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Hairston, Padres take third straight from Pirates

Jul 27, 2008 - 9:25 PM By Chris Adamski PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- Scott Hairston and Josh Bard hit late solo homers and Jake Peavy pitched seven strong innings as the San Diego Padres won their third game in a row over the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-1, Sunday afternoon.

Hairston's blast to left field on a 2-0 pitch off John Grabow with one out in the eighth broke a 1-1 tie and was his eighth homer in the month of July and 17th of the season.

Bard homered off Grabow (5-3) with one out in the ninth, giving the Padres the final margin. It was the first homer of the season for Bard, who also had an RBI single.

"I was looking for ball out and over the plate," Hairston said of what proved to be the winning hit. "I was able to get a pitch I was able to handle, and I put a good swing on it. I was able to get it up and over."

"It's been a long while," Bard said of the team's last three-game winning streak, a five-game stretch in early June. "I think (Peavy) really picked us up today. And you can't say enough about Scott Hairston. All the guy gets is big home runs. He's an amazing player."

Those home runs made a winner out of Peavy (8-6), who was locked in a pitcher's duel with Paul Maholm most of the afternoon. After the two teams combined for 36 runs during the first three games of the series, Sunday's finale was owned for seven innings by the starting pitchers.

"I think you could tell early on that was going to be a pitching duel," Padres manager Bud Black said.

Peavy gave up one run and four hits with three walks and 10 strikeouts, throwing 127 pitches.

"I knew going in that (Maholm) had been throwing very well and I knew I was matched up against their best guy," Peavy said. "I knew I had to put up some zeros. I had good command. I was able to expand the zone, get ahead. It was a good day."

Heath Bell pitched a perfect eighth for San Diego and Trevor Hoffman worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his 21st save and third in as many days.

The Padres scored the game's first run in the top of the fourth inning when Bard's two-out ground ball just eluded Jack Wilson's glove in the hole between short and third, scoring Adrian Gonzalez.

Peavy did not allow a hit until there were two outs in the fourth, but it was a costly one as Adam LaRoche's single up the middle scored Nate McLouth, who had walked and stolen second.

Maholm walked the first two batters he faced only two more than the minimum from that point on. The lefthander allowed one run and four hits, matching a career high with nine strikeouts.

"Overall, whenever you go seven and give up one and keep your team in the game - especially against a guy like Peavy, you know it's going to be a low-scoring game," Maholm said. "You've got to keep your team in the game. Overall, I thought it was pretty good. All four pitches were working."

Before taking the final three games of the series against Pittsburgh, San Diego had lost nine of its past 10 and 26 of 33. The Pirates had won four in a row before the skid, which began Friday night after the team traded Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte to the New York Yankees.

"I wouldn't say we wasted (Maholm's strong outing because) their guys was pretty good, too," Pirates manager John Russell said. "We battled. We were right there at the end. That's all you can ask."