Pittsburgh Pirates' Josh Bell (55) celebrates with Starling Marte (6) after the two scored on an RBI single by Adam Frazier off San Diego Padres relief pitcher Craig Stammen during the eighth inning of the team's baseball game in Pittsburgh, Saturday, June 22, 2019. The Pirates won 6-3. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

PITTSBURGH — Chris Archer and Adam Frazier ended their struggles to keep the Pirates winning.

Frazier hit a tiebreaking, two-run single in the eighth inning and Pittsburgh beat the San Diego Padres 6-3 on Saturday.

Frazier had one hit in his previous 10 at-bats entering play Saturday, but stepped into the box with the bases loaded after Starling Marte’s triple and a pair walks and delivered his hit to center field.

Elias Diaz added on with an RBI single and pinch-hitter Jung Ho Kang had a sacrifice fly as the Pirates scored four against San Diego setup man Craig Stammen (5-4).

“I just tried to not do too much to get him in and have a big inning,” Frazier said. “In the past this year, I’ve tried to get too big and not have the pitcher come to me.”

Archer worked five innings of one-run ball, striking out five and walking three. He had given up 11 runs over his previous two starts and credited Friday’s winner Joe Musgrove with giving him some tips against the Padres.

“If he has a good outing or notices something about the other team, the next day, I’m going to have a sheet of paper in my locker,” Archer said.

“The ultimate teammate. He helps me out. I love the fact that he pitches ahead of me.”

That type of resiliency has been key all season for the Pirates. The victory gave the Pirates three straight wins at home after coming back from a 2-8 road trip. Pittsburgh owns losing streaks of seven and eight games this season, yet now sits at 35-40.

Kyle Crick (3-3) worked around a walk and a hit in the eighth. Felipe Vazquez faced just one batter to earn his 19th save of the season.

The Padres tied it at 2 in the seventh when Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a sacrifice fly off Francisco Liriano.

Manny Machado opened the scoring with a solo home run in the fourth inning, his 16th of the season. He also drove in Tatis with a single in the ninth.

Pinch-hitter Jose Osuna’s two-run homer in the fifth inning put the Pirates ahead 2-1. It was his major league-high third pinch-hit home run of the season.

BACK IN ACTION

Padres rookie righty Chris Paddack, recalled before the game after spending 10 days in Class A in order to limit his season innings total, gave up two runs on five hits over five innings.

He walked three and struck out one, and felt good about his whole repertoire after some time down.

“Absolutely,” he said. “My changeup coming into today was my biggest game plan. They laid off a lot of good changeups. . Tip my cap to those guys. Tough lineup.”

ROSTER MOVES

The Padres optioned right-handed relief pitcher Gerardo Reyes to Triple-A El Paso to make room for Paddack. Reyes had a 12.41 ERA in 13 games with the Padres this season.

The Pirates placed right fielder Gregory Polanco on the 10-day injured list with left shoulder inflammation, retroactive to June 19. Polanco had shoulder surgery in September. Since returning in April, he has limited his throwing in an attempt to keep his shoulder healthy.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Pirates: RHP Jordan Lyles (left hamstring tightness) will make a rehab start with Triple-A Indianapolis at Pawtucket on Sunday.

UP NEXT

Padres: LHP Joey Lucchesi (6-4, 3.74 ERA) will start the series finale on Sunday. He is coming off his best outing of the season with seven scoreless innings against Milwaukee on June 17.

Pirates: LHP Steven Brault (3-1, 4.40), a native of San Diego suburb El Cajon, California, will make his first career start against the Padres. He has a 5.68 ERA in four relief appearances against San Diego.

Brewers 6, Reds 5

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Yasmani Grandal led off for the first time in his career and homered in his opening at-bat to help the Milwaukee Brewers snap a season-high five-game losing streak with a win over the Cincinnati Reds.

Grandal, who had never batted first in 795 career games, put the Brewers ahead 5-4 with an RBI double in the fourth. Two outs later, he scored on Lorenzo Cain’s bloop single that chased Reds starter Luis Castillo (7-2).

NL MVP Christian Yelich scored a run, but went 0 for 3 to end his career-high hitting streak and the longest in the majors at 18 games.

Matt Albers (4-2) pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. Adrian Houser handled the seventh. Josh Hader struck out four of the final six outs for his 18th save.

Mets 10, Cubs 2

CHICAGO (AP) — Rookie slugger Pete Alonso hit his 26th homer to set the NL record for most homers before the All-Star Game as the New York Mets routed the Chicago Cubs.

Alonso broke a tie with Los Angeles’ Cody Bellinger (2017). He’s still seven short of Mark McGwire’s major league record 33 accomplished in 1987.

Todd Frazier and Wilson Ramos also homered for the Mets, who won consecutive road games for the first time in over two months.

Zack Wheeler (6-5) allowed one run on five hits in seven innings to bounce back after losing his previous two starts. The right-hander retired 15 straight batters from the second through the sixth.

Dodgers 5, Rockies 4

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Alex Verdugo hit his second home run of the game in the 11th inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies for their fifth straight win.

Verdugo hit a fastball from Jesus Tinoco (0-1) into the Rockies’ bullpen in right field for his fourth hit of the game and second career game-ending homer. It was the second straight night the Dodgers won with the long ball. Matt Beaty, who had three hits, ended Friday’s game with a two-run shot in the ninth inning.

Raimel Tapia’s pinch-hit home run in the seventh had given the Rockies a 4-3 lead, but Beaty tied it at 4 in the eighth with an RBI single.

Braves 13, Nationals 9

WASHINGTON (AP) — Dansby Swanson hit a tie-breaking three-run homer in the eighth inning, Freddie Freeman drove in five runs and the Atlanta Braves rallied from a four-run deficit against Washington’s beleaguered bullpen and beat the Nationals.

Atlanta has won 12 of its last 15 and avoided dropping consecutive games for the first time since June 5-6.

Freeman tied the Braves’ franchise record of 10 consecutive games with an RBI. Sid Gordon also accomplished the feat for the then-Boston Braves in 1951.

Washington, which had won a season-high five in a row and 18 of 25, failed to get back to .500 for the first time since April 23.

Marlins 5, Phillies 3

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Wilkin Castillo hit a go-ahead two-run double in the seventh inning in his first game back in the majors in 10 years, lifting the Miami Marlins to a victory over the struggling Philadelphia Phillies.

Castillo hadn’t played in the big leagues since June 20, 2009 with the Cincinnati Reds. The 35-year-old catcher suffered a torn labrum in his right shoulder and bounced around the minors before he was called up from Triple-A on Friday.

The Phillies have lost six in a row and 15 of 21. They’ve fallen five games behind NL East-leading Atlanta after holding a 3Ç-game lead before their skid began on May 29.

Austin Brice (1-0) struck out two in a perfect sixth for the last-place Marlins, who’ve won three in a row. Wei-Yin Chen tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings and Jose Quijada retired Cisar Hernandez on an infield popup for the final out with the bases loaded for his first save in his seventh big-league appearance.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Cardinals 4, Angels 2

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Albert Pujols took a curtain call for his adoring fans at Busch Stadium after homering against the Cardinals, but Marcell Ozuna connected to lead Dakota Hudson and St. Louis over the Los Angeles Angels.

Pujols hit his 13th home run, a solo drive in the seventh inning. He got a standing ovation as he rounded the bases and the cheers grew louder until Pujols emerged from the dugout and tipped his hat to the sellout crowd.

Pujols has 646 career homers, including 445 in his 11 seasons with the Cardinals. His 111 home runs at the new Busch Stadium are the most by anyone.

The three-time NL MVP who helped the Cardinals win two World Series championships returned to the ballpark on Friday night for the first time since helping St. Louis take the 2011 title. Pujols signed with the Angels after that season, and they hadn’t played an interleague game at Busch until this weekend.