Three-error game by third baseman Erik Gonzalez proves costly as Padres beat Pirates

May 6—Erik Gonzalez had been the best glove on the Pittsburgh Pirates this season — save perhaps Ke'Bryan Hayes, the player he has replaced at third base — before Wednesday night's game at San Diego.

After not committing an error all season, Gonzalez had three in a dozen chances against the Padres. That included one that allowed the player who scored the go-ahead run to get on base on a routine grounder.

Victor Caratini led off the third inning with a home run and the sixth on a Gonzalez error as the Padres beat the Pirates, 4-2, at Petco Park to win two out of their three-game series.

It marked the first time a Pirates third baseman has been charged with three errors in a game since Bobby Bonilla against Montreal on July 31, 1989. Gonzalez had a dozen chances, the most in a nine-inning game by a Pirates third baseman since Bill Brubaker had 12 (with two errors) at Cincinnati on April 17, 1939. That Gonzalez did so on a night that JT Brubaker (no relation) was pitching for the Pirates was pure coincidence.

"Really, only thing in my head is try to get 'em the next ball," Brubaker said. "What can I do to get him active again instead of sitting there thinking, 'I just made this error.' Errors behind me really don't bother me. They happen. It's baseball. I made one myself. Errors don't bother me. At all. I'm just trying to make sure that they're getting action quicker rather than having to sit there and think about it.

"I don't know what goes on in a position player's head, either, when he makes an error. But I'm just trying to get 'em action and get 'em moving again. Just let 'em know that it doesn't bother me."

It was the sixth loss in seven games for the Pirates (13-17), who got off to an ominous start when Gonzalez made a throwing error on leadoff hitter Tommy Pham's grounder to third in the first inning. Brubaker said his slider was hit-and-miss, so the right-hander relied instead on his sinker, curveball and changeup. Pham reached second on Jake Cronenworth's sacrifice bunt and advanced to third on a groundout by Fernando Tatis Jr. But Brubaker escaped the first unharmed by getting Eric Hosmer to strike out looking.

In the third, Caratini smacked Brubaker's sinker to right for a 401-foot leadoff home run to give the Padres a 1-0 lead. The Padres then loaded the bases against Brubaker, who went to a full count before getting Wil Myers to ground out to third to end the inning.

Gonzalez made his second error when both he and Kevin Newman covered second base in the defensive shift on a Caratini grounder to first. Gonzalez dropped Colin Moran's throw, and his recovery flip sailed high and pulled Newman off the bag. With runners on first and second, Brubaker struck out Darvish and Pham to escape the jam.

Brubaker gave up another run in the fifth, when Tatis drew a leadoff walk and Myers drove him in with a single to left to give the Padres a 2-0 lead. They were the only runs allowed by Brubaker, who gave up six hits and had three walks while striking out seven in five innings. But the Pirates answered when Bryan Reynolds led off the sixth by driving a Darvish cutter 374 feet to left for his third home run to cut it to 2-1.

"It's pretty short out to left field here and I knew I got it good but I wasn't going to watch and get my hopes up," Reynolds said. "So I just hit it and started going and hoped he didn't catch it."

Gonzalez beat out an infield single, and Moran followed with a single and then got his first career stolen base. After Jacob Stallings struck out, the Pirates had runners on second and third with rookie outfielders Ka'ai Tom and Hunter Owen up next in the batting order. Tom drove a 3-2 breaking ball to deep center for a sacrifice fly to score Gonzalez and tie the score.

After Darvish hit Owen, who was making his major league debut, with a pitch on his right hand, the Padres pulled their starter. Owen became the first Pirates rookie to reach base for the first time after being hit by a pitch since shortstop Kevin Polcovich against the Marlins in his MLB debut on May 17, 1997. Mixing his cutter and slider, Darvish gave up two runs on six hits and one walk with eight strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.

Gonzalez made a third error while trying to backhand a Caratini grounder to short against the defensive shift to start the sixth. Pinch hitter Trent Grisham hit a line-drive double to left to put runners on second and third for reliever Duane Underwood Jr., who got a break when his wild pitch bounced off the backstop and the runners stayed put. Jake Cronenworth, however, hit a two-run single to right to give the Padres a two-run lead.

The Pirates committed a season-high four errors, though manager Derek Shelton didn't blame them for the loss.

"They cost us pitches," Shelton said. "Gonzo threw the one ball away. I don't agree with the call on that. I thought it was interference. That's my opinion. That obviously wasn't what (the umpires) thought. We had a communication error on the second one. The third one, I mean, that would have been a hell of a play if he made it. What did he have, 10 other ground balls that he fielded? Caratini's ball going away from him? That's a tough play. Basically, I think what it cost us is that it cost Bru pitches. It cost him a chance to pitch in the sixth."

Kevin Gorman is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Kevin by email at kgorman@triblive.com or via Twitter .