BASEBALL: Nick Pivetta bounces back and pitches Padres past Giants

Ramon Laureano hit a two-run homer, and Nick Pivetta allowed just one hit over five shutout innings as the San Diego Padres avoided a series sweep with a 7-1 win over the visiting San Francisco Giants on Wednesday.

Pivetta (1-1) bounced back from a rough Opening Day, when he gave up eight runs in an 8-2 loss to Detroit. On Wednesday, he struck out eight and walked two. Former teammate Luis Arraez recorded San Francisco’s only hit off Pivetta with a leadoff single in the second inning.

The Padres turned to their top relievers for the remainder of the game. Jeremiah Estrada threw a scoreless sixth inning, Adrian Morejon pitched 1 2/3 innings, and Mason Miller closed out the final 1 1/3 innings for his second save of the season.

San Diego led 3-1 entering the eighth inning, but Laureano added insurance with a two-run homer following Manny Machado’s leadoff double. The ball traveled an estimated 393 feet, marking Laureano’s second homer of the year. The Padres added two more runs in the inning, including an infield single by Fernando Tatis Jr. that scored Jake Cronenworth and a four-pitch, bases-loaded walk by Xander Bogaerts to finish the scoring.

Adrian Houser took the loss in his first start of the season, lasting 5 1/3 innings while allowing seven hits and three runs, only one of them earned. He walked one and struck out four.

San Francisco’s defense contributed to the Padres’ early scoring. In the first inning, Jackson Merrill singled with two outs, and Machado reached on an infield single. A misplay by first baseman Casey Schmitt allowed Merrill to score. Another error by third baseman Mark Chapman in the fifth inning enabled Gavin Sheets to score, followed by Sheets’ second double in the sixth that plated Laureano for a 3-0 lead.

Harrison Bader’s two-out RBI single in the seventh inning scored Arraez for San Francisco’s only run. Arraez finished with three of the Giants’ four hits and added a stolen base.

The victory marked the first time in six games that San Diego scored more than three runs.

—Field Level Media/Reuters