Padres weather storm, Pirates

San Diego blanked Pittsburgh, 7-0, before the game was called in the 6th inning due to rain.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Chan Ho Park shook off a series of poor starts to hold Pittsburgh without a run, and Mike Piazza and Brian Giles homered as the San Diego Padres beat the Pirates 7-0 Friday night in a game played in a near downpour before being called after six innings.
The Pirates chose to delay the start by two hours even though little rain was falling, only to have the rain increase significantly just before play started. Umpire crew chief Gerry Davis chose to play through the heavy rain, even as large puddles formed behind third base, between first and second and near the batter's box.
The field became so wet that Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson nearly slipped while fielding one ground ball that splashed to him through a puddle. Several inches of standing water gathered on the outfield warning track and, according to the Pirates, the grounds crew used 4 1/2 tons of quick-drying material -- or 200 bags.
Weather the storm
Despite the weather, the Padres had no trouble solving Pirates starter Oliver Perez (2-6), who was coming off three strong starts in which he gave up four runs in 20 innings.
Eric Young and Giles singled in the first before Piazza hit his 27th career homer against the Pirates, a drive that easily reached the seats behind the 410-foot mark in left-center, the deepest part of PNC Park.
Perez never found a groove while throwing 88 pitches over three innings, giving up nine hits and five runs as the Pirates' four-game winning streak ended. In the second, Josh Barfield doubled and scored on the first of Park's three singles, with two driving in runs.
Giles, a former Pirates outfielder traded to the Padres in the deal that sent Perez and Jason Bay to Pittsburgh, made it 7-0 in the fourth with his sixth homer off reliever Ryan Vogelsong.
While Perez had been pitching well -- he took a shutout into the ninth inning Sunday of a game that Pirates eventually lost 5-4 to Houston -- Park had allowed 18 runs in 18 1/3 innings as the Padres lost each of his previous three starts.
But the Pirates couldn't solve Park (3-3) as a hitter or a pitcher. The right-hander gave up five hits, struck out eight and walked two in winning for only the second time in eight starts since April 19.
Park also raised his batting average to .400 (8-of-20) with his three hits.
Notes
San Diego scored more runs in six innings than it did (5) in a three-game series against Colorado this week. ... Pirates 2B Jose Castillo went 0-of-3 after going 9-for-13 with four homers and 14 RBIs during a four-game sweep of Milwaukee. ... By losing, the Pirates missed a chance to exit last place in the NL Central for the first time this season. ... San Diego's Adrian Gonzalez singled to run his hitting streak to 11 games (13-for-38, .342). ... The Padres have won four of five.