Wil Myers’ broken bat single in the seventh inning broke up Pittsburgh Pirates left-hander Tyler Anderson’s no-hitter and led to what qualifies as a breakout inning for the Padres these days.
After Manny Machado walked to start the inning, Myers’ single dribbled through the right side, moving Machado to third. Tommy Pham’s sacrifice fly gave the Padres their first run and Austin Nola’s double made it 2-0 and drove Anderson from the game.
That stood as the final score, as the Padres played a team with a losing record for the first time since the last time they played the Pirates, on April 15.
However Monday night ended, it wasn’t going to be Miguel Díaz’s fault if the Padres failed to capitalize on the opportunity presented by the Pirates (12-15) showing up at Petco Park.
The fill-in starter threw three scoreless innings in his first major league game since June 14, 2019.
Díaz, 26, was a different kind of pitcher in his return from two knee surgeries. His slider, dastardly but unpredictable, was largely absent. Mostly using a mid-90s fastball and change-up, he threw 34 strikes among his 50 pitches. He walked successive batters in the second inning and allowed a two-out double in the third before passing the game to the bullpen.
Craig Stammen threw two innings and Austin Adams, Tim Hill, Drew Pomeranz and Mark Melancon one apiece.
The Padres offense, which entered the game ranked 16th in the majors with a .235 batting average, was largely what it has been all season. Pitches that could have been obliterated were missed. Balls that were hit hard went at defenders.
After Trent Grisham led off the bottom of the first with a walk, Anderson retired the next 13 batters before Jake Cronenworth reached on Anderson’s fielding error with two outs in the fifth.
Díaz was starting in Chris Paddack’s turn in the rotation. Paddack is on the injured list for an undisclosed reason.
Dinelson Lamet and Ryan Weathers left their most recent starts with injury scares, though both have been throwing regularly and one of them is expected to start Tuesday.
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