Pivetta sharp, Phillies' pitchers not, as Padres win first half of doubleheader

Kevin Acee, The San Diego Union-Tribune on Jul 2, 2025

Published in Baseball

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PHILADELPHIA — Nick Pivetta had to wait a day longer than expected to start against his first major league team.

Then he went about winning his National League-leading ninth game as the Padres held off the Phillies in the first game of a doubleheader on Wednesday afternoon.

The Padres scored half their runs in the 6-4 victory on bases-loaded walks and half on Manny Machado’s bases-loaded double.

Their 6-0 lead was trimmed to 6-1 in the sixth and 6-3 in the seventh, and Robert Suarez allowed a run in the ninth before striking out Kyle Schwarber with runners on second and third.

The Padres can win the series and finish their six-game road trip even by taking the second game Wednesday, which is scheduled to begin at 3:15 p.m. PT.

Pitching in Citizens Bank Park for the first time as a visitor, Pivetta pitched the way he has for much of his first season with the Padres.

Schwarber’s home run on the first pitch of the sixth inning gave the Phillies their only run against Pivetta (3.25, 9-2).

Pivetta, whose start was pushed back by rain on Tuesday, spread seven hits over his six innings and did not walk a batter for the second consecutive game.

It was his eighth time going at least six innings while allowing one or zero runs. That is tied with Zack Wheeler and Paul Skenes for most in the NL and tied for second most in the major leagues.

Pivetta made his debut for the Phillies in 2017 and had a 5.50 ERA in 92 games (71 starts) for them over the next three-plus seasons before a trade to Boston in July 2020.

He brought a 5.15 ERA at Citizens Bank Park into Wednesday’s game.

The 32-year-old right-hander, who signed a four-year, $55 million contract with the Padres in February, has never finished an MLB season with an ERA under 4.04.

But his 3.25 ERA this season is his lowest 17 starts into any of the six seasons he has made at least that many starts.

His day was finished after 90 pitches on a muggy afternoon, and Bryan Hoeing allowed the Phillies a pair of runs in the seventh on a double, a triple and a wild pitch.

Adrian Morejón replaced Hoeing with a runner on first, got the final out of the seventh and pitched a 1-2-3 eighth.

The Padres did not need to get a hit with a runner in scoring position to build a 2-0 lead.

Most of their damage in a five-run second inning was damage Phillies starter Mick Abel did to himself with four walks.

The final two of those came with the bases loaded before the big blow in the inning, a bases-loaded double lined to left field by Machado that put the Padres up 5-0.

The hit, which stopped the Padres’ hitless streak with runners in position at 21 at-bats, came on Abel’s 36th pitch of the inning. It was his last of the day.

Max Lazar finished off the second inning and worked a scoreless third before walking into his own trouble in the fourth.

Elias Díaz led off with a walk before singles by Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Merrill loaded the bases. After Machado struck out, Luis Arraez drew a four-pitch walk to increase the Padres’ led to 6-0.