SAN DIEGO -- When the Padres’ Dylan Cease took the mound to start Saturday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, a fresh tune accompanied him. His walk-out song was “Money For Nothing” and in some ways it told Cease’s tale.
The Pirates prevailed, 5-0, after dropping their last 11 games against the Padres. Pittsburgh won for the first time in 12 contests between the teams, snapping a streak to even the three-game series.
The right-handed Cease was money for most of May, but with little to show for it. Coming into Saturday, Cease crafted a 3.20 ERA, a .176 opponents' batting average and a 0.79 WHIP in his previous four May outings.
And Cease wasn’t that off-kilter as the Padres tied a bow around May. But his middling performance of allowing three runs and seven hits over 4 2/3 innings was magnified when, for the second straight night, the Padres bats were muted.
The difference being the Padres produced three hits on Friday and won. They manufactured but two knocks on Saturday to disappoint their 25th sell-out crowd of the season.
“Sometimes it doesn't go right -- you have games that aren’t real fun when you’re not productive at the plate," Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill said. “ It’s not like it is in our head much or we are thinking about it. We rake over here, dude; even our pitchers rake."
From the get-go it felt like a no-go for the Padres. The Pirates’ first three batters reached base, which included Bryan Reynolds’ RBI single to supply a 1-0 lead.
Cease got right and retired 11 of the next 12 batters.
Pittsbugh added another run in the fourth, although Cease limited the damage when feeding Oneil Cruz six straight sliders to fan him with two runners aboard.
“It was frustrating because I couldn’t get into a good rhythm," Cease said. “It was frustrating that I didn’t execute pitches. I didn’t think my command in general was very good and that was one of the issues why the pitch count was high and the lack of excellence."
When Cease (1-4) allowed an Andrew McCutchen home run to open the fifth, Cease was gone two batters later, and it was up to the Padres to extract him from the hook when exiting with a 3-0 deficit.
With the Padres’ offensive mix of muscle, speed and bat control, being down three runs isn’t that daunting. Then again, they couldn’t decipher the deceptive Bailey Falter, the southpaw Pirates starter who kept San Diego at bay with two hits over 6 1/3 innings.
The Padres had a few chances, with the emphasis on few, as they were blanked for the fifth time this season.
“Tonight clearly wasn’t a night that was representative of us," Padres manager Mike Shildt said.
Fernando Tatis Jr. reached third base in the first on a single, sacrifice bunt and stolen base, only to be stranded when Manny Machado grounded out and Merrill flied out to left on a sinking liner that Alexander Canario just snagged.
Double plays derailed rallies in the third and fifth innings as the Padres never had another runner reach scoring position.
The game did feature the Major League debut of Bradgley Rodriguez, the No. 14 prospect in the Padres’ system per MLB Pipeline and their top-ranked reliever, in the seventh. Rodriguez, 21, threw two pitches in the seventh, with the second one being a comebacker that he turned into an inning-ending double play.
His teammates were ecstatic when he wiggled from the jam.
“That was dope," Merrill said. “I wish that would have lit us up a little more, but he was nasty and he’s got that scare factor a little, too. It’s a little hard to get in the box and get comfortable. He makes the batter think about that."
With the Padres’ bullpen scuffling of late and the club enduring a stretch of 26 games in 27 days, the right-handed Rodriguez’s arrival could be a boost. He brings a fastball that touches the upper-90s and is complemented by an effective changeup and a slider.
Rodriguez worked 1 2/3 innings with a strikeout, walk and hit batter. He caught Cruz looking at a 98 mph four-seamer in the eighth, with two on, to cap his outing and record his first career strikeout.
“All our players have had their first big league moment,’’ Shildt said. “To see a guy come in and get that first double play … everybody is just really happy for him.”