Joe Musgrove had quite the homecoming at Petco Park.
Pitching in front of at least 75 friends and family members 49ers Mike McGlinchey Jersey , the right-hander tossed seven shutout innings against his hometown team and Jody Mercer homered to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 6-3 victory over the sloppy San Diego Padres on Friday night.
Musgrove (3-3), a 2011 graduate of Grossmont High in suburban El Cajon, was facing the Padres for the first time in his three-year big league career. He allowed seven singles while striking out five and walking two.
He had plenty of support as he got into and out of trouble in the seventh. The Padres had runners on first and third after hitting consecutive singles to open the inning but Musgrove retired the side, including inducing Manuel Margot to hit into an inning-ending double play.
”It was incredible,” Musgrove said. ”They were the ones who really pushed me through that last inning. I got first and third and no one out and all I could think about was all the people that are here watching me and how I’d love to get out of this and put on a little bit of a show for them. It was really cool. It was special.”
Musgrove did his best to not get distracted.
”Out of the gate when I’m out warming up, there’s people screaming right and left and every time I took a step I’m getting called from different directions,” he said. ”I was trying to block it out for the most part but I was also trying to acknowledge the people who were here. Throwing my bullpen there’s 50 of my friends standing right above the catcher hollering and stuff. I’ve always done well in front of my family and friends and that’s something that takes me to that next level.”
He had dinner at his parents’ house on Thursday night and planned to go out with them after the game, as well as have a local beer that’s named after the late Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn.
”Tonight was really special for me,” he said. ”It’s a night I’ll never forget.”
Musgrove was relieved by Steven Brault, a 2010 Grossmont grad. Brault had a short night, allowing two runs on two hits while getting just one out in the eighth.
”It was cool,” Brault said. ”Felt good coming in, felt confident. Some things didn’t go my way, and that happens. Overall the experience is something that is priceless. Something I never knew I’d actually get to have.”
Brault said it was ”pretty weird” to have two guys from the same high school pitch consecutively against their hometown team.
”If you told us six years ago, seven years ago, that that would happen 49ers Dante Pettis Jersey , we’d probably both go, `That’s ridiculous,”’ he said. ”Just for it to actually happen, and for us to get a win out of it, and Joe pitched so well tonight, it was just awesome to see. It was cool.”
Felipe Vazquez got the last two outs for his 16th save.
The Pirates won for the third time in nine games and the Padres lost for the 10th time in 12 games.
While Musgrove dominated, the Pirates piled on against rookie lefty Eric Lauer (3-5) and the Padres. The Pirates scored an unearned run in the first inning on two singles and Austin Hedges’ passed ball, and added four runs, including two unearned, in the third. Hedges and shortstop Freddy Galvis each had a throwing error. Gregory Polanco hit a two-run double and was thrown out to end the inning trying to stretch it into a triple. Josh Bell hit an RBI triple and Elias Diaz drove in a run on a fielder’s choice.
Mercer homered to center field leading off the fourth to make it 6-0. It was his fifth.
Lauer allowed six runs, three earned, on nine hits in five innings, struck out three and walked none.
Padres manager Andy Green was ejected before the top of the fourth inning by plate umpire Angel Hernandez. Green apparently was unhappy about a balk call against Lauer while trying to pick off Polanco in the second. The Pirates did not score that inning.
”We felt very strongly that it wasn’t,” Green said. ”That was not the story of the baseball game by any stretch. I don’t think we were very clean early in the game. We did what we’ve done very recently which is show a lot of fight late. It was just a little too late.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Pirates: Placed RHP Chad Kuhl on the 10-day disabled list with a right forearm strain.
Padres: Green said OF Franchy Cordero is leaning toward having surgery to remove a bone spur from his right elbow.
UP NEXT
Pirates: RHP Trevor Williams (6-5, 4.03), a 2010 graduate of San Diego’s Rancho Bernardo High Tramon Williams Jersey , is scheduled to start the middle game of the series. He’s made one career start against the Padres, giving up four runs in six innings and getting a no-decision in an 8-5 Pirates loss at Pittsburgh on May 20.
Padres: LHP Joey Lucchesi (3-3, 3.57) is scheduled to make his third start since returning from a DL stint that lasted just more than a month.
Andrew Benintendi homered, doubled, walked a career-high four times and scored four runs, and the Boston Red Sox routed the Kansas City Royals 15-4 on Saturday night.
Mookie Betts had four hits, raising his American League-leading average to .343. Ten Red Sox players had RBIs as they scored a season high in runs. They scored 11 runs after the sixth inning.
Benintendi became the first Boston player to walk four times and homer in a game since David Ortiz in 2007. He also drove in two runs.
Xander Bogaerts had three RBIs for the Red Sox, who have won five straight and 12 of their past 15.
Christian Vazquez had a two-run, two-out single in the seventh.
Royals pitchers walked 13, one shy of the franchise record, including three in the three-run seventh. Mitch Moreland’s sacrifice fly scored Benintendi, who led off the inning with his fourth walk, for the first run of the inning.
The Red Sox rallied from a three-run deficit to take the lead with a four-run fifth, which Bogaerts highlighted with a three-run double.
Royals rookie starter Brad Keller walked five, including Benintendi and Moreland in the fifth to load the bases before Bogaerts’ double. J.D. Martinez singled in the initial run of the inning, hiking his major league-leading RBI total to 74.
David Price Patriots Adrian Clayborn Jersey , however, could not hold the lead. Price, who had never hit three batters in a game, hit three Royals in a four-batter span, including Lucas Duda with the bases loaded to bring home Whit Merrifield in the fifth to tie the score at 4.
Price was lifted after 4 2/3 innings, allowing four runs on six hits with nine strikeouts.
Heath Hembree (4-1) worked 1 1/3 hitless innings to pick up the victory. Jason Adam (0-2), the third of seven KC pitchers, took the loss. Catcher Drew Butera got the final out in his sixth career relief appearance and his first since 2016.
The Royals led 3-0 after Duda homered in the second and they scored twice more in the third.
The Royals have lost eight straight and 27 of 32 to fall 38 games below .500 for the first time since ending the 2006 season 62-100. They have lost 14 of their past 15 games at Kauffman Stadium.
LONGEST GAME
The game lasted 4 hours, 3 minutes, the longest nine-inning game for both clubs this season.
MOUSTAKAS AT FIRST
Mike Moustakas, who normally plays third, made his third start of the season at first. It was probably no coincidence a Yankees scout was in attendance and they are in the market for a first baseman.
ROSTER MOVE
The Royals placed RHP Justin Grimm on unconditional release waivers. Grimm had been on the disabled list with a right shoulder impingement. He was 1-3 with a 13.50 ERA in 16 relief appearances.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Red Sox: RHP Joe Kelly was led off the field by the trainer in the eighth with an undisclosed injury after retiring the first two batters. . LHP Drew Pomeranz (bicep tendinitis) made a rehab start Saturday for Triple-A Pawtucket. He allowed one run on five hits and two walks over three innings, while striking out one. He threw 37 strikes in 60 pitches and induced six groundball outs against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
UP NEXT
Red Sox: RHP Rick Porcello, who is 10-3 with a 3.57 ERA in 18 starts, is the probable for the series finale.
Royals: RHP Jakob Junis has lost his previous seven starts to tumble to 5-10 with a 5.13 ERA in 17 starts.