SAN DIEGO (AP) — Carlos Santana hit a pair of two-run homers and the Pittsburgh Pirates went deep four times against Yu Darvish in an 8-4 win over the San Diego Padres on Monday night.
Liover Peguero also had a two-run drive and Jack Suwinski added a solo shot for the Pirates.
“We just got pitches up in the zone,” manager Derek Shelton said. “We were fortunate Darvish left some balls up and we didn’t miss them.”
Ha-Seong Kim homered twice for San Diego, the first multi-homer game of his career.
Darvish (7-7) allowed seven runs and eight hits over 4 1/3 innings.
Kim opened the scoring in the first with a leadoff shot to left-center. In the third, Suwinski tied the game with a solo drive and Santana homered on a full count to score Andrew McCutchen, who reached on a single and stole second.
Peguero hit his first career homer in the fourth. His shot down the left-field line put Pittsburgh up 5-1 and scored Jared Triolo, who reached on a base hit.
“Just an amazing moment. Also, a privilege getting a hit like that off of someone like Darvish,” Peguero said.
He became the sixth Pirates player to hit his first major league home run this season.
“I used to go to bed when I was a kid thinking of stuff like this,” Peguero said.
Santana homered and drove in McCutchen again in the fifth to put Pittsburgh ahead 7-1. It was Santana’s 11th homer of the season and his 16th multi-homer game — first since Sept. 19, 2022, for the Seattle Mariners.
“He means a ton to us,” Shelton said. “Especially right now, as young as we are and as young as we are with younger Latin players. I think it’s one of the reasons that we identified him this offseason.”
Suwinski had three hits, including his 21st home run.
Peguero added insurance in the fifth to extend Pittsburgh's lead to 8-1, legging out an infield single that plated Endy Rodriguez for his third RBI of the game.
Kim’s second homer, and 14th of the season, came in the bottom half. It followed a double by Trent Grisham.
Both of Kim's home runs came off Quinn Priester (1-1), who earned his first victory in his second big league start. The 22-year-old right-hander allowed four runs and four hits over 5 1/3 innings while striking out four.
Luis Campusano provided the only other offense for the Padres with an RBI double to center field that scored Jake Cronenworth from first base in the sixth.
