SAN FRANCISCO -- If the advent of “openers” and the rarity of complete games have eroded your memories of what “ace” pitchers do, here are some reminders:\n\nAn ace performs without complaint under physical duress. An ace will dominate opponents. An ace leads and, most importantly, wins.\n\n
With Jameson Taillon and Chris Archer sidelined by injuries, Musgrove (10-12) has become the leader of Pittsburgh’s pitching staff. It’s the first time in his four-year career he’s reached double digits in victories.\n\nThe 26-year-old righty may not have anticipated being thrust to the forefront of the Pirates’ ongoing climb toward respectability, but he’ll accept any challenge.\n\n“It’s something that’s new for me,” Musgrove said. “I feel like I’ve always had the label of being somewhat of a leader. But I’ve never been a verbal leader. I’ve always just done things the right way. But we have a lot of young guys in here. So someone’s going to have to step up and take that role. I don’t want it to be just me.”
On Thursday, it wasn’t just Musgrove who helped the Pirates win. Catcher
Nevertheless, Musgrove set the tempo, as starters tend to do. Shrugging off the discomfort in his foot was literally his first step. Stallings helped Musgrove establish the proper mindset after pregame warmups.\n\n“The last thing he told me before I went out was, ‘Mind over matter,’ ” Musgrove said. “Just hearing that helped me block out the pain and focus on one pitch at a time.”
Demonstrating the sharpness of that focus, Musgrove threw first-pitch strikes to 18 of the 19 batters he faced.\n\n“That’s sick,” said Pirates manager Clint Hurdle. ”That put him in play for everything else. The curveball and slider played off each other. His fastball command was good with the two-seamer and four-seamer.”
Musgrove’s triple was the first by a Bucs pitcher since Brian Burres hit one on May 29, 2010. He scored on