ARCHIVE April 8, 2026
April 8, 2026 · NL Cent

San Diego Padres vs Pittsburgh Pirates

April 8, 2026PNC ParkSunny 46°F · 8 mph, In From CF
AWAY
San Diego Padres
6-6
8
vs
HOME
Pittsburgh Pirates
7-5
2

Starting pitchers

AWAY · SD
Michael King
Michael King
IP 6
HOME · PIT
Mitch Keller
Mitch Keller
IP 6

Lineups

AWAY · SD
  1. 1 Ramón Laureano LF
  2. 2 Fernando Tatis RF
  3. 3 Jackson Merrill CF
  4. 4 Gavin Sheets 1B
  5. 5 Xander Bogaerts SS
  6. 6 Miguel Andujar 3B
  7. 7 Nick Castellanos DH
  8. 8 Luis Campusano C
  9. 9 Jake Cronenworth 2B
HOME · PIT
  1. 1 Oneil Cruz CF
  2. 2 Brandon Lowe 2B
  3. 3 Bryan Reynolds RF
  4. 4 Ryan O'Hearn DH
  5. 5 Nick Yorke 3B
  6. 6 Nick Gonzales SS
  7. 7 Spencer Horwitz 1B
  8. 8 Joey Bart C
  9. 9 Jake Mangum LF

Box score

  123456789 R
SD 000000404 8
PIT 000000200 2

Manager comparison

Both managers grade B / C- entering this matchup.

AWAY · SD
Craig Stammen
B Lineup 0.8 R Bunts 0.4 R IBBs 0.2 R
HOME · PIT
Don Kelly
C- Lineup 2.3 R Bunts 0.3 R IBBs 0.8 R

Recent form

AWAY · SD
4-6 L1 -6 run diff
LWWLWLLLLW
HOME · PIT
5-5 W2 +1 run diff
WWLWWWLLLL

Season series: 1-0 with SD listed first across 1 prior meeting.

Tactical analysis

RunsLeft separates manager decisions from player execution from game variance. Each card below is the same three-number framework that drives the share cards on the SPA replay page.

AWAY · San Diego Padres
  • Manager lineup cost +0.04 R/G Optimal arrangement projects 3.11 vs actual lineup 3.07
  • Player execution +4.93 R/G Players exceeded the lineup's 3.07 projection by 4.93 (scored 8)
  • Game variance +4.89 R/G Total game outcome vs optimal expectation

Cronenworth HR from the 9-hole

HOME · Pittsburgh Pirates
  • Manager lineup cost +0.10 R/G Optimal arrangement projects 2.80 vs actual lineup 2.69
  • Player execution −0.69 R/G Players fell 0.69 short of the lineup's 2.69 projection (scored 2)
  • Game variance −0.80 R/G Total game outcome vs optimal expectation

Lowe 0-for-4 batting 2nd

COUNTERFACTUAL

Optimal lineups projected 3.1 – 2.8 — actual was 8 – 2.

Keep reading

How RunsLeft analyzes games

Standard content on this page comes from the MLB Stats API. Tactical analysis comes from a per-game Monte Carlo: 10,000 simulated games against the opposing starter's ERA, both for the actual lineup the manager wrote and for the optimal arrangement of those nine players. The three numbers — manager cost, player execution, game variance — separate which part of the result was the lineup, the players, or the dice.

Read the full methodology.