The Pittsburgh Pirates gave their manager Clint Hurdle a perfect present for his 60th birthday Sunday: they ended their four-game losing streak and snapped the San Diego Padres four-game winning streak.
Padres pitchers Clayton Richards and Jose Torres missed against Andrew McCutchen, allowing the right fielder to hit three solo home runs in the 7-1 loss.
“It feels good, man. Done it before. It’s cool to be able to do it again,” McCutchen said. “We need a ‘W’ every day we’re out there, but we definitely needed one today.”
McCutchen hit a homer in the first inning against Richards for the Pirates lead and the Pads never did catch up. His second and third were the third longest of his career (424 feet) and shortest at the Petco Park this year (333 feet), respectively.
“He’s good, there’s no doubt about that,” Padres manager Andy Green said. “We’ve missed against him, and that’s what good hitters do when you make a mistake.”
Jose Osuna tripled in the sixth and scored and Jordy Mercer’s single to bring the score to 4-0. Dusty Coleman homered on a fly ball to center field at the bottom of the seventh inning to bring the score to 4-1. Padres were scoreless for the rest for the of the game.
Josh Bell’s solo homer at the top of the ninth before McCutchen’s final home run to put a cap on the afternoon.
On Monday, rookie center fielder Manuel Margot was named the National League Player of the Week. He has recorded multiple hits per game since returning from paternity leave July 23.
The Padres have Monday off, but a non-waiver trade deadline Monday afternoon could leave the bullpen looking a bit different when they faced the Minnesota Twins at 4:10 p.m. Tuesday in Petco Park.
