Spoilers

How mad must the Pirates be?  They take 2 of 3 from the Cardinals in St Louis, then come here and drop the first 2.

In fairness, if San Diego was going to win any game in this series it was going to be Monday night's.  Pittsburgh had just survived a 19-inning game in St Louis which used every pitcher they had available, including 3 starting pitchers, and so were slightly undermanned in the bullpen.  San Diego jumped on Kevin Correia early and rode that 3-0 lead to the victory.

Pittsbgh figured to bounce back last night, and they did.  I didn't see much of this game (playoff softball); in fact, I saw exactly two pitches.  Chase Headley get caught looking at an AJ Burnett curveball, and Carlos Quentin bounce into a 5-4-3 DP.  Ugh.

Still, the Padres went into the ninth up 5-3.  Garrett Jones tied the game at 5 all and it looked like they could carry that momentum into an extra innings win.  Queue the music, right?  Nope.  Chase Headley took care of that with his game winning 2-run HR in the tenth.

So that makes 4 wins in 5 games against Pittsburgh this season.  The Pirates can thank the schedule maker for putting both their series with the Padres after the All-Star break, when San Diego began playing much better. In the heat of a playoff race, the last thing contending teams want to see is a team in the second division playing with nothing to lose. Note to Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and St Louis - look past the Padres at your own peril.

The Padres look to sweep today; it will be their first home sweep against the Pirates since 2010.