Padres Strike Early, Sweep Reeling Pirates, Losers of 10 in Row

The Padres scored eight runs in the first three innings Wednesday, making a bad situation almost hopeless for the struggling Pirates, who dropped their 10th straight.

The 8-2 win also drew the Friars closer to the Dodgers, as L.A. fell 5-4 in Milwaukee. They, along with Arizona, trail L.A. by 2.5 games in the National League West, while sharing a 4.5-game lead in the wild-card race.

Jake Cronenworth summed it up simply. “They’re playing really good right now. So are we,” he told MLB.com.

Three batters into the game, Pittsburgh already was down 3-0 as Cronenworth followed singles by Luis Arraez and Jurickson Profar with a laser shot out to right for his 15th home run of the year. Arraez added to the lead in second with a two-out, run-scoring double.

The extra-base hits kept on coming in the third, as Jackson Merrill tripled home Cronenworth and Manny Machado, who both walked to start the inning. David Peralta delivered the final blow to the Pirates with another blast, this one to right-center.

The two-run homer made it 8-0 Padres as they sailed to their second sweep of the Pirates in a week.

Martín Pérez pitched 5.1 innings against his former team – he was one of the Padres’ deadline acquisitions last month – giving up one run and striking out eight. Three Friar relievers gave up one run the rest of the way.

The schedule has favored the Padres this month, presenting them with two poor teams, the Rockies and the Marlins, and one, the Pirates, on the verge of a spiral. And they have feasted, going 10-2, with six of the wins coming at Pittsburgh’s expense.

They begin a series with the last-place Rockies Friday, after taking two of three from Colorado to start the month.

The Padres, after an off-day Thursday, make the short trek to Denver. The starters are TBD.