The Pittsburgh Pirates’ (22-38) blew an early lead as their bullpen faltered in a 6-4 loss against the San Diego Padres (33-24) on Sunday afternoon at Petco Park.

The rubber match handed the Pirates a series loss against San Diego. Pittsburgh went 3-3 during this week’s West Coast road trip.

Going into the bottom of the seventh inning, it looked like the Pirates were going to finish out their West Coast travels with another series win. But the Pirates bullpen squandered a 4-1 lead, and the Buccos’ bats were quiet after the fourth inning. It was another close loss, but one that the Pirates would have liked to hold on to for a second consecutive series win.

Oneil Cruz got things going for Pittsburgh in the first inning with a leadoff walk. He then stole second base for his National League-leading 19th stolen base of the season. Bryan Reynolds, scorching hot coming into today’s game, then came to the plate with a runner in scoring position and only one out.

Reynolds would walk as well. Spencer Horwitz then flew out to left, while Ke’Bryan Hayes grounded out to third base to end the Pirates early threat.

The Padres did not take long to open up the scoring. With two outs, Manny Machado blasted a no-doubt shot to left field off a hanging curveball from Pirates starting pitcher Andrew Heaney to give the Padres a 1-0 lead. It was Machado’s third home run off Heaney in 23 career at-bats against the lefty.

Jackson Merrill followed the home run with a double in the left-center gap. In the next at-bat, Gavin Sheets hit a ball to almost the exact same spot. But it had a little more loft than Merrill’s line-drive, and Cruz was able to soar over to the ball for the third out.

In the third inning, Cruz walked again. He also stole second again. It was his 20th stolen base of the season.

Cruz did not need to use his legs to score a run. Instead, Andrew McCutchen hammered a home run to left field, giving the Pirates a 2-1 lead.

The home run was McCutchen’s 240th as a Pittsburgh Pirate, tying him with legend Roberto Clemente for the third most in franchise history.

McCutchen’s moment came only two days after he moved into ninth place all-time on the Pirates’ leaderboard for hits.

Pittsburgh’s offense did not stop there. Spencer Horwitz hit a ground-rule double to left-center field. Then, Hayes drove him in with a soft single to center field. Hayes would ultimately be caught in a pickle, but the Pirates still left the top half of the third inning with a 3-1 lead.

Adam Frazier kept the offensive momentum going with a solo home run to lead off the fourth inning. It was Frazier’s third home run of the season, and the first opposite field home run of his ten-year career. After singles from Tommy Pham and Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Vasquez’s evening was over.

The right-hander pitched 3.1 innings, allowing six hits, four earned runs, while walking four and striking out three. It was Vasquez’s shortest start of the season.

Reliever Wandy Peralta came on and limited the damage. The Pirates now carried a 4-1 lead.

Heaney dominated the middle innings for the Pirates. He retired 13 Padres hitters in a row from the second to the sixth inning. Luis Arraez broke up the streak in the sixth with a one-out double down the left field line.

After giving up the Machado home run, Heaney was able to keep his breaking balls down and away from San Diego bats. His on-the-go adjustments made all the difference in another solid start for a Pirates starting pitcher.

The Padres scored their second run when Merrill notched his second double of the day, this one down the right-field line. The score now 4-2, Heaney was replaced by reliever Chase Shugart. He did not allow Merrill to score, his 12th stranded runner of the season. That’s the most of any reliever in MLB without allowing a stranded runner to score.

Heaney’s line for the day was 5.2 innings pitched, five hits allowed, two earned runs, with no walks and three strikeouts. It was a nice rebound from Heaney’s previous start against Arizona, his worst outing of the season.

San Diego took advantage of Heaney’s removal. In the seventh inning, Pirates reliever Tanner Rainey walked two batters before an Elias Diaz single put the Padres within one run. Then, Rainey walked Fernando Tatis Jr. to load the bases with only one out. Rainey’s short, unsuccessful outing was done after this. He walked three and allowed one hit.

Left-hander Caleb Ferguson came on to replace Rainey in the tough spot. Arraez proceeded to loop a RBI single past Kiner-Falefa to tie the game at 4-4, with the bases still loaded.

Machado then drove a ball into the left-center field gap that looked like might go over the wall for a grand slam. But it died at the warning track, and Cruz was able to snag the ball for the second out. Still, a Padres runner came around to score on the sacrifice fly, giving the Padres a 5-4 lead.

Tyler Wade provided the Padres a 6-4 lead when he hit a comebacker ground ball that bounced off Ferguson’s glove and died behind the mound. Ferguson struck out Xander Bogaerts to stop the bleeding.

All four runs that were allowed in the inning were credited to Rainey. His ERA rose to 10.57 after today’s appearance. He also took the loss today.

The Pirates’ bats went down in order during the eighth inning. Closer Robert Suarez came on to pitch the ninth for San Diego. He had no issues retiring the Pirates in order again, notching his 19th save of the season. He lowered his ERA on the season to 2.13.

The Pirates will return home for a three-game series against the Houston Astros that starts on Tuesday. They are off for a travel day on Monday. Paul Skenes (4-5, 2.15 ERA, 77 K) will take the mound for the Pirates on Tuesday night, while Lance McCullers Jr. (0-1, 5.89 ERA, 26 K) gets the starting nod for Houston. First pitch is expected at 6:40 PM ET.

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