PITTSBURGH — The last time the San Francisco Giants won a game at the confluence of the Ohio, Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, Noah Lowry was the winning pitcher and Ryan Klesko hit a grand slam.

Not quite as far back as the French and Indian War. It only seems that way.
Sunday afternoon’s skirmish at PNC Park — a 4-3 Giants victory that was their first at PNC Park since August 2007 — was a pivotal one for the winners. Reeling from a pair of offensively limp losses out of the All-Star break, the Giants broke through in the sixth inning for four consecutive doubles and cheered Matt Cain’s healthy reemergence.
They also ended a slide that had seen them go 5-16 against the last-place Pirates over the past three seasons.
The victory provided a fitting tribute for Sue Burns, the club’s largest shareholder, who died early Sunday less than a week after she was diagnosed with cancer.
“It’s unbelievable that she’s gone, really,” said Cain, whose bruised elbow appeared sound as he held the Pirates to a run and struck out eight in seven innings. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family.”
Cain (11-2) couldn’t pitch in the All-Star Game after getting struck below the right elbow by a line drive July 11. But after beginning the game with a four-pitch walk, he began to hit spots with his low-90s fastball.
He also bested Pirates left-hander Zach Duke, the pitcher who replaced him on the NL’s active All-Star roster.
“He was throwing well,” Cain said. “We just got to him in the sixth. I felt fine, but it took me a couple hitters. I felt kind of funky out there. After that, I was able to get back into that good rhythm.”
The Giants hope the same will be true for their offense, which mustered just an unearned run in the first two games of the series. When they went through a similar team-wide drought in late May, it took a three-run double from Juan Uribe in Seattle — also in support of Cain — to break the glass. This time, Nate Schierholtz’s tiebreaking, two-run double could be the escape hammer.
The Giants tied it after Randy Winn and Pablo Sandoval began the sixth with doubles. Bengie Molina hit another off the right field wall, but Sandoval mistakenly tagged up and had to hold at third.
Schierholtz fell behind 1-2 before showing patience on two breaking pitches in the dirt. Then he squared up a slider over the plate, shooting it down the right field line.
“Great job by Nate adjusting there,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “He laid off some tough breaking balls till he got a pitch he could handle. That’s part of succeeding as a major league player.”
Schierholtz also supported Cain in right field, throwing out Ryan Doumit trying to stretch a single into a double in the fourth inning. Adam LaRoche followed with a double that would’ve scored a run.
Schierholtz owns five of the 13 assists by Giants outfielders — even though he spent most of the first half riding the bench.
It’s just another reason he has earned regular playing time, even against left-handers. Bochy started John Bowker at first base, too, even though Rich Aurilia was 8-for-13 with a home run against Duke.
Giants officials want to train their eyes on Bowker, especially since they must trim a player on Tuesday to activate starting pitcher Ryan Sadowski.
Bowker hit a sacrifice fly to score Schierholtz, and after the bullpen gave back two runs in the eighth, Brian Wilson pitched a hitless ninth to record his 24th save.
“It all starts with the job Matty did,” Bochy said. “He’s one of our horses. He’s an All-Star. He’s emerged as one of the better young pitchers in the game.”