Pirates erupt in 8th inning, breeze past Padres

Matt Press, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Apr 7, 2026

Published in Baseball

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PITTSBURGH — A chilly evening on the North Shore didn’t seem to matter Tuesday night for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

After being shut out in Monday’s loss, the Pirates erupted for seven runs in the final four innings to beat the San Diego Padres, 7-1, at PNC Park.

Paul Skenes put forth a strong performance in his first home start of the season, tossing 6 1/3 innings while giving up two hits, one run and striking out six. The Pirates’ pitchers limited the Padres to a combined three hits, as well.

Padres righty Nick Pivetta was cruising to start, tossing four innings of one-hit ball — the only knock being a Henry Davis bloop double into shallow right field.

It took some time, but the Pirates backed up Skenes with run support in the fifth. Spencer Horwitz led off the inning with a single and Konnor Griffin followed with a single of his own, marking his first hit since his MLB debut in last week’s home opener against the Baltimore Orioles. With one out and runners on first and second, Oneil Cruz ripped a bases-clearing double down the third-base line to put the Pirates up, 2-0.

Skenes surrendered his first hit of the game in the sixth — a single off the bat of Fernando Tatis Jr. — but induced a double play to get out of the inning unscathed. He came back out for the seventh, but Padres shortstop Xander Bogaerts launched a solo shot to left field to put the visitors on the board and knock Skenes out of the game after 87 pitches.

The Pirates added plenty of cushion in the bottom of the eighth when Nick Gonzales slapped an opposite field single down the first base line to score two runs. Then, with runners on the corners, Jake Mangum pinch-hit and matched Gonzales with an opposite field RBI single.

They continued to pounce on Padres reliever Adrian Morejon as Griffin tallied the Pirates’ fourth hit of the inning with a two-run single to left field.

It was over when …

Gonzales drove in two runs in the eighth to put the Pirates ahead, 4-1, and spur a five-run inning.

On the mound

Bogaerts’ seventh-inning home run marked the first against a Pirates starting pitcher this year. Still, Skenes has returned to his characteristic self after opening the season with a blowup start against the New York Mets. And, for what it’s worth, he lowered his ERA from 9.53 to 5.25 with Tuesday’s win.

Isaac Mattson got the final two outs in the seventh and Gregory Soto pitched a clean eighth, including an inning-ending strikeout of Tatis. Yohan Ramirez took the ball for the ninth and shut the door with ease.

At the plate

Eight different Pirates notched a hit, and Ryan O’Hearn went 2 for 3 to log his fourth multi-hit game of the year. Davis also went 2 for 3 with a single and a double, both to opposite field. The Pirates only had one hit until the fifth inning, but they finished with 12 thanks to an offensive eruption in the eighth inning.

Most valuable player

Aside from Bogaert’s solo homer, Skenes kept the Padres’ explosive lineup quiet and allowed the Pirates’ bats to gradually find their form.

Up next

The Pirates will go for a third-straight series victory at 12:35 p.m.ET in Wednesday’s rubber match. Mitch Keller (1-0, 1.50) will get the start for the Pirates against the Padres’ Michael King (0-1, 3.38).

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