Pitch ends Bucs' streak
SAN DIEGO — It was a rough ninth inning for Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Rob Scahill.
If a throwing error on a routine grounder wasn’t bad enough, Scahill served up a grand slam to Derek Norris with two outs that lifted the San Diego Padres to a 6-2 victory Friday night, snapping the Pirates’ seven-game winning streak.
“It was a bad pitch,” Scahill said. “That’s not what cost us the game. It was the throw to first. That’s it. I messed it up. Nobody feels worse than me. I got the two ground balls that I needed, but if I made the throw, the inning’s over.”
Norris’ homer to center, his fourth, capped a crazy ninth that saw the Pirates get two straight force plays at home while fielding a five-man infield.
“I caught it pretty good,” Norris said. “I mean, this ballpark can make you think differently sometimes but typically whenever I get into one I feel good about it.”
Jedd Gyorko started the winning rally with a leadoff walk from Scahill (1-3). Abraham Almonte bunted and Scahill fielded it but threw it away at first for an error, allowing Gyorko to take third and Almonte second. Cory Spangenberg was intentionally walked to load the bases. With the Pirates employing the five-man infield, they got two straight force plays at home.
That brought up Norris for his winning slam.
As for the errant throw, “I just babied it,” Scahill said. “That’s the throw I’ve made thousands of times. I just babied it and threw it away.”
Craig Kimbrel (1-1) pitched the ninth for the win.
Pirates starter Francisco Liriano left with a 2-0 lead after striking out 11 and walking just one while holding the Padres to three hits over six innings.
Jared Hughes relieved Liriano starting the seventh and promptly walked Will Middlebrooks and allowed an infield single to Gyorko before Almonte doubled into the left-center gap.
After being moved by Spangenberg’s sacrifice, Almonte ran himself into an out. Will Venable hit a grounder that first baseman Pedro Alvarez fielded and threw to third baseman Jung Ho Kang, catching him in a rundown.
Padres ace James Shields, facing the Pirates for the first time in his career and trying for his first 7-0 start, left trailing 2-0 after six.
It might have been a 3-0 lead but Gregory Polanco was tagged out at home on a strange play. Starling Marte struck out but the ball rolled behind Norris, the catcher. As Marte ran to first, Polanco tried to score but Norris flipped the ball to Shields and he was tagged out. The Pirates appealed but the play stood.
Shields hit Kang with a pitch before Alvarez hit a two-run single to left.
Shields held the Pirates to two runs and six hits in six innings, struck out six and walked two.
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