RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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San Diego Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill (3) gestures after hitting a double during the third inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Petco Park.
SAN DIEGO – With runs at a premium all series, the San Diego Padres were efficient with their early opportunities before adding on late, while the pitching staff navigated multiple men-on chances by the Pittsburgh Pirates in a 3-0 win on Wednesday afternoon at Petco Park.
Jackson Merrill had a hand in the two early Padres (72-62) runs, with a double and a run scored in the second and an RBI triple in the fourth inning. Pittsburgh (65-70) had a pair of bases loaded opportunities where they came up empty, as Randy Vásquez and four relievers held the Pirates to 1-for-13 in RISP opportunities with 10 left on base.
Efficiency was the order for the Padres, who went 3-for-5 in RISP chances for the game with three of their six stranded coming in a one-run eighth when San Diego left the bases loaded.
The Padres were able to break their stretch of being held scoreless early, ending at 14 innings as in the second Merrill was able to fight a low curveball off the end of his bat down the right field line for a one-out double. Luis Rengifo followed up by roping an RBI single to right, the third time in his last six appearances that he has knocked a run in.
Rengifo’s resurgence has been an important underlying story in San Diego’s second half success. After slashing .205/.280/.254 with 19 RBI on 38 hits and nine for extra bases (all doubles) and getting DFA’d by Milwaukee, in Brown and Gold he’s put up .305/.388/.432 with 17 RBI off four home runs and three doubles in 37 hits.
Merrill continued to make an impact in the fourth, as after Manny Machado reached on a throwing error by Nick Gonzalez, he ripped an inside fastball to right field for an RBI triple. It was his second multi-hit game since Aug. 11, and first time with multiple extra-base hits since hitting a pair of doubles at Miami on July 25.
A key bit of insurance came in the eighth, as Freddy Fermin led off with a single off former Padre reliever Kirby Yates, then on a Fernando Tatis Jr. strikeout was able to steal second for just the fourth swipe of his career. It mattered because Jake Cronenworth looped a double to right-center for an RBI. Yates would load the bases with walks after a Machado single that saw Cronenworth thrown out at home, but a flyout kept it 3-0.
Vásquez did not allow a man to reach in the first nine to the plate for the second consecutive game, including a seven-pitch first inning. But he showed grit in working through a grueling 27-pitch fourth inning where he gave up a lead-off single, his first walk, then balked the runners over without getting an out.
So, he turned to his changeup to get a pop out and then his first strikeout. After Oneil Cruz worked a walk, Vásquez left the bases loaded by switching to his heat to attack Nick Gonzalez, punching him out with a fastball at the knees that became the inning-ender on ABS review.
The fifth was a one-two-three effort by Vásquez, but with the top of the order and two lefties due up it meant the end of his afternoon. The starter finished with five scoreless innings pitched, allowing one hit and walking a pair in addition to two strikeouts and a balk, having thrown strikes of 41 of 68 pitches to improve to 10-6.
Kyle Hart got the sixth, but ran into trouble as the first two reached on a hit and a walk. It took a diving snag by Cronenworth to get the first out of the inning, going full extension to snag Bryan Reynolds’ near 105 MPH missile back up the middle. From there a groundout and then a Cruz flyout ended the threat.
The Padres had to face another bases loaded threat an inning later, as Griffin Canning walked then plunked the first two batters before getting a K. Yuki Matsui then got the nod, and pinch-hitter Jared Triolo singled deep into the hole at short. But Matsui got back-to-back fans on breaking balls to keep it scoreless.
It was Bradgley Rodriguez’s turn in the eighth, who conceded singles on his first two batters faced. From there he got Cruz to fan on a changeup, notched another K and got a groundout to close the inning. Rodriguez finished off the two-inning save, his second shutdown of the season.
There was no chance in the immediate NL Wild Card picture for San Diego, as both second Wild Card Philadelphia and first-out Arizona won.
After an off-day on Thursday, the Padres will open a six-game road swing by opening with three games at Tropicana Field against the AL-leading Tampa Bay Rays from Friday through Sunday. Then it’s a three-game set in Cincinnati against the NL Central’s basement-dwelling Reds, with games Monday through Wednesday.
Tampa, who completed a 3-3 road trip by blanking Detroit earlier on Wednesday, have already named lefty Shane McClanahan (9-6, 3.10 ERA) as their starter for the 4:10 p.m. ET first pitch on Friday. Righty Nick Martinez ( 13-4, 2.93 ERA) will start for the Rays on Saturday, and right-hander Drew Rasmussen (14-5, 2.95 ERA) is slotted for the series finale on Sunday.
San Diego has yet to name a starter for any of the games against Tampa Bay.
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