PITTSBURGH — Joe Musgrove struck out eight over seven solid innings and the San Diego Padres beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-2 Sunday.
The game was Musgrove’s second with the Padres at PNC Park since being traded from Pittsburgh to San Diego after the 2020 season. He pitched three years for the Pirates.
Musgrove (4-0) looked comfortable in his old stomping grounds, scattering seven hits while allowing just one run.
“This is one I’ve had on the calendar marked for a little while,” Musgrove said. “Not in the sense that I have a grudge against these guys or anything, but anytime you leave somewhere and you go back, you have that sense of wanting to show them what they missed out on.”
Manny Machado hit an RBI single in the third off Mitch Keller (0-4) to put the Padres in the lead. The RBI was his team-leading 16th of the season.
Trent Grisham hit a two-run single after shortstop Cole Tucker’s two-out throwing error in the seventh.
Roberto Pérez hit an RBI single in the seventh and the Pirates loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth, but got only a sacrifice fly by Michael Chavis.
In the Padres ninth, Abrams had a sacrifice fly and Jake Cronenworth hit an RBI single.
Taylor Rogers struck out two for his ninth save.
Grisham had his first three-hit game of the season and had five hits over the final two games in Pittsburgh. Austin Nola had two hits and scored three times and Abrams doubled and singled as the eight, nine and one spots powered the San Diego offense.
“It’s important for us to get some contributions all over the board and Grisham is now swinging the bat better at the top,” Padres manager Bob Melvin said. “You can’t rely on three three, four, five guys all the time.”
Keller allowed one run on five hits over six innings. He struck out five and did not issue a walk. His ERA dropped from 6.62 to 5.32.
Keller’s six-inning start was the longest by any Pittsburgh pitcher this season. The Pirates have not had a starting pitcher earn a win in 22 consecutive games to the start the season.
"He threw the ball really well,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “We just didn’t score any runs while he was in the game.”
Melvin was ejected for arguing balls and strikes in the bottom of the seventh inning.
WET START
The start of the game was delayed 1 hour, 22 minutes by a line of heavy rain showers, something that might seem unnatural to a San Diego-area native and Padres pitcher like Musgrove, but three seasons in Pittsburgh had him prepared to deal with the conditions.
“Going through that experience here, I got a good idea how to handle that kind of stuff.” Musgrove said. “I spent the whole delay out in the bullpen. There are a lot more distractions in (the clubhouse.)”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Pirates: LHP Anthony Banda (illness) threw a simulated game and should be able to return from the 10-day IL when eligible May 3, general manager Ben Cherington said.
UP NEXT
Padres: RHP Mike Clevinger will make his first start since Sept. 23, 2020, in Cleveland on Tuesday. Clevinger missed all of 2021 after Tommy John surgery.
Pirates: RHP Bryse Wilson (0-0, 4.70) will begin a two-game series in Detroit on Tuesday.
