NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : King Beats Throw to the Plate, Pirates Beat Giants in 10th

It wasn’t exactly an explosion that gave the Pittsburgh Pirates a 3-2, 10-inning victory over the San Francisco Giants Saturday.

Don Slaught’s foul sacrifice fly scored Jeff King with the game-winning run in Pittsburgh.

King opened the 10th with an infield single off Jeff Brantley (2-2). After a sacrifice and a balk, Slaught popped to right field near the bullpen fence. Willie McGee caught the ball and made a strong throw to the plate, but King scored, tumbling over the leg of catcher Jim McNamara.

“That’s a heck of a play by Jeff King,” Manager Jim Leyland said. “That’s winning baseball and something we haven’t done enough of.”

It was the Pirates’ second consecutive victory, but only their third in the last 14 games.

Denny Neagle (2-2) pitched one inning for the victory. He came back after the inning was interrupted by rain for 44 minutes.

Pittsburgh, which was 4-11 on the road in May, has the major’s best home record at 14-6. The Pirates won consecutive games for the first time since May 13-14.

Doug Drabek came within three outs of recording his first victory since April 22. Drabek has failed in seven attempts to get his fourth victory, losing three games with four no-decisions. He allowed seven hits and struck out 10, one short of his career best.