Pirates Bullpen Squanders Lead in Loss to Padres

Pittsburgh's offense did not stop there. Spencer Horwitz hit a ground-rule double to left-center field. Then, Hayes drove him in with a soft single to center field. Hayes would ultimately be caught in a pickle, but the Pirates still left the top half of the third inning with a 3-1 lead.

Adam Frazier kept the offensive momentum going with a solo home run to lead off the fourth inning. It was Frazier's third home run of the season, and the first opposite field home run of his ten-year career. After singles from Tommy Pham and Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Vasquez's evening was over.

The right-hander pitched 3.1 innings, allowing six hits, four earned runs, while walking four and striking out three. It was Vasquez's shortest start of the season.

Reliever Wandy Peralta came on and limited the damage. The Pirates now carried a 4-1 lead.

Heaney dominated the middle innings for the Pirates. He retired 13 Padres hitters in a row from the second to the sixth inning. Luis Arraez broke up the streak in the sixth with a one-out double down the left field line.

After giving up the Machado home run, Heaney was able to keep his breaking balls down and away from San Diego bats. His on-the-go adjustments made all the difference in another solid start for a Pirates starting pitcher.

The Padres scored their second run when Merrill notched his second double of the day, this one down the right-field line. The score now 4-2, Heaney was replaced by reliever Chase Shugart. He did not allow Merrill to score, his 12th stranded runner of the season. That's the most of any reliever in MLB without allowing a stranded runner to score.

Heaney's line for the day was 5.2 innings pitched, five hits allowed, two earned runs, with no walks and three strikeouts. It was a nice rebound from Heaney's previous start against Arizona, his worst outing of the season.

San Diego took advantage of Heaney's removal. In the seventh inning, Pirates reliever Tanner Rainey walked two batters before an Elias Diaz single put the Padres within one run. Then, Rainey walked Fernando Tatis Jr. to load the bases with only one out. Rainey's short, unsuccessful outing was done after this. He walked three and allowed one hit.

Left-hander Caleb Ferguson came on to replace Rainey in the tough spot. Arraez proceeded to loop a RBI single past Kiner-Falefa to tie the game at 4-4, with the bases still loaded.

Machado then drove a ball into the left-center field gap that looked like might go over the wall for a grand slam. But it died at the warning track, and Cruz was able to snag the ball for the second out. Still, a Padres runner came around to score on the sacrifice fly, giving the Padres a 5-4 lead.

Tyler Wade provided the Padres a 6-4 lead when he hit a comebacker ground ball that bounced off Ferguson's glove and died behind the mound. Ferguson struck out Xander Bogaerts to stop the bleeding.

All four runs that were allowed in the inning were credited to Rainey. His ERA rose to 10.57 after today's appearance. He also took the loss today.

The Pirates' bats went down in order during the eighth inning. Closer Robert Suarez came on to pitch the ninth for San Diego. He had no issues retiring the Pirates in order again, notching his 19th save of the season. He lowered his ERA on the season to 2.13.

The Pirates will return home for a three-game series against the Houston Astros that starts on Tuesday. They are off for a travel day on Monday. Paul Skenes (4-5, 2.15 ERA, 77 K) will take the mound for the Pirates on Tuesday night, while Lance McCullers Jr. (0-1, 5.89 ERA, 26 K) gets the starting nod for Houston. First pitch is expected at 6:40 PM ET.