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Padres hope to take series with Pirates

May 4, 2011 - 2:42 PM (Sports Network) - The San Diego Padres aim for their second series win this evening in the rubber match of a three-game set versus the Pittsburgh Pirates at Petco Park.

After losing the series opener on Monday by a 4-3 score, the Padres returned the favor with last night's 6-5 triumph courtesy of Rob Johnson's solo home run with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning. Eric Patterson and starting pitcher Mat Latos both went deep as well for the Padres, who won for the third time in four tries following a three-game slide. San Diego took two of three games from Los Angeles over the weekend.

"I was just telling myself to stay back. He finally hung one and I put a good swing on it," Johnson said of his homer off of Joe Beimel.

Latos did not record a decision and lasted six inning on the hill, allowing a pair of runs and five hits with five strikeouts and two walks. Mike Adams picked up his first win of the season in the eighth and closer Heath Bell registered his 41st save in a row and seventh of 2011 with a scoreless ninth. Bell matched Trevor Hoffman's run of 41 consecutive saves from the 1997-98 seasons.

Padres starter Clayton Richard is slated to take the mound this evening and is coming off back-to-back losses that have dropped him to 1-2 on the season with a 3.82 ERA in six starts.

Richard went 7 1/3 innings in a 2-0 loss versus Philadelphia on April 22 and allowed both runs on six hits. He then was reached for a pair of runs and eight hits through 5 2/3 frames of a 3-2 setback at Los Angeles on Friday.

The lefty, who hasn't tasted victory since April 2 at St. Louis, is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in two career starts against Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh had a modest two-game winning streak stopped with Tuesday's defeat, as Beimel was saddled with the loss for allowing Johnson's home run. Jeff Karstens got the start for the Buccos and yielded three runs on six hits, including two homers, with four strikeouts over four innings.

"I thought it could have been a lot worse, but at the same time, I didn't do my job," Karstens said on the team's site. "I put our bullpen in a bad situation. There's no reason I shouldn't have been able to go deeper in the game, not give up homers to pitchers, and keep the ball down."

Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker had two RBI apiece for the Pirates, who are 3-2 on a six-game road trip and will return home after tonight's game to host the Astros and Dodgers in a seven-game residency at PNC Park. Pittsburgh has won 10 road games this season and didn't hit that mark last season until June 28. It has won four of the first five road series in 2011 and prevailed in only four road series a year ago.

Pirates starter Kevin Correia will face his former Padres teammates when he takes the mound tonight. Correia spent the last two seasons with San Diego before becoming a Pirate in the offseason.

Correia is off to a promising start in his new digs, going 4-2 with a 2.90 earned run average in seven games (6 starts). He recently tossed 6 2/3 shutout innings of a 3-0 win over Colorado at Coors Field on Friday and rebounded from a tough loss versus Washington the start before in which he was reached for five runs and 11 hits in 4 2/3 frames.

The right-hander and former Cal-Poly hurler has been impressive on the road in 2011 with a 4-0 mark and a 1.26 ERA. He owns a 2-1 record in 19 career games (5 starts) against the Padres during his days as a Giant from 2003-2008.

San Diego won all six matchups with Pittsburgh a year ago, including all three contests at Petco Park.