Pirates Get to Yates, Bullpen; Walk-Off Against Padres 11-10
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The San Diego Padres (38-40) lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates (36-40) Sunday by a score of 11-10, running their losing streak to six games against Pittsburgh.
Fernando Tatis Jr. reached base four times, drove in two, and scored three runs, including an improbable dash home in the first inning. Austin Hedges had his first three-hit game of the year, and Manny Machado added another three hits to lead the Padres offense. It wasn’t enough for the Padres. Kirby Yates blew his first save opportunity of the year and the Pirates came from three runs down in the ninth and 11th to win in extra innings.
Both teams called on left-handed pitchers to start the game. Joey Lucchesi (6-6, 3.74 ERA, 3.71 FIP) made his 15th start of the year. Steven Brault (3-1, 4.40 ERA, 4.91 FIP) beat the Padres earlier this season in Petco.
The Padres started the game aggressively. Fernando Tatis Jr. walked on a full count to start the game. Every subsequent hitter in the inning went after the first pitch they saw. With one out, Manny Machado hit a ground rule double to right field, Tatis taking third. Hunter Renfroe popped out to second, just beyond the infield. Unbelievably, Tatis tagged up and raced for home, sliding just past the tag from Pirates’ catcher Elias Diaz. Initially ruled out, Tatis was safe on review. Machado stole third, and Franmil Reyes fought back from a 0-2 count to draw the second walk of the inning. Ian Kinsler swung at three pitches, fouling two off before striking out on a pitch way out of the zone.
Fearless Fernando.@tatis_jr • #FriarFaithful pic.twitter.com/nkoKJPqnVE
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) June 23, 2019
Hunter Renfroe made a great running catch in the left field gap in the second inning, then singled and stole a base in the third. The steal was Renfroe’s fourth of the year without being caught, the most he’s stolen in a season.
Lucchesi sailed through the first two innings, striking out three without allowing a batter to reach base. In the third, he gave up a lead-off double to Jose Ozuna. Ozuna went to third on Diaz’s sacrifice fly and scored on a single by the pitcher Brault. Kevin Newman increased his hitting streak to 14 games with a single to center. Brault beat the throw to third, and Newman took second. Both runners advanced on Reynolds’ sacrifice fly to centerfield, with Brault scoring to give the Pirates a 2-1 lead.
The Padres tied the game in the fourth on Austin Hedges’ second double of the game and sixth of the season, scoring Manuel Margot from second. Tatis’ two-out single to left scored Hedges and put the Padres on top, 3-2. Hosmer continued to struggle against left-handed pitching, grounding out to end the inning. He entered the game hitting .246/.313/.328 with no home runs and went 0-for-3 against Brault in the game.
Josh Bell led off the fourth with his 28th double of the season. He scored on Ozuna’s single past a diving Kinsler.
Pinch-hitter Jason Martin singled for Brault leading off the bottom of the fifth. Hosmer made a great leaping catch of a high chopper down the first baseline, and made the play at first, Martin getting to second. After Reynolds was hit by a pitch, Martin took third on a pitch in the dirt that Hedges managed to keep in front of him but was unable to make a play on the runner. Starling Marte brought home Martin with a sacrifice fly before Lucchesi closed out the inning by getting Bell to fly out deep to left.
Hedges got on base again in the sixth inning, reaching on a strikeout and wild pitch that went between Diaz’s legs and careened off the umpire’s shin guard. Hedges moved to second on pinch-hitter Josh Naylor’s ground out and came home on Tatis’ two-out single. Tatis took second on the throw home, giving Hosmer a chance against right-hander Rich Rodriguez. Hosmer came through with a single back up the middle, putting Tatis across for a 5-4 Padres lead.
Cal Quantrill made his first appearance out of the bullpen in relief of Joey Lucchesi in the sixth. Lucchesi gave up four runs on six hits but didn’t walk a batter and struck out four. Quantrill entered the game with a 5.23 ERA, threw seven pitches to get two quick strikeouts and a groundout. He added a third strikeout in the seventh inning, giving up two singles, but walking none.
After Margot and Hedges struck out swinging to start the Padres’ half of the eighth, pinch-hitter Greg Garcia drew a four pitch walk and Tatis walked on seven pitches. Hosmer drew a 3-0 count before swinging and missing. He took the next pitch low to load the bases for Machado. Manny blooped a 2-0 single into left, batting in Garcia and Tatis for a 7-4 lead, and letting Hosmer take third. With Renfroe and the plate, Machado was caught stealing, leading Hosmer to break for home where he was tagged out to end the inning.
Luis Perdomo pitched a scoreless eighth.
Renfroe doubled to the opposite field leading off the ninth inning but was stranded when the next three batters popped out.
Kirby Yates came on in the ninth trying for his Major League leading 27th save in 27 chances. The first batter, Diaz, reached on an error by Machado on a groundball the third baseman couldn’t pick up. Pinch-hitter Adam Frazier doubled off the wall in right-center. Diaz scored on a soft infield hit by Newman that Tatis could not get to in time. Reynold singled to center scoring Frazier and making the score 7-6. Marte sacrificed both runners over. Bell was given an intentional free pass to load the bases, the first walk by Padres pitching of the game. Yates blew his first save of the year when Melky Cabrera tapped a ball down the first base line, scoring Newman on the ground out. Yates threw to first for the second out. One pitch later, Moran flew out to left to send the game to extra innings.
The Padres faced strikeout specialist Felipe Vasquez (13.78 K/9) in the 10th, going down in order, including two by strikeout to increase their total to 11 in the game. Francisco Mejia pinch-hit for Yates, emptying the Padres bench.
Phil Maton pitched a scoreless 10th.
Hosmer led off the 11th with a walk against left-handed reliever Francisco Liriano. Machado doubled, and Renfroe was intentionally walked to load the bases with no outs for Wil Myers. Myers, who entered the game as a defensive replacement for Reyes, struck out looking on the 9th pitch he saw from Liriano. Ian Kinsler hit an infield fly to shortstop for the second out. Margot placed a beautiful bunt on the first base side of the pitcher’s mound to score Hosmer and take the lead, 8-7. Hedges followed with a soft single to right, scoring Machado and Renfroe for a 10-7 lead. Margot took third. The Padres tried to sneak Margot home as Hedges headed for second on a steal and Hedges pulled up short of sliding into the base. The Pirates threw home, chasing Margot back to third, but letting Hedges take second. Maton struck out to end the rally.
Maton came back out to pitch the bottom of the 11th. He gave up a lead-off walk to Reynolds. Marte was called out on a pitch inside for the first out. Bell singled to right on the 11th pitch of his at-bat. Cabrera followed with a double to right on the next pitch to score Reynolds and make the score 10-8. With runners on second and third, Andy Green went to his bullpen. Matt Wisler came on and promptly gave up a two-run single to pinch-hitter Jacob Stallings, tying the game. The Pirates’ bench went 6-for-8 in the game. Ozuna stayed hot with a single, putting the winning run in scoring position. Diaz walked to load the bases. Frazier popped out for the second out. Wisler then went to a full count on Newman before missing with a pitch high to walk in the winning run.
Liriano (2-1) got the win despite giving up three runs in relief. Wisler (2-2) took the loss and his second blown save of the year. The Padres finished 1-6 against the last-place Pirates.
The Padres have a day off tomorrow on their way to Baltimore. Pittsburgh starts a six-game road trip in Houston on Tuesday.
