Archer, Frazier propel Pirates

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

Chris Archer and Adam Frazier ended their struggles to keep the Pirates winning.

Frazier hit a tiebreaking, two-run single in the eighth inning and Pittsburgh beat the San Diego Padres 6-3 on Saturday.

Frazier had one hit in his previous 10 at-bats entering play Saturday, but stepped into the box with the bases loaded after Starling Marte’s triple and a pair walks and delivered his hit to center field.

Elias Diaz added on with an RBI single and pinch-hitter Jung Ho Kang had a sacrifice fly as the Pirates scored four against San Diego setup man Craig Stammen (5-4).

“I just tried to not do too much to get him in and have a big inning,” Frazier said. “In the past this year, I’ve tried to get too big and not have the pitcher come to me.”

Archer worked five innings of one-run ball, striking out five and walking three. He had given up 11 runs over his previous two starts and credited Friday’s winner Joe Musgrove with giving him some tips against the Padres.

“If he has a good outing or notices something about the other team, the next day, I’m going to have a sheet of paper in my locker,” Archer said. “The ultimate teammate. He helps me out. I love the fact that he pitches ahead of me.”

That type of resiliency has been key all season for the Pirates. The victory gave the Pirates three straight wins at home after coming back from a 2-8 road trip. Pittsburgh owns losing streaks of seven and eight games this season, yet now sits at 35-40.

Kyle Crick (3-3) worked around a walk and a hit in the eighth. Felipe Vazquez faced just one batter to earn his 19th save of the season.

The Padres tied it at 2 in the seventh when Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a sacrifice fly off Francisco Liriano.

Manny Machado opened the scoring with a solo home run in the fourth inning, his 16th of the season. He also drove in Tatis with a single in the ninth.

Pinch-hitter Jose Osuna’s two-run homer in the fifth inning put the Pirates ahead 2-1. It was his major league-high third pinch-hit home run of the season.

BACK IN ACTION

Padres rookie righty Chris Paddack, recalled before the game after spending 10 days in Class A in order to limit his season innings total, gave up two runs on five hits over five innings.

He walked three and struck out one, and felt good about his whole repertoire after some time down.