Not to sound like Captain Obvious here, but the Padres need a winning streak. The last time they won more that two straight games was May 1-3 when they swept the Rockies.
A team needs to be a lot more consistent than that if it wants to compete for the playoffs. The Friars failed to build on the momentum of Friday night's walk-off grand slam, losing 5-2 to the Pirates on Saturday at Petco Park.
Tyson Ross took the loss despite allowing just three runs (two earned) in 6.0 innings. The San Diego offense was punchless again, managing a mere four hits for the game. The offensive struggle was crystallized in the 8th inning when Pittsburgh left-hander Tony Watson came on in relief of starter Charlie Morton (who went 7.0 innings ans allowed just two runs).
For Watson, facing the Padres was elementary. He stared down three straight right-handed pinch-hitters. Clint Barmes, Abraham Almonte and Jedd Gyorko all struck out.
The Pirates put it away in the 9th inning when Andrew McCutchen smoked an RBI double to left with a couple of runners on and Starling Marte brought home a run with an RBI groundout off Kevin Quackenbush. For the night the Pirates went 5-11 with runners in scoring position while the Padres went 0-5.
San Diego can split the 4-game series (and take another stab at starting a winning streak) on Sunday night. The game will be a 6:10 p.m. start so Downtown can be cleared out a bit after the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon. Odrisamer Despaigne gets the start against Jeff Locke.
