Justin Upton

Padres swept by Pirates, lose 5th in a row

Published Jul. 9, 2015 12:01 p.m. ET

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PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The San Diego Padres led in each of the three games they played in Pittsburgh. They lost all three.

On Wednesday, the Pirates scored three runs in the eighth inning after Andrew Cashner had given up two hits in his first seven innings. Pittsburgh won 5-2 and completed a club record-tying 10th sweep of the season.

"We're playing teams that know how to win and teams that have won," San Diego manager Pat Murphy said. "Give them credit first."

San Diego took a 2-0 in the second inning and didn't score in the next seven.

"You think things are going well and they come up with every big hit," Murphy said. "That's a credit to them and the game they played and how clutch they were."

Cashner (3-10) carried a one-hitter into the sixth and was one out away from completing eight innings of two-hit baseball

Then he walked Travis Ishikawa, recently acquired by the Pirates on waivers after San Francisco designated him for assignment last week. Gregory Polanco, Andrew McCutchen and Jung Ho Kang followed with RBI singles to knock Cashner out of the game.

"We had no one on base with two outs, it was big," manager Clint Hurdle said of Ishikawa's walk. "He has some experience in that area and got some good looks."

The Pirates scored all three of their runs in the eighth with two outs as they finally wore down the opposing pitcher.

Cashner attributed the winless trip to Pittsburgh to the "breaks" of the game just not going San Diego's way.

"When good teams are going they get their breaks," Cashner said. "I think we've actually -- the numbers don't show it, this road trip -- we've played, in my opinion, the best baseball we've played all season."

Brandon Maurer allowed Cashner's inherited runners to score and Cashner was charged for four runs in 7 2/3 innings.

"He had basically a two-hitter going into the eighth and we had a couple defensive plays that could've been made that led to that first run," Murphy said. "I thought he had as good an outing as I've seen in a while."

Deolis Guerra (2-0) retired all six batters in the seventh and eighth for the win. Antonio Bastardo worked a scoreless ninth to pick up his first save of the season.

Matt Kemp sent his seventh home run of the year into center field for an early 1-0 San Diego lead. The Padres struck again in the second when Will Venable walked with one out and scored on Melvin Upton Jr.'s double off the center-field wall.

After allowing two runs in the first two innings, Charlie Morton settled in and held the Padres to two runs and five hits in six innings. He walked four and struck out five.

RIP TARP MAN

Grounds crew member Matt Gerhardt was swallowed by the tarp Tuesday night when a gust of wind swelled beneath the covering and enveloped him as he attempted to tamp it down. After McCutchen, Polanco and other Pirates personnel helped rescue Gerhardt and secure the tarp, Gerhardt's co-workers had some fun with him.

Before Wednesday's game they drew an outline of a body in the dirt near third base, the same location Gerhardt was caught in the tarp. Alongside the outline read "RIP TARP MAN" and "7.7.2015", the date of Tuesday's game.

UP NEXT

Padres: San Diego is off Thursday, then finishes its 10-game road trip with a three-game series in Texas. RHP Ian Kennedy (4-8, 4.84 ERA) matches up with Rangers LHP Wandy Rodriguez (5-4, 4.23).

Pirates: Pittsburgh's 10-game homestand concludes with a four-game set against the St. Louis Cardinals, who lead the Pirates in the NL Central. LHP Jeff Locke (5-4, 4.15 ERA) pitches against St. Louis RHP Carlos Martinez (9-3, 2.70).

TRAINER'S ROOM

Padres: LF Justin Upton was scratched from the lineup Wednesday with soreness in his side.

Pirates: 3B Josh Harrison (thumb) underwent surgery on his left thumb to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament Wednesday and will miss seven weeks.