The Pirates got a two-run homer from Gregory Polanco in the first inning, then spent the other eight getting steamrolled as the Padres won easily, 8-2.
Charlie Morton was perfect for three innings, but gave up an RBI single to Yonder Alonso in the fourth before having a mess of an inning in the fifth. Morton gave up two singles to start the inning, then hit Yangervis Solarte with two outs to load the bases. Seth Smith then lifted a fly ball to left that ended up near the wall. It would have been an extra-base hit regardless, but it got worse when the ball took a weird carom and headed back toward the outfield. That cleared the bases, and then Morton's wild pitch brought home Smith. Morton ended his outing with five strikeouts and one walk in five innings, but also with that wild pitch and an HBP.
Meanwhile, the Pirates struggled to get going against Tyson Ross, who pitched six innings before giving way to the Padres' bullpen. The Padres added an insurance run against Stolmy Pimentel in the seventh to make it 6-2, and then Blaine Boyer pitched a scoreless bottom half of the inning. Jeanmar Gomez kept the Padres off the board in the eighth despite a laugher of a play on a throwing error by Starling Marte. But Gomez gave up two runs in the ninth after he loaded the bases while the Bucs' bullpen sat silent.
This wasn't much of a game for, well, anyone but Polanco (and maybe Jordy Mercer, who went 2-for-3), and it went on for well over three hours. It's just a series loss against the Padres, who seem to win at PNC Park as a matter of course. But after two straight losses and with a roster now filled with replacement-level flotsam, the Pirates feel like they're drifting a bit, and just as their schedule starts to get tough. Let's hope they can steer the ship in the right direction against Detroit.