Pittsburgh Pirates Extend Winning Streak to 7, Defeat San Diego Padres 11-5

The Pittsburgh Pirates used the long ball to jump out to an early lead and continued to add on runs as they beat the San Diego Padres 11-5 in the first game of the weekend series. The win was also the seventh in a row, bringing the Pirates overall record to 25-22. Jung Ho Kang gave the Pittsburgh Pirates a three-run lead when he drove the first pitch he saw from Ian Kennedy deep into the left field stands, scoring Neil Walker and Starling Marte. Gregory Polanco hit his second home run of the year in the second which put the Pirates ahead 4-0.

Marte added a two-run shot in the third inning which scored Andrew McCutchen, giving them a six-run lead. In the fourth inning, Francisco Cervelli crossed the plate after a ground rule double by McCutchen, tacking on another run, making it 7-0.

The Padres got on the board in the fourth when Justin Upton singled and then advanced to third on the fielder’s choice by Derek Norris. Upton came around and scored on a single by Cory Spangenberg. Will Middlebrooks singled in Norris to make it 7-2.

The wheels started to come off in the fifth inning. With Abraham Almonte on first, Yangervis Solarte hit a groundball to Walker. Walker momentarily thought of throwing to second but opted for first. Alvarez was not looking and the ball sailed past him. Cervelli’s throwing error to second led to Almonte scoring for the Padres. Upton then singled in Solarte, bringing the Padres within three runs.
The Pirates got the runs back in the sixth inning when Cervelli scored on Harrison’s double down the line. McCutchen followed up with another double that scored Harrison. Both Walker and McCutchen would score on a throwing error by Alexi Amarista, giving the Pirates a 11-4 lead. In the bottom half of the inning, Jedd Gyorko hit into a double play which scored Will Middlebrooks.

The bullpen shut down the Padres offense, limiting them to just one hit over three and one third innings.

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What Stood Out

Last night’s game was all about offensive production. The three home runs in the first three innings gave the A.J. Burnett a nice lead to work with and the offense continued to add on throughout the night. Given that Petco Park has the reputation of being a pitcher’s park, it was nice to see such an offensive explosion.

What’s Next
The series continues tonight at 10:10 PM EST, when Francisco Liriano and James Shields face off. Shields has yet to lose a game this season and has pitched well at home, but the Pittsburgh Pirates are starting to heat up and very well could hand him his first loss of the season.

Next: Nick Kingham to have Tommy John surgery