Pivetta shuts down Giants' bats; Padres coast to 5-1 win
Nick Pivetta allowed a leadoff homer by Jung Hoo Lee and then settled down to tie his season high with 10 strikeouts in six innings and lead the San Diego Padres to a 5-1 victory against the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night.
The Padres snapped a four-game losing streak and remained two games behind the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West.
Lee homered to right-center on Pivetta's second pitch. It was his second career leadoff shot and sixth homer of the season. Pivetta (13-4) walked two batters that inning but allowed only three more baserunners, on two hits and a hit batter. He combined on a four-hitter with All-Star relievers Adrian Morejon, Jason Adam and Robert Suarez.
Pivetta beat the Giants in consecutive starts, with his most recent outing being an 11-1 win at San Francisco on Aug. 13 during a three-game sweep that helped the Padres take a one-game lead over the Dodgers. The Padres were then swept in a weekend series at Dodger Stadium.
The Padres tied it in the bottom of the first when leadoff batter Fernando Tatis Jr. reached on shortstop Christian Koss' throwing error, advanced on Luis Arraez's double and scored on Manny Machado's groundout.
The Padres went ahead 3-1 in the fourth when Giants starter Kai-Wei Teng (1-3) had control issues, hitting two batters with pitches to load the bases and then allowing Jose Iglesias' single. Spencer Bivens came on and got a force out before walking Tatis to bring in another run.
Pivetta clenched his fists and hollered as he walked off the mound after striking out his final batter to end the sixth.
Pivetta reached double digits in strikeouts for the 20th time in his career.
Giants RHP Landen Roupp (7-6, 3.45) and Padres LHP JP Sears (7-10, 5.12 ERA) are scheduled to start Wednesday night.
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