shot was the Giants’ second-farthest home run of the season, not too far behind Willy Adames’ 452-foot homer at Coors Field in June.

Now, Encarnacion will likely have to wait quite a while before taking another at-bat for San Francisco.

“It really sucks,” Smith said. “He’s so young and so talented and means so much to this group. He’s so selfless. If you see his energy in here, he was happy that we got the win. He was pulling for everybody, and he didn’t really make it about himself. That’s the type of person and player he is, and somebody that you root for and really want on your team and in your clubhouse.”

With Encarnacion set to hit the injured list, Grant McCray is poised to receive a good chunk of playing time in right field going forward. The Giants will likely recall a right-handed hitting corner outfielder to take Encarnacion’s place on the active roster, the two likeliest candidates being Luis Matos and Marco Luciano.

Luciano, who has yet to make his season debut, has been on a power surge over the last month. Entering Wednesday, Luciano has hit eight home runs and posted a 1.037 OPS since July.

Encarnacion was poised to make the Opening Day roster following his excellent play during spring but suffered a left hand fracture right before the start of the season. He made his season debut June 2 following an abbreviated rehab assignment, but the bad luck continued when he strained his left oblique and hit the injured list on June 17.

After being reinstated from the injured list prior to Friday’s 5-4 loss, Encarnacion hit his first home run of the season in Saturday’s all-around 8-1 win. In the fourth inning on Wednesday, he took the Pirates’ Andrew Heaney deep to tie the ballgame at one apiece.

Two innings later, Encarnacion’s afternoon took a turn for the worse.

In the top of the sixth, Encarnacion hit a grounder up the middle that looked on its way to center field. Pirates second baseman Nick Gonzales made a sliding stop and fired to first for the out. Encarnacion immediately began hobbling after crossing first base and grabbed at his right hamstring, prompting a visit from trainer Dave Groeschner.

Encarnacion would walk back to the dugout under his own power but had a noticeable limp. Melvin removed Encarnacion from the game and replaced him with McCray, who went hitless in his one at-bat.

“He’s a big part of our lineup,” Ray said of Encarnacion. “He’s got pop. He’s got power. He brings a different dynamic to our lineup that feels like we’ve been missing a little bit. Hopefully, it’s not too bad and he won’t miss too much time.”