 lasted at least seven innings for the second time in four starts, striking out eight. He recovered from being ejected in the first inning after hitting an Atlanta batter with a pitch on June 10, and giving up six runs on nine hits in four innings against the Braves three days later.Machado, playing his 1,000th major league game, fumbled a ground ball from Jung Ho Kang in the seventh inning before tossing it past first base. Jose Osuna drove in Steven Brault, who was pinch-running for Kang, to give the Pirates a 2-1 lead.Pittsburgh reliever Kyle Crick walked the bases loaded in the eighth before getting Franmil Reyes to pop to first to end the inning. Felipe Vazquez gave up one hit in the ninth and picked up his 18th save.The Pirates won for the third time in four games after losing 19 of their previous 26. The Padres had their four-game winning streak halted.The loss spoiled an efficient outing by Padres starter Eric Lauer (5-7), who allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits in seven innings with 80 pitches (58 strikes).Lauer allowed hits to two of the first three batters he faced, including a double down the left-field line by Starling Marte that scored Bryan Reynolds, giving the Pirates a 1-0 lead. He didn't give up another hit until the fifth, when Elias Diaz and Musgrove had two-out singles.Before his pair of costly errors, Machado tied the game 1-all1 in the fourth with his 15th homer of the season, which went 425 feet, off the batter's eye in center.Pirates second baseman Kevin Newman singled to center in the eighth, extending his hitting streak to 12 games.TRAINER'S ROOMPirates: OF Gregory Polanco, who has three hits in his last 22 at-bats, sat for a third straight game since going 1 for 4 with a double in a 5-4 win against Miami on June 16. ... LHP Steven Brault will pitch against San Diego on Sunday, with RHP Jordan Lyles recovering from tightness in his left hamstring. Brault pitched six scoreless innings against Miami in his last outing, on June 14.UP NEXTPadres: RHP Chris Paddack (4-4, 3.15) will look to make it past the fifth inning for the first time since May 20 when he faces Pittsburgh on Saturday. He has allowed 13 runs (12 earned) in 14 1/3 innings through his past three starts.Pirates: RHP Chris Archer (3-6, 5.85) will try to find some consistency Saturday after giving up 11 runs in 11 innings during last starts, since allowing one in six innings of a 6-1 win over Atlanta on June 6.---More baseball: https://apnews.com/MLB and www.twitter.com/-Sports)
Rebounding Pirates host surging PadresFLMThe San Diego Padres and Pittsburgh Pirates will carry some feel-good moments into their weekend series that opens Friday at PNC Park.The visiting Padres are coming off a series sweep of Milwaukee that gave them a four-game winning streak and boosted them back over .500.Pittsburgh split a two-game series against Detroit and has bounced back from a seven-game losing streak by going 3-2 in the past five games, but it was a rally from a six-run deficit Wednesday to beat the Tigers that lingers.Both teams had Thursday off after 8-7 wins.San Diego is opening a five-game road trip."It's fun to watch these guys play baseball," Padres manager Andy Green said. "Anytime you sweep any club, it's good. Anytime you sweep a first-place club, it's really good. We have a lot of firepower. We have a number of guys going good right now." San Diego has scored 58 runs over its past seven games, encompassing two series.First baseman Eric Hosmer homered and had three hits Wednesday against the Brewers, and he didn't even have the biggest blast of the game. That came from Franmil Reyes, who hit a go-ahead three-run homer."Guys are clicking at the right time right now," Hosmer said.The Pirates' warm and fuzzies are little more short-term. That seven-game losing streak pushed them to last in the National League Central, and they are still clawing their way back toward .500, but winning a few games since then and Wednesday's big comeback -- rookie Bryan Reynolds hit a go-ahead three-run homer -- buoyed them."Top to bottom in our lineup, it's just been really impressive over this tough stretch for us," said right-hander Trevor Williams, who returned from the injured list to start Wednesday. "I hope this is the turning point. I think it's going to start coming together." For that to continue, Pittsburgh will need another bounce-back performance from right-hander Joe Musgrove, who will try to tame the San Diego offense.Musgrove (4-7, 4.87 ERA) is expected to face San Diego left-hander Eric Lauer (5-6, 4.60 ERA) Friday.In his last win on June 5, Musgrove gave up three runs and five hits and pitched into the ninth in a 7-4 victory against Atlanta."I feel like this is something I can build on and turn my season around," Musgrove said at the time, but since then he was ejected in the first inning on June 10, also against Atlanta, and gave up six runs and nine hits in four innings on June 13 in a 6-5 loss, again against the Braves.Musgrove has given up six homers over his past seven starts after giving up one over his first nine appearances.He is 2-0 with a 2.03 ERA in two career starts against the Padres. One of those was a 6-3 win on June 29 last year against Lauer.Lauer has lost his past two starts, including a clunker Saturday when he gave up five runs and 10 hits in 2 2/3 innings in a 14-8 loss against Colorado.Against Pittsburgh, Lauer is 0-1 in three career starts with a 4.70 ERA.In mid-May, the Pirates won three of four games in a series at San Diego.--Field Level Media
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