Powerful Pirates Pound Pathetic Padres Pitching

Well, that was no fun. I missed most of the first few innings because I was doing, you know, important stuff. By the time I could settle in and give the game my undivided attention, the Padres' 1-0 lead was gone, as the Pirates were in the process of scoring 10 unanswered runs.

The Padres looked like they might head back west with a sweep as they came out hot against young ace-in-training Gerrit Cole. Chris Denorfia, the second batter of the game, doubled and came in to score on a Tommy Medica single. The lead lasted a handful of minutes, as the Pirates tied the game in the bottom of the first. Starter Ian Kennedy seemed to settle in for the next couple innings but all hell broke loose in the fourth. Pedro Alvarez gave his team the lead with a solo homer and they just kept piling on from there. A single, two doubles, and another home run later, the Pirates were up 6-1 and Kennedy was replaced by Brad Brach.

After both Brads, Brach and Boxberger, and Tommy Layne held the score in place for a couple innings, Anthony Bass came in for the seventh and gave up four runs in two innings of work. It was pretty anticlimactic; he just kept giving up single after single.

Rookie starter Gerrit Cole was dominant for the Pirates. Not Andrew Cashner level dominant, but still pretty damn good. He gave up one run on four hits while striking out 12 Friars in his six innings of work. Fascist. Padres batters didn't fare any better against Tony Watson or Jason Grilli, both of whom pitched perfect innings. Nick Hundley managed a single against Stolmy Pimentel in the ninth, but it was too little, too late.

A 10-1 loss probably doesn't make for the happiest flight back home, but the Padres have a lot to be pleased about. Taking three out of four games against a postseason-bound team is impressive, regardless of how humiliating the one loss happened to be.

Faith Keeper led all commenters with 47, followed by london_balling with 35, and Thelonious_Friar with 20. london_balling dominated the recs, gathering seven of them. Faith Keeper got two, and five others got one each. Great job, everybody.