Manny Machado homered and knocked in the tiebreaking run during a four-run seventh-inning rally as the San Diego Padres stopped the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates 6-4 on Sunday.
Machado’s sacrifice fly to deep center scored Elias Diaz with the run that put San Diego ahead 5-4. Tyler Wade capped the big inning by stroking an infield single off the glove of reliever Caleb Ferguson that plated Fernando Tatis Jr.
Adrian Morejon (3-2) got the last out of the seventh to pick up the win and Robert Suarez pitched the ninth for his MLB-high 19th save. It was the third straight series win for the Padres, who will play 17 of their next 20 games in a 21-day stretch against winning teams.
Tanner Rainey (0-1) was tagged with the loss after losing the strike zone in the seventh. He was charged with all four runs, allowing just one hit but walking three. The only hit was Diaz’s pinch-hit RBI single that scored Xander Bogaerts to make it 4-3.
Rainey walked Tatis to load the bases and Luis Arraez greeted Ferguson with a run-scoring single to left that tied the score.
Machado cracked his seventh homer off Andrew Heaney in the bottom of the first to stake Padres starter Randy Vasquez to an early lead. But the Pirates used the long ball to take control in the third as Andrew McCutchen drilled a two-run shot to left, his fifth of the year and second in as many games.
Ke’Bryan Hayes added an RBI single later in the third and Adam Frazier made it 4-1 in the fourth with a solo blast to left-center, his third of the year. Vasquez left later in the inning after permitting four runs on six hits and three walks in 3 1/3 innings with three strikeouts.
Heaney retired 13 in a row in one stretch, departing after Jackson Merrill doubled home Arraez with two outs in the sixth. Heaney gave up five hits and two runs in 5 2/3 innings, walking none and whiffing three.
