SAN DIEGO_Eric Lauer was battling on Friday.
Himself. The Pittsburgh Pirates. His San Diego Padres' teammates.
The Pirates ended up winning 6-3.
Lauer had by far his worst start of the six he has made in what had been a strong month.
The 23-year-old rookie, who entered June with a 7.67 ERA over 29 1/3 innings over his first seven starts, had a 2.28 ERA 27 2/3 innings in five starts this month.
Lauer demonstrated little of the command that had seen him through those recent starts, as he allowed nine hits and six runs (three earned) and labored for much of the 92-pitch outing.
But he wasn't horrible, and it didn't have to be as bad as it ended up.
The defense behind him _ and in front of him _ was poor. And from the unlikeliest of places.
After two two-out singles in the first inning, Lauer and catcher Austin Hedges got mixed up on a pitch that allowed the Pirates' first run to score on a passed ball. Hedges clearly expected a breaking ball that didn't break but instead bounced off his glove and to the wall as Josh Bell ran home.
The Pirates scored four runs on four hits in the third inning. Just two of the runs were earned because of a rare Freddy Galvis error (on a flip to second base that pulled Cory Spangenberg off the bag).
Jordy Mercer led off the fourth inning with a home run.
The Padres got seven hits off Grossmont High graduate Joe Musgrove, who threw seven scoreless innings. Musgrove (3-3) had allowed 16 earned runs in 19 1/3 innings in losing three of his past four starts.
They ended up out-hitting the Pirates, 12-11.
All but two of the Padres' hits would come after they were down 6-0.
They scored two runs off Pirates reliever Steven Brault, also a Grossmont alumnus, in the eighth. Christian Villanueva's RBI single, which made it 5-2, was the Padres' first hit in nine at-bats with a runner in scoring position. The previous batter, Spangenberg, drove in the Padres' first run on a ground out.
Manuel Margot would make the Padres 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position with a single that scored Hunter Renfroe from third base in the ninth inning.
The Padres have a paltry .285 on-base percentage and are hitting a measly .175 (14-for-80) with runners in scoring position over their past 12 games, 10 of those being losses. They have scored 21 runs in those losses.
