SAN DIEGO_Jhoulys Chacin had a budding no-hit bid Friday. Then he didn't. After another pitch, he no longer had a lead. Despite a litany of base runners, the San Diego Padres had failed to provide much of a safety net for their starting pitcher.
After seven innings, Chacin returned to the dugout, where he received kudos for a job well done. Soon, he was the one applauding.
Batting for Chacin in the bottom of the seventh, Matt Szczur smashed a go-ahead home run to left-center. In the next inning, Szczur doubled. Franchy Cordero drilled a two-run double. A miscommunication by the Kansas City defense resulted in another run.
In a 6-3 victory over the Royals, the Padres followed a mid-game lull with a late-inning outburst, ending a five-game losing streak.
Chacin did not allow a hit until the top of the fifth, when Salvador Perez launched a two-run, game-tying homer. The right-hander ensured that would be the only damage against him. He finished with seven innings, having yielded three hits and two walks. He struck out six.
The pitcher even contributed at the plate, lacing a run-scoring double. In doing so, he accomplished what several of his teammates did not.
The offense opened the game 7-for-9 with two walks, leading to a quick hook for Kansas City's Eric Skoglund. Yet, after two innings, San Diego had only a 2-0 lead to show for it.
Wil Myers, Hunter Renfroe and Austin Hedges had notched two-out singles in the bottom of the first.
In the bottom of the second, Cory Spangenberg led off with an infield single, but was caught stealing. Erick Aybar doubled. Chacin hit his double but, after consecutive walks, was picked off at third. Myers struck out, stranding a pair.
Over the next four innings, the Padres went 1-for-11. Eric Hosmer led off the fifth with a single. With one swing, Perez tied the score.
San Diego's bench would untie it.
Szczur crushed his 10th career home run and first as a pinch-hitter. Up again after an Aybar single, he doubled in the eighth. Cordero followed with a pinch-hit double. Yangervis Solarte drove in another run with a popup single.
The Royals loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth. Brandon Maurer allowed a sacrifice fly before inducing a game-ending double play.
