The Pirates got all their runs in the first two innings and John Candelaria took it from there in a 7-1 win over the Padres at TRS. Ed Ott continued his hot hitting and is now 9-for-14 in his last three games.
San Diego starter John D’Acquisto never got settled in. The Pirates jumped on top with two in the bottom of the first, both scoring on a Willie Stargell double.
In the second, the Bucs sent 11 men to the plate. Ott led off the inning with his seventh home run of the year. Phil Garner followed with a hitless run, drawing a walk and then coming around on a steal, a sacrifice and a wild pitch. Omar Moreno then singled and scored on a Dave Parker double. That chased D’Acquisto, but veteran lefty Mickey Lolich didn’t fare much better. A couple of walks and a couple of wild pitches set up RBI singles by John Milner and, in his second at-bat of the inning, Ott. The Bucs led, 7-0.
The Candy Man didn’t face a lot of threats. The Padres got a runner to third with one out in the first, but he struck out Gene Tenace and got Dave Winfield on a fly ball. A two-out triple in the second went nowhere.
After the second, the Padres didn’t get another runner past first until the seventh. Candelaria walked Kurt Bevacqua and pinch hitter Fred Kendall doubled him in. San Diego got single hits in the eighth and ninth, and no more runs.
Candelaria allowed six hits and two walks in all, raising his record to 11-8. Ott went 3-for-4 and Moreno stole a pair of bases, giving him 53 on the year. The Expos lost again to Houston, giving the Pirates a season-high lead of three and a half games. The Cubs also lost and are six back.
