Petco Park- San Diego, CA

After a bitterly disappointing Saturday shutout loss, the Padres looked to bounce back on Sunday. Randy Vasquez took the mound for San Diego.

Possible Padres trade target Andrew Heaney countered for Pittsburgh.

It still was a slow start for San Diego, after a lackluster Saturday. Still, the Padres got out in front thanks to their star third baseman.

Manny Machado was the driving force for the Padres, getting things started early with a solo home run in the first inning—his seventh of the season. Machado continued to deliver in clutch moments, breaking a 4–4 tie in the seventh inning with a sacrifice fly that put San Diego ahead for good. He finished the day with two RBIs and reached base twice.

“(We) kept grinding. Kept battling. Making it tough for them,” Machado said after the game, referring to the Padres steadily mounting a comeback after being down three early.

Manny Machado launches this one WAY outta here 🚀 pic.twitter.com/ctFrPbt3TZ

— MLB (@MLB) June 1, 2025

Heaney quieted the bats after that, tossing four scoreless frames after that solo shot.

Meanwhile, the Pirates put up a three-spot in the top of the third. Andrew McCutchen launched a two-run shot, the 240th of his Pirates career. That tied him with the Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente for third all-time in Pirates history. That also gave Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead. The Pirates rallied together another scoring chance. Ke’Bryan Hayes lined a base hit with a runner on second, putting the lead at 3-1. He was thrown out between first and second, drawing the throw to ensure the run scored.

To add insult to injury, former Padre Adam Frazier, who was a failed experiment during his time in San Diego, lined a home run of his own, inflating the lead to 4-1 in the fourth.

Vasquez struggled with control and was unable to finish four full innings. Wandy Peralta relieved him with one out in the fourth and got out of a bases loaded jam to limit the damage. To his credit, he worked a scoreless fifth and provided some much-needed depth to bridge the gap between the starter and the back of the bullpen.

This gave the Padres time to rally from behind offensively. In the bottom of the sixth, Jackson Merrill lined a double to cut the lead in half at 4-2. An inning later, Elias Diaz lined a run-scoring single to bring San Diego within one. With the bases loaded, Luis Arraez smacked a single to tie the game.

Machado then hit a skyscraping sacrifice fly that nearly became a grand slam. Still, it gave the Padres a 5-4 lead. The Friars weren’t done. They got the all-important insurance run by Tyler Wade lining a shot up the middle that collided with reliever Caleb Ferguson, who couldn’t make the play.

The two run lead is all San Diego needed as manager Mike Shildt turned things over to the back end of the bullpen. David Morgan, Adrian Morejon, Jason Adam, and Robert Suarez combined for four scoreless innings on just one hit. Suarez notched his 19th save of the season.

The Padres battled back after being shut out last night and starting this game slowly to win the series. They finish the week 4-2 against teams they should be beating. Now, the schedule gets tougher, as the travel to San Francisco and Milwaukee next. The Wild Card race heats up as the calendar turns to June.

Nick Lee

Native of Escondido, CA. Lived in San Diego area for 20 years. Padres fan since childhood (mid-90s). I have been writing since 2014. I currently live near Seattle, WA and am married to a Seattle sports girl. I wore #19 on my high school baseball team for Tony Gwynn. I am a stats and sports history nerd. I attended BYU on the Idaho campus. I also love Star Wars.