The Pittsburgh Pirates lead the major leagues with 13 shutouts.

Trevor Williams was the starting pitcher in seven of them.Manager Clint Hurdle doesn’t think it’s a coincidence http://www.athleticsfanproshop.com/authentic-chris-hatcher-jersey , either.Williams and two relievers combined on a six-hitter, and the Pirates blanked the San Francisco Giants 4-0 on Saturday night.“He sets the tone for things,” Hurdle said. “When that fastball has the finish like it had tonight, that’s when you’re seeing the outings that you see him string together. He keeps everybody engaged.”Williams (10-8) allowed five hits and walked one in seven innings. The right-hander has allowed two runs over his last 29 innings — a 0.62 ERA.“It’s the work in between starts,” Williams said. “(Pitching coach Ray Searage) and I highlighted stuff that we needed to work on and made it more process-driven. We recognized right away that it was my four-seam and sinker tonight were going to play.”Williams had been scheduled to pitch a day earlier, but Hurdle went with Clay Holmes to give the rest of the rotation extra rest.It worked just fine.“He’s pitching down in the zone and getting a lot of early contact Sean Manaea Jersey ,” Pirates first baseman Josh Bell said. “He keeps us off our feet and keeps us in the dugout.”Keone Kela and Felipe Vazquez each retired three batters to complete the shutout.Bell homered for the second time in three days. Elias Diaz added two hits for the Pirates after coming in as an injury replacement for Francisco Cervelli.The start of the game was delayed for a ceremony honoring home run king Barry Bonds, who became the 10th player in Giants history to have his jersey retired. Several of his former teammates and managers, including Dusty Baker and Jim Leyland, were on hand.Williams was warming up in right field when Bonds jogged out to greet the fans in the left field stands.“I felt like such a jerk out there,” Williams said. “It was weird timing. I felt like all the eyeballs were burning a hole through me.”Buster Posey and Evan Longoria had two hits apiece for San Francisco. The Giants have lost nine of their last 11 home games.“You could feel the crowd, the energy. We just couldn’t get it going offensively http://www.athleticsfanproshop.com/authentic-boog-powell-jersey ,” San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said. “The three-run homer, that’s a pretty good punch there.”Bell continued his strong series since coming off the disabled list earlier in the week. He stopped a 0-for-13 slide with a homer on Thursday, and then had three hits on Friday.After grounding into a double play in his first at-bat Saturday, Bell hit his eighth homer off Ty Blach (6-7) in the fourth. Bell’s three-run drive came after Gregory Polanco bunted for a leadoff hit and David Freese reached on an infield single.Blach allowed four runs over four innings in his first start since May 27.DANDY DEBUTIn his first major league appearance since 2016 with Atlanta, Casey Kelly made quite a Giants debut a day after being called up from Triple-A Sacramento.The right-hander pitched five scoreless innings in relief. He could be a candidate to start Friday at Cincinnati when the Giants need a fifth starter again.“What a great job he did,” Bochy said. “Really pitched well. He’s been throwing the ball well. That’s why he’s up here.”WORTH NOTINGThe Pirates called up left-hander Buddy Boshers and right-hander Michael Feliz from Triple-A Indianapolis. Right-handers Clay Holmes and Casey Sadley were sent down.TRAINER’S ROOMPirates: Cervelli left in the fourth as a precaution getting hit in the facemask by a foul tip in the first. Cervelli has had concussion issues in the past.Giants: 1B Brandon Belt (hyperextended knee) began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Sacramento.UP NEXTRight-hander Dereck Rodriguez (5-1 Pat Neshek Jersey , 2.34 ERA) pitches the series finale for San Francisco. Rodriguez leads NL rookies in ERA and is tied for second in wins. Right-hander Joe Musgrove (4-6, 3.41 ERA) goes for the Pirates.__ HOUSTON (AP) — Alex Bregman might be having the best season by any Houston Astros player this year.Only don’t try telling him that.“I have a lot of room to improve and I’m definitely not satisfied … I think I need to get a lot better,” the All-Star third baseman said.Bregman homered for the third straight game and Yuli Gurriel also connected as the Astros won their third in a row, 4-1 over the Minnesota Twins on Monday.Dallas Keuchel (11-10) scattered five hits over six innings and allowed one unearned run. Brad Peacock allowed a single with two outs in the ninth to load the bases, but struck out Jorge Polanco to escape the jam and get his third save.Kyle Gibson (7-12) yielded four hits and four runs — two earned — with five strikeouts in seven innings for his third straight loss.“I kind of struggled the last month or so with a little bit of command and executing pitches … other than a tough couple plays in the second it was pretty good,” Gibson said.There were two outs in the first inning when Bregman hit his 28th home run to give Houston a 1-0 lead. He has reached base safely in 31 straight games http://www.philliesfanproshop.com/authentic-lenny-dykstra-jersey , the longest active streak in the majors. He has 13 hits, including four homers and three doubles, and 10 RBIs in his last eight games.“This is the best I’ve seen him play in a short career,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “He’s just very locked in … he’s very under control. He’s very locked in. He knows a ball from a strike. He’s hunting the right pitches. He’s laying off the right pitches. He’s a pretty elite performer.”Bregman has set a career high for home runs and leads the Astros in that category. He ranks first on the team with 89 RBIs and 43 doubles. He also has a triple this year to give him 72 extra-base hits, the most by an Astros player since Lance Berkman had 79 in 2008.“This season has definitely been the best so far personally,” Bregman said. “But I think that’s strictly due to the fact that I’m just trying to go up there and trying to put together a good at-bat and trying to help this team win games.”Tyler White singled to start the Houston second before Gurriel reached on an error by Polanco at shortstop. Brian McCann followed with an RBI single and Evan Gattis then grounded into a double play that allowed another run to score for a 3-0 lead.Gurriel homered off Gibson in the fourth.Keuchel had retired seven straight when Mitch Garver singled with one out in the sixth. An error by shortstop Carlos Correa Rhys Hoskins Jersey , who overthrew first base, allowed Robbie Grossman to reach before the Twins cut the lead to 4-1 on an RBI single by Miguel Sano. But Keuchel struck out Jake Cave and Tyler Austin to end the inning and leave the runners stranded.Gibson settled down after the homer to Gurriel and retired the last 11 batters he faced before Matt Magill took over for the eighth.TRAINER’S ROOMAstros: RHP Hector Rondon left the game after deflecting a ball hit by Cave off his right hand in the ninth inning. Rondon’s hand was swollen after the game but he said X-rays were negative and he thinks he’ll be OK after a couple of days. … Houston INF Marwin Gonzalez left after the first inning because of discomfort in his right oblique. … RHP Charlie Morton (shoulder discomfort) played catch for the second straight day and is scheduled to throw a bullpen session in the next couple of days. Hinch said if that goes well he’ll come off the disabled list to start against Boston on Saturday. If he can’t go the Astros will start rookie Josh James, who made his major league debut on Saturday.THEY SAID ITHinch on the ball that hit Rondon: “He’s lucky he put his arm up. If you look at the replay it probably saved his face. I think it even got a little bit of flesh and not so much the bone. Very scary.”UP NEXTJustin Verlander (13-9, 2.78 ERA) will start for Houston against Trevor May (3-0, 1.88) when the series continues on Tuesday night. Verlander ranks second in the American League behind teammate Gerrit Cole with 240 strikeouts this season.