Luis Arráez hit an RBI double in the ninth inning to finish off a three-run rally that gave the San Diego Padres a 7-6 victory and a series sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday afternoon.
With San Diego trailing 5-4, Pirates closer David Bednar (3-4) allowed a single to Xander Bogaerts and walked Jackson Merrill to begin the ninth inning. He then struck out David Peralta and walked Ha-Seong Kim, which loaded the bases.
Bogaerts scored on a grounder from Kyle Higashioka. Oneil Cruz tried to make a double play but threw the ball past first base, allowing Merrill to score the go-ahead run.
Bednar, who had given up a tying home run to Merrill in the ninth inning of a 9-8 loss that went 10 innings on Wednesday, was taken out after Arráez hit the double that became the winning run.
“That’s just unacceptable,” Bednar said. “The guys battle back both games, and it’s just a big-time letdown on my end. Today was incredibly frustrating, just a lot of free stuff, and that can’t happen.”
San Diego has now won five straight games and 14 of their last 16 to move within 2 1/2 games of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the NL West lead.
“Great squad strikes again,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “Hunger for competition, hunger for winning games. I can’t say enough about it. … We take everything and give nothing away. That’s what pure competition is about. Just looking to do that as consistently as possible.”
Jason Adam (6-2) allowed a lead-off single but retired the next three batters in the eighth inning.
Robert Suarez gave up a two-out double to Joey Bart in the ninth, followed by an RBI single from Rowdy Tellez. Suarez then struck out Bryan De La Cruz on three pitches for his 25th save.
The Pirates have now lost four straight games and six of their last seven. They were ahead in five of the six losses and finished this homestand with a 1-5 record against the Padres and the Arizona Diamondbacks.
“It’s extremely frustrating,” Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton said. “Not to beat a dead horse, but we’ve got to figure out a way to finish them because we have the lead and we have to be able to execute to finish games out.”
