Recent acquisition Ryan Ludwick had been just 5-28 as a Padre. He had no homers even though seven of his first eight games were played outside of Petco Park. That changed as he belted two solo homers in a Padres win.

After the Pirates left Pedro Alvarez at third with one out in the second, Ludwick led off the home half of the second with a dinger. Padres starter Wade LeBlanc connected on a two out single off Jeff Karstens that scored Yorvit Torrealba to make it 2-0. Andrew McCutchen threw out Chris Denorfia at third on the play, ending the inning. After that, Karstens retired the next 12 Padres in order.

Alvarez came through with a two out single of his own in the top of the third to cut the lead to 2-1. It would get no closer. After Delwyn Young's single pinch hitting for Karstens was w...

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Randy Linville
Randy is currently living and thriving in suburban Dayton, OH with his wife and two kids. He was raised in Cincinnati, OH and attended Anderson High School. He went to Miami University (Ohio) and received a degree in Paper Science Engineering from MU. He is a devout Christian and a pop culture buff. He coaches his son’s baseball and basketball teams and his daughters softball and basketball teams. Randy has been a Pirates fan since the late 1970s and has fond memories of the 1979 World Series team. He began blogging for Most Valuable Network in 5/2004 after stumbling across a help-wanted sign for a Pirates blogger. He wrote for Pittsburgh Lumber Co. until the site merged with Pirates Prospects in 2/2011.