Tennessee buddies Wil Crowe, Will Craig reunite in Pirates' loss to Giants

May 14—On another night, perhaps in a game with a different outcome, the confluence of Wil and Will would have been a story worth retelling for years.

But at PNC Park on Thursday night, Wil Crowe's mostly effective five-inning start and Will Craig's first major-league home run weren't enough to prevent the Pittsburgh Pirates' 11th loss in 14 games, 3-1, to the San Francisco Giants.

The game was more than just one of 162 for two buddies from Tennessee who played against each other for years, starting at the age of 7. Reunited in Pittsburgh, they find themselves on the same big-league team 19 years later.

Crowe kept the Giants scoreless for four innings before poor placement on one pitch — a home run by Steven Duggar — and a broken-bat triple by Mike Yastrzemski led to the Giants' only runs.

Craig's story is complicated and circuitous. He was the Pirates' first-round draft choice in 2016 — by the previous management team — but was released after last season by the current front office group.

Invited to spring training this year as a non-roster player, he was sent to Triple-A Indianapolis at the outset of the season and recalled Thursday only after two other first basemen, Colin Moran and Phil Evans, were put on the injured list. He batted eighth Thursday night.

Craig's home run in the eighth inning was the Pirates' only semblance of a productive offense. They were held to five hits by five Giants pitchers, and are now 3-9 in May while scoring two runs or fewer in all but two of those 12 games.

"It's good to have him on my side, for once," Crowe said. "It was always Wil Crowe against Will Craig. We pitched against each other and we each hit in the three hole. It was always a battle and we always had fun with it.

"I'm happy for him. He works his butt off. He's a great player and a good dude. It's good to see him get that (first hit) under his belt."

Crowe and Craig went to different high schools and universities (Crowe to South Carolina, Craig to Wake Forest). They played together only once on a travel all-star team.

"I hit 3 (in the order). He hit 4 and they (wrote) single L, double L on the lineup card," Craig said.

They'll probably find themselves on the same Pirates lineup card until either Moran or Evans returns; maybe longer, if Craig can give the Pirates something they've been lacking — home runs.

He's on a streak currently after hitting two homers Tuesday and one Wednesday in Indianapolis before he was brought to Pittsburgh. An adjustment to his swing appears to have helped.

"He started those adjustments in spring training," manager Derek Shelton said. "Our guys in development isolated on some things he needed to work on. To his credit, he took it and ran with it."

The fastball from Giants pitcher Camilo Doval was clocked at 98.7 mph, but Craig was able to drive it into the right-center seats, 395 feet from home plate at 107.8 mph.

"That's a long way to go for a right-handed hitter," Shelton said.

"I changed my view on things (after his release)," Craig said. "This is happening. Life's going to continue on. There was never a doubt in my mind about my ability."

The Pirates retrieved the ball from a fan and gave it to Craig. "I saw the guy pull it out of his beer cup," he said.

Crowe might have deserved a better fate; or, at least, he felt that way after four scoreless innings.

After Duggar homered, Crowe (0-2) got his last of five strikeouts before Mike Tauchman and Buster Posey singled to put runners on the corners.

Catcher Jacob Stallings tried to pick off Tauchman at third base, but the ball bounced into left field to score the second run. Both runs were earned after Yastrzemski broke his bat and tripled down the right-field line.

"The triple was one of the best changeups I'd thrown all game," Crowe said. "I let go of that pitch and I thought for sure it was a swing-and-miss or a groundball, soft contact.

"When he hit it in the air, I thought we had a chance to catch it, but, unfortunately, the ball fell their way.

"That's baseball."

NOTE: The Pirates are expected to recall right-hander Miguel Yajure from Indianapolis to start Friday against the Giants. Tyler Anderson will pitch Saturday and Mitch Keller on Sunday. Geoff Hartlieb was optioned to Indianapolis.

Jerry DiPaola is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jerry by email at jdipaola@triblive.com or via Twitter .