Gerrit Cole went 5 2/3 innings of four-hit ball and Pedro Alvarez and Neil Walker provided long-balls as the Pirates (28-30) defeated the Padres (26-33) 4-1 on Tuesday night.
Cole allowed a single hit — a two out double by Will Venable in the second inning — through 5 2/3 innings before getting into a bit of trouble. Chase Headley, Seth Smith and Yonder Alonso all singled to bring across the Padres only run knocking Cole from the game. Jared Hughes then came in and got a nice backhand play by Walker on a Jedd Gyorko groundball to get out of the inning.
The lone Padres run wouldn’t prove costly as the Pirates had a comfortable 4-0 prior to the inning. Walker started the scoring in the third when he sent a 0-1 fastball from Padres starter Jessie Hahn — making his ML debut — into the left-center field seats for his 11th home run of the season. Alvarez matched Walker with his 11th in the fourth inning with a two-run shot off of Hahn to right field.
The bullpen trio of Tony Watson, Mark Melancon and Jason Grilli (9th save) followed Hughes with three no-hit innings to close things out.
Final Score: Pirates 4, Padres 1
Starters Lines
Cole (W, 6-2): 5 2/3 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K’s. 100 Pitches (62 Strikes).
Hahn (L, 0-1): 3 2/3 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K’s, 2 HR. 79 Pitches (49 Strikes).
The Pirates will look for a three-game sweep of the Padres and a 7-2 road trip tomorrow.
Tomorrow’s Starters
(LHP) Francisco Liriano (PIT): 1-5, 4.62 ERA
(RHP) Ian Kennedy (SD): 4-6, 3.42 ERA
First pitch is set for 6:40 EST.
(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
