Pittsburgh 1 at San Diego 4 - Recap

Ryan Ludwick hit two home runs and Wade LeBlanc struck out a career-high eight batters as the San Diego Padres downed the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-1 on Tuesday.

Ludwick opened the scoring in the second inning with his first of two solo shots. LeBlanc helped his cause with an RBI single later that frame.

Pedro Alvarez singled in a run in the third to cut the lead to 2-1, but Ludwick’s second shot in the seventh made it 3-1 and Jerry Hairston Jr. drove in another in the eighth to make it 4-1.

LeBlanc (6-10) set his new career mark in just 5 2/3 innings. He allowed one run on five hits and two walks.

Heath Bell worked the ninth for his 32nd save of the season.

Pittsburgh starter Jeff Karstens (2-8) allowed two runs on a walk and three hits in six innings to suffer the loss.

Chris Denorfia also had two hits for San Diego, while Jose Tabata was 2-for-4 to lead the Pittsburgh attack.