Luis Oviedo struggles in relief, as Wil Myers has 5 RBIs to lead Padres past Pirates

It’s not a typo that Wil Myers spells his first name with only one L.

He handed the other L to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The San Diego right fielder went 3 for 5 with five RBIs, including a two-out, two-run homer to break a tie in the sixth inning, as the Padres beat the Pirates, 6-2, Monday night before 4,068 at PNC Park.

The loss snapped a two-game win streak for the Pirates (3-7).

After a 20-minute rain delay, Pirates starter Trevor Cahill overcame a slow start to strike out five of the first 11 batters he faced on his way to eight Ks.

The first two batters got on base, as Jake Cronenworth hit a leadoff single and Jurickson Profar drew a walk. Cahill struck out Manny Machado and Eric Hosmer before Myers hit a run-scoring single to left to give the Padres a 1-0 lead.

San Diego’s Yu Darvish (1-0), the 2020 NL Cy Young runner-up, allowed one run on three hits and one walk while striking out six in seven innings. The Pirates tied the game in the third, when Adam Frazier started with a two-out single to left, took second on a wild pitch by Darvish and scored when Phillip Evans doubled down the third-base line to tie it at 1-1 in the third.

Cahill fanned eight Padres in five innings, allowing one run on three hits and one walk before being replaced after throwing 82 pitches before his turn to bat in the bottom of the fifth.

“We knew he was going to have to mix and match, and he did it. He kind of kept them off balance,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “That’s a good offense that can hurt you a bunch of different ways. He had ‘em looking fastball when he was throwing breaking balls, and was throwing breaking balls when he was throwing fastballs. I thought he did a really nice job mixing and matching. And then he was executing pitches.”

Cahill was replaced in the sixth by rookie Luis Oviedo (0-1). The 21-year-old right-hander, who was dazzling with four strikeouts in two innings on April 5 at Cincinnati, gave up five runs on five hits and two walks in 1 2/3 innings against the Padres.

Oviedo struggled against the heart of the order, as Manny Machado drew a full-count walk and, two batters later, Myers smashed a four-seamer 421feet to straightaway center for a two-run homer for a 3-1 Padres lead.

“Obviously,his breaking balls weren’t as sharp,” Shelton said of Oviedo, acquired in a trade from the New York Mets after being selected from Cleveland in the Rule 5 Draft in December.

“We felt like he was the guy in that situation. He threw a fastball down to a good fastball hitter in Wil Myers, and he hit it out. Just his breaking stuff wasn’t as sharp …well, he wasn’t sharp at all. The fastball was down in the middle of the plate, and the breaking ball wasn’t as sharp as it had been previously.”

Tommy Pham followed with a single to center and scored on Victor Caratini’s double to the left-center gap that sailed past the outstretched glove of center fielder Dustin Fowler to make it 4-1.

The Padres added two more runs off Oviedo in the seventh, when Myers singled through the middle with runners on second and third for a 6-1 lead.

“I think it’s simple,” Oviedo said. “I was getting behind in the counts, and they were noticing that I was missing the zone, and they were able to identify good balls in the zone and make good contact with them.”

After homering in the seventh inning against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday, Wilmer Difo came through with another big pinch-hit extra-base hit with a triple to the gap in left and scored on Adam Frazier’s sacrifice fly to right to make it 6-2.

So, it was a good news-bad news night for the Pirates as their oldest pitcher showed signs of returning to regular-season form while their youngest endured a rough outing. Where Cahill felt comfortable and believes that his arm is built up to regular-season form, he was impressed with how Oviedo handled adversity against a tough lineup.

“I thought he made some good pitches. They were just a little bit off,” Cahill said of Oviedo. “I didn’t really realize that he’s been mostly a starter. I’ve made that jump before and, as composed as he is, even after (Monday night) the comfort level is pretty impressive. When I was a starter and came out of the bullpen for the first time I almost had to call the trainer because my heart was beating so fast. And that was eight, nine years in. What he’s going through right now and how he’s handling it – and just missing, too – is pretty impressive. He’s just got to keep it going.”