Pirates 11, Padres 5: Ian Kennedy had a very bad night

Let's get this out of the way quick: Ian Kennedy suuuuuuucked tonight. In three and two thirds awful innings, he gave up seven runs on seven hits, including three homers. Those homers really dampened the celebrations when he picked up his 1,000th strikeout. Pirates starter A.J. Burnett wasn't that much better, but it's pretty hard to blow a seven run lead.

Not that the Pittsburgh defense didn't try to throw it all away. Justin Upton led off the fourth with a single to left, then stole second. With one out, Derek Norris (who you should vote into the All-Star Game) hit a grounder to shortstop Jung Ho Kang. Kang tried to get Upton at third, but wasn't fast enough.  A productive out by Cory Spangenberg got one run in, and then Norris scored from second on a single by Will Middlebrooks. Things got even crazier in the fifth. Abraham Almonte led off the inning with a walk. Yangervis Solarte hit an easy grounder to second baseman Neil Walker, but Walker airmailed the throw to first, sending Almonte to third and Solarte to second. Catcher Francisco Cervelli recovered the ball and in trying to get the out at second, committed another error to plate the Padres' third run of the night. A single from Will Venable scored the fourth, and another from Justin Upton brought the tying run to the plate. But Kemp, Norris, and Spangenberg went down in order to end the inning. The four runs Cory Mazzoni gave up in the sixth put the game firmly out of reach for the good guys.

James Shields will get the start tomorrow at 7:10 PM. I'm not psychic, but it'll probably be better.