McCutchen's homer sends Pirates to 6-5 win on night of Giants' top pitching prospect's debut

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Andrew McCutchen hit a go-ahead homer and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat San Francisco 6-5 Monday night for their third straight win on a night when Giants top pitching prospect Carson Whisenhunt made his major league debut.

McCutchen’s 10th homer this season and 329th of his career put the Pirates in front 6-4 in the seventh.

Whisenhunt gave up a homer to the third batter he faced, NIck Gonzales, and three more runs in the second but then finished with three scoreless innings before departing after the fifth with the score tied 4-4. The 24-year-old left-hander gave up five hits with two walks and three strikeouts.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit a two-run double then scored on Tommy Pham’s single for a 4-1 lead in the second. The Giants came back with two runs in the bottom of the second and tied it game on Willy Adames' second RBI hit in the fourth.

Yohan Ramírez (1-0), the third of six Pirates pitchers, got the win and David Bednar pitched the ninth for his 17th save in 17 chances this season. Mitch Keller turned in the shortest of his 22 starts this season after throwing 73 pitches over two innings.

Adames had three hits for San Francisco. Carson Seymour (0-1) gave up McCutchen's homer and took the loss.

Bednar gave up three hits and a run in the ninth before getting Patrick Bailey on a ground out to convert his 17th consecutive save, the longest-active streak in the majors.

The Giants dropped to one game above .500 for the first time since the third game of the season.

Pirates LHP Bailey Falter (7-5, 3.82) faces Giants RHP Justin Verlander (1-8, 4.70) on Tuesday.

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Pittsburgh Pirates' Isiah Kiner-Falefa, left, scores as San Francisco Giants catcher Patrick Bailey is unable to hang on to the ball on the throw from left fielder Heliot Ramos during the second inning of a baseball game Monday, July 28, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Nick Gonzales (39) celebrates with Oneil Cruz (15) after hitting a solo home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants, Monday, July 28, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

San Francisco Giants' Carson Whisenhunt pitches to a Pittsburgh Pirates batter during the fourth inning of a baseball game Monday, July 28, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

San Francisco Giants' Willy Adames hits an RBI single during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Monday, July 28, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Andrew McCutchen (22) runs the bases after hitting a two-run home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants, Monday, July 28, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Vote counting was underway Friday in Uganda’s tense presidential election, which was held a day earlier amid an internet shutdown, voting delays and complaints by an opposition leader who said some of his polling agents had been detained by the authorities.

Opposition leader Bobi Wine said Thursday he was unable to leave his house and that his polling agents in rural areas were abducted before voting started, undermining his efforts to prevent electoral offenses such as ballot stuffing.

Wine is hoping to end President Yoweri Museveni's four-decade rule in an election during which the military was deployed and heavy security was posted outside his house near Kampala, the Ugandan capital, after the vote.

The musician-turned-politician wrote on X on Thursday that a senior party official in charge of the western region had been arrested, adding there was “massive ballot stuffing everywhere.”

Rural Uganda, especially the western part of the country, is a ruling-party stronghold, and the opposition would be disadvantaged by not having polling agents present during vote counting.

To try to improve his chances of winning, Wine had urged his supporters to “protect the vote” by having witnesses document alleged offenses at polling stations, in addition to deploying official polling agents.

Wine faced similar setbacks when he first ran for president five years ago. Museveni took 58% of the vote, while Wine got 35%, according to official results. Wine said at the time that the election had been rigged in favor of Museveni, who has spoken disparagingly of his rival.

Museveni, after voting on Thursday, said the opposition had infiltrated the 2021 election and defended the use of biometric machines as a way of securing the vote in this election.

Museveni has served the third-longest tenure of any African leader and is seeking to extend his rule into a fifth decade. The aging president’s authority has become increasingly dependent on the military, which is led by his son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba.

Uganda has not witnessed a peaceful transfer of presidential power since independence from British colonial rule six decades ago.

Voters line up to cast their ballots at a polling station, during the presidential election, in the capital, Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Election officials count ballots after the polls closed for the presidential election at a polling station in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

An election official holds up unmarked ballots during the vote count after polls closed for the presidential election, at a polling center in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

A political representative speaks as he works to observe and verify the counting of ballots after polls closed in the presidential election at a polling station in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

A supporter of leading opposition candidate Bobi Wine cheers while watching election officials count ballots, after polls closed at a polling station in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)