The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the San Diego Padres 8-4 last night. This, despite Pirate pitchers walking 13 batters, and also hitting three Padres batters. They are the first Major League Baseball team to issue at least that combination of 16 free passes in a 9-inning win since the St. Louis Browns did so on June 21, 1948. The last time the Pirates walked 13 batters in a game and won was against the New York Mets in 1979.
Pirates starting pitcher Chad Kuhl walked seven batters in 3-2/3rds innings. He allowed three earned runs on four hits. Despite six more walks, the six Pirate relievers after Kuhl did not allow a run. Padres starter Blake Snell didn’t make it out of the first inning.
Erik Gonzales and Jacob Stallings led the Pirates with three hits each, both had a double in the game. Kevin Newman added two hits and a double. Bryan Reynolds had two hits and is batting .310 this season.
In the game, the Bucs went 7-for-15 with runners in scoring position and drove in five runs with two outs and two strikes on batters. The Padres had allowed 25 total runs in their first 11 games.
The two teams play again tonight at PNC Park. Tyler Anderson will start for the Bucs. Former Pirate Joe Musgrove will start for San Diego. He threw a no-hitter in his last appearance. First pitch is 6:35pm. Pre-game on WISR 680am is 6:10pm.