Pittsburgh, PA (Best E Casino) - Josh Bard went 2-for-4 with two runs batted in, as the
San Diego Padres held off Pittsburgh, 6-5, in the second of four games with the Pirates.
Adrian Gonzalez hit a two-run homer, while Kevin Kouzmanoff and Chase Headley each had two hits and an RBI for the Padres, who snapped a three-game losing streak. The club is now 2-7 through most of an 11-game road trip.
Cha Seung Baek (3-5) picked up the win after 5 1/3 innings of work, in which he gave up four runs on seven hits. Mike Adams threw 1 2/3 frames of scoreless relief, while Trevor Hoffman picked up his 19th save with a perfect ninth.
Adam LaRoche hit a pair of solo homers for the Pirates, who on Friday traded outfielder Xavier Nady and pitcher Damaso Marte. The club confirmed the trade, but did not confirm to which team the players were traded. A report on Pittsburgh's web site cited a baseball source saying the players were dealt to the New York Yankees, in exchange for pitcher Ross Ohlendorf and three prospects.
Nady -- who led the team with a .330 batting average -- was pulled after the first inning and replaced by Jason Michaels, who went 1-for-4.
Zach Duke (4-8) took the loss after allowing five runs on seven hits in six innings. Duke lost his third straight start, while Pittsburgh had a four-game win streak halted.
The Padres got on the scoreboard first, when Bard's single in the second inning plated Headley, who hit a two-out double. But LaRoche's first homer tied the game, as he slammed a pitch slightly inside over the right field wall.
Gonzalez provided some pop for San Diego in the fourth. After Kouzmanoff singled with one out, Gonzalez clobbered a pitch down the middle of the plate and sent it far over the right-center field wall for a 3-1 Padres lead.
LaRoche's second homer, in the home fourth, got the Pirates back within a run. But the Padres tacked on two more runs in the sixth, on Headley's RBI single and Bard's run-scoring ground out.
The Pirates rallied in the sixth. Jason Bay led off with a single and after Michaels flied out, LaRoche walked. That brought in Adams to pitch, though Doug Mientkiewicz greeted him with an RBI single -- scoring Bay -- to right field that left runners on the corners.
Pinch-hitter Chris Gomez next singled to right, plating LaRoche. Mientkiewicz and Gomez each tried to advance on the throw home. Bard, however, threw to third for the tag-out of Mientkiewicz, and a throw to second base completed the double play, as Gomez was tagged out there.
With San Diego having held onto its lead, 5-4, the club added another run in the seventh on Kouzmanoff's RBI single.
The Pirates had another opportunity in the eighth after loading the bases with no outs against Heath Bell. LaRoche struck out and Mientkiewicz flied out to shallow center before Jose Bautista walked on a full count to force in a run. Bell, however, induced a pop fly from Jack Wilson, which shortstop Khalil Greene caught in very shallow left field to end the threat.
Hoffman came on for the ninth and set the Pirates down in order to close out the game.
Game Notes
Kouzmanoff turned 27 years old on Friday...The Pirates will need to win the final two games of this matchup to win their first home series against San Diego since 2000...Major League Baseball handed down suspensions for two members of the Pittsburgh Pirates minor league system on Friday, after testing positive for performance-enhancing substances. Pitchers Roman Carrasco and Luis Figueroa were each suspended 50 games. Both suspensions are effective immediately...The Padres announced today that club has signed infielder Cole Figueroa, the team's sixth-round pick in the 2008 First Year Player Draft and their 12th-round pick, infielder Matt Clark.