Pirates Win Streak Snapped With Sloppy Loss to Padres; ‘25 Vibes for a Night
PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates had been playing mostly clean baseball up to this point but reverted to last season’s ways in a sloppy 5-0 loss to the San Diego Padres at PNC Park on Monday night, ending their five-game win streak.
Scoring Plays
Top 4th, 1-0 SD: Nick Castellanos doubled home a run off Bubba Chandler for his second hit of the game to break a scoreless tie.
Top 5th, 3-0 SD: Jackson Merrill doubled over the head of Bryan Reynolds in left field on a ball that looked like it potentially could’ve been caught. The ball bounced off the warning track and went over the wall, allowing Ramón Laureano to score. Yohan Ramírez entered in relief of Chandler (0-1) with two in scoring position and one out and allowed one of the two inherited runners to score on a Manny Machado RBI groundout.
Top 6th, 4-0 SD: Freddy Fermin and Jake Cronenworth hit back-to-back doubles off Ramírez to tack another run for the Padres (5-5).
Top 8th, 5-0 SD: Laureano doubled to right field off Justin Lawrence and plated Freddy Fermin from first base when Ryan O’Hearn’s throw went to second.
Key Moment
The Pirates (6-4) had two runners on with one out in a 0-0 game in the second inning. Spencer Horwitz hit a grounder to the right side that deflected off the gloves of first baseman Gavin Sheets and second baseman Jake Cronenworth and kicked into right field.
Ryan O’Hearn was held late at third by third base coach Tony Beasley but Nick Gonzales rounded second and headed for third. After O’Hearn saw Gonzales keep running, he broke for the plate and was thrown out at home by right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr.
Player of the Game
Padres starter Germán Márquez (1-1) was pummeled in his first start of the season but rebounded to hold the Pirates scoreless across five innings. He scattered six hits, walked one and struck out four.
Stat to Know
The Pirates’ five-game win streak was the longest active streak in MLB. It was their longest win streak since also winning five in a row last season from July 26-30.
Notable Performances
- Bubba Chandler: 4.1 innings, five hits, three runs, four walks, four strikeouts, 83 pitches/48 strikes
- Spencer Horwitz: 2 for 3, one walk
Noteworthy
- Ryan O’Hearn has reached base safely multiple times in eight of his first nine games to start the season.
- Pirates starting pitchers have yet to allow a home run this season — a total of 47.1 innings and 10 games without surrendering a long ball.
Up Next
RHP Paul Skenes (1-1, 9.53 ERA) will make his third start of the season on Tuesday night. RHP Nick Pivetta (1-1, 6.75 ERA) gets the start for the Padres. First pitch: 6:40 p.m. ET on SportsNet Pittsburgh/93.7 The Fan.
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