Drew Pomeranz didn’t just perform well in his first home start at Petco Park.
He exceeded expectations.
The lefty mixed up his fastball and breaking ball so well he struck out 10 Pittsburgh batters and San Diego won its second straight over the Pirates, this time by a score of 8-2.
Pomeranz threw 111 pitches and only allowed one run over 6.2 innings.
The southpaw even added a RBI single in the 3rd inning and left to a standing ovation when he was pulled for Kevin Quackenbush in the 7th.
Matt Kemp blasted his team-high 5th homer of the year to stretch San Diego’s lead to 8-0 in the 4th.
Melvin Upton Junior provided two highlight-reel defensive plays in the 9th inning.
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The left-fielder robbed Matt Joyce of a 2-run homer and then made a charging catch minutes later to help Luis Perdomo wiggle out of a shaky performance.
Upton went 0-for-2 at the plate but still drew two walks and scored a run.
The Padres placed second baseman Cory Spangenberg on the 15-day disabled list with a left quad strain earlier on Wednesday.
Spangenberg was injured during the 4th inning of Tuesday night’s 5-4 victory over Pittsburgh and left the game after beating out a bunt single.
Jemile Weeks was called up from Triple-A El Paso to take Spangenberg’s spot and started Wednesday at second base.
He was awarded a RBI single in the middle of the team’s 4-run 2nd inning on a play that easily could have been an error on Pittsburgh’s 3rd baseman.
Weeks had a great spring at the plate and almost made the Opening Day roster after exceeding expectations as a non-roster invite.
Expect Weeks and Adam Rosales to play more in place of Spangenberg over the next few days.
James Shields opposes Gerritt Cole in the series finale at 6:10 p.m. on Thursday.
The Padres can notch their first sweep of the season with a victory.
