Santana slams Padres as Bucs' rookies snag career 1sts

SAN DIEGO -- Behind a season-high four home runs off Yu Darvish, two of which came off the bat of Carlos Santana, and Quinn Priester’s solid start, the Pirates stunned the Padres on Monday night at Petco Park, 8-4.

“It’s great,” said Priester, who recorded his first Major League win. “Definitely want to enjoy it. Really fun. It’s great to have it against a team like that. A lot of really good players. It just goes to show me that I compete.”

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After allowing seven runs in his Major League debut a week ago against the Guardians, Priester allowed four runs across 5 1/3 innings against San Diego’s star-laden lineup, three runs coming via two home runs by Ha-Seong Kim.

Priester, 22, is ranked as the Pirates' No. 4 prospect by MLB Pipeline, but he wasn’t the only rookie checking off a “first” on Monday night.

In the fourth inning, Liover Peguero, 22, put just enough barrel on Darvish’s sweeper to send a 91.2-mph, 337-foot homer over the left-field fence. Peguero is rated Pittsburgh's No. 7 prospect.

In the seventh inning, catcher Endy Rodríguez threw out the first runner of his career, firing a perfect 82.3 mph throw to second base to beat Kim's steal attempt. Rodríguez -- the Bucs' No. 3 prospect -- had a pop time of 1.81 seconds on the throw; for reference, Phillies star J.T. Realmuto leads the Majors with a pop time of, coincidentally, 1.81 on throws to second base.

“It’s a blast. It really is,” Priester said. “It’s awesome to see. You can’t help but get so excited. I’m in the dugout really trying to stay composed and stay focused, do my job at hand. But when Peggy hits a homer and Santana hits his second. ... It’s electric stuff to be a part of. It’s stuff that I’ve been seeing personally for the last few years. Guys just doing what they do.”

While Peguero, Priester and Rodríguez knocked several accolades off their bucket lists, Santana enjoyed a multi-homer game for the 16th time in his Major League career, with both home runs coming off Darvish. Along with the roundtrippers, Santana slapped an opposite-field double and drew a walk.

Suwinski added to his already career-high total with a solo shot, his 21st home run of the season.

“This was supposed to be my day off today,” Santana said. “Shelty gave me off today, but something happened to [Ji Man] Choi and he could not play. Shelton asked me today if I could play. I said, ‘Yes, 100%.’”

Added manager Derek Shelton, “We played a complete game. I think there was a lot of great things that happened, starting with Quinn. He gives up a homer to the first hitter and then bounces back and continues to execute pitches. I thought [that's] really encouraging for a young kid in this atmosphere, so very happy."