Padres Pound Pirates at Petco Park

Friars win big to split series

Like it’s been all year, when the Padres are good they’re REALLY good. When they’re bad, they’re … well you get the picture.

The former was true on Sunday night against the Pirates at Petco Park. The Padres jumped on Jeff Locke early and got a great start from Odrisamer Despaigne that ended with a 7-1 win and a series split with Pittsburgh. The Pirates came to San Diego riding a 6-game winning streak.

Second baseman Jedd Gyorko delivered a 2-out, 2-RBI, bases loaded single in the first inning to put the Padres on top 2-0. After a miserable April where he hit just .135, Gyorko was much better in May, finishing with a .279 mark for the month.

The Padres got an unearned run in the second then tacked on a trio in the third. Third baseman Will Middlebrooks smacked his 7th home run of the season, a 2-run shot to score Matt Kemp and give the Friars a 5-0 lead. Later in the inning shortstop Clint Barmes singled up the middle to score Will Venable, all but putting the game away. Barmes had three hits against his former team.

The Padres final run came in the 4th inning on a Middlebrooks sacrifice fly to score Derek Norris, who had another 2-hit night.

Despaigne took it from there, allowing just one run in 8.0 innings and making the case again that, even when Brandon Morrow returns from a shoulder injury, he might need to stay in the starting rotation.

The Padres improve to 25-27 on the season and sit in third place in the NL West, 5.5 games back of the first-place Dodgers. San Diego opens a 3-game series in the East Village on Monday night against the Mets with Andrew Cashner on the mound against Jacob deGrom.

Contact Us