Controversial call with bases loaded leaves Pirates stunned as Padres hold on for close win

When Robert Suarez threw a 99-mph fastball below the strike zone on a full count with two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the eighth inning, Henry Davis flipped his bat and started to take off his wrist protector in celebration.

Instead of Davis drawing a walk to drive in the tying run, home plate umpire Edwin Jimenez called a third strike. A stunned Davis threw his hands in the air in disbelief, and Pittsburgh Pirates manager Don Kelly was ejected for arguing the call with Jimenez.

The San Diego Padres escaped that jam to hold on for a 3-2 win Friday night at Petco Park, spoiling another quality start by Mitch Keller and preventing the Pirates from winning three consecutive games for the first time since September.

The Pirates loaded the bases against Jason Adam, as Andrew McCutchen hit a two-out double and Bryan Reynolds and Spencer Horwitz drew back-to-back walks. The Padres then turned to Suarez.

“Honestly, the way our guys battled against two of the best relievers in the game, to come back in that situation, get the bases loaded and Henry grinds out that at-bat,” Kelly said on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show. “Obviously, I did not agree with the call. It’s just unfortunate.”

It marked the 11th time in Kelly’s first 20 games as Pirates manager that the outcome was decided by one run.

Keller (1-7) allowed three runs on three hits and two walks with one strikeout over six innings for his ninth quality start in 12 outings this season. The Pirates right-hander has now made 11 consecutive starts without earning a win, the longest such stretch of his career.

“Against that lineup, he pitched really, really well. Probably deserved that W,” Kelly said. “That’s been something that he’s been fighting but he did a great job … and gave us a chance to win.”

Keller retired the first 11 batters faced before Manny Machado hit a two-out jam shot double in the fourth. Machado provided a screen then scored on Jackson Merrill’s grounder to short that skipped past Isiah Kiner-Falefa to give the Padres a 1-0 lead.

After allowing a single to McCutchen in the first, Nick Pivetta struck out the next six batters. Pivetta (6-2) allowed two runs on six hits while striking out eight without a walk over six innings.

The Pirates took a 2-1 lead in the sixth, which started with successive singles by Tommy Pham and Kiner-Falefa. With two outs, Reynolds hit a line drive to right field to score Pham, and Horwitz hit a shot to the right-center gap to drive in Kiner-Falefa.

It didn’t last long. Fernando Tatis Jr. drew a walk to lead off the bottom of the sixth, then scored from first on a double to the left field corner by Luis Arraez to tie the game. Arraez advanced to third on Machado’s fly out to right, then scored on a grounder by Merrill when Frazier’s throw to first base sailed wide as the Padres took a 3-2 lead.

The Pirates loaded the bases against Adam, forcing the Padres to turn to closer Suarez. Davis worked a full count before going down looking, ending the Pirates’ best scoring chance.

Suarez retired the side in order in the ninth to earn his 18th save, but the Pirates didn’t go down quietly. McCutchen and hitting coach Matt Hague gave crew chief Andy Fletcher an earful in the visiting dugout as the umpires left the field.

“We’ve got to keep playing baseball,” Kelly said. “Nothing is ever going to be perfect in the game. It’s just the situations and the magnitude of that moment. Henry grinding it out in that situation, in that at-bat and finding a way to work the count, it’s obviously frustrating.”