David Peralta homered Tuesday night and Michael King struck out 10 over six scoreless innings as the San Diego Padres blanked the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates 3-0 for their eighth consecutive series win since the All-Star break.
King (10-6) scattered seven hits and walked none as he lowered his ERA to 3.19. Jason Adam, Tanner Scott and Robert Suarez each threw one shutout inning in relief, with Suarez notching his 27th save in 30 attempts.
Luis L. Ortiz (5-3) absorbed the loss, allowing two runs (one earned) and three hits in five innings with two walks and three strikeouts. It was the ninth straight loss for Pittsburgh, which went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and is 1-for-17 in the series.
The Padres scored their first run in the bottom of the first despite not getting a hit. Ortiz walked Luis Arraez and hit Jurickson Profar. Jake Cronenworth hit a comebacker but shortstop Oneil Cruz dropped a throw at second that could have forced out Profar.
Manny Machado drove in Arraez with a sacrifice fly.
Peralta made it 2-0 in the fifth with his fifth homer of the year, driving an Ortiz sinker an estimated 410 feet beyond the right-center-field wall. It was Peralta’s second homer in as many games this month against Ortiz.
Arraez led off the eighth with a single and reached second via an error by right fielder Bryan De La Cruz. Arraez advanced to third on a groundout by Cronenworth and scored on Machado’s single that glanced off the glove of Cruz and into center field.
Pittsburgh, which outhit the Padres 9-7, collected five hits against King in the first three innings but couldn’t convert with men on base. It left two men on in the second and third innings.
The win enabled San Diego to stay within 3 1/2 games of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West. The Padres remained tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the NL’s top wild-card spot.
–Field Level Media