Michael King, Manny Machado and David Peralta help Padres send Pirates to 9th straight loss, 3-0

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Michael King pitched six sharp innings, Manny Machado drove in two runs and David Peralta homered as the San Diego Padres beat Pittsburgh 3-0 on Tuesday night to hand the Pirates their ninth straight loss.

The Padres won for the 18th time in 21 games since July 20 and claimed their eighth straight series. Conversely, the Pirates lost for the 11th time in 12 games.

“They kept chasing that sinker," King said. “It was something that I didn't really have in the game plan, but saw it early and just kept going to it.”

King (10-6) struck out 10, allowed seven hits and didn't issue a walk, throwing 70 of his 93 pitches for strikes. The 29-year-old right-hander won for the fifth time in six decisions since June 29.

“He controlled the counts and that is what allows you to throw up zeros,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “He just made a lot of quality pitches.”

Pirates starter Luis Ortiz (5-3) gave up two runs, one earned, and three hits with three strikeouts and two walks in five innings.

Ortiz worked out of a bases-loaded jam with no outs in the first inning, allowing an unearned run on a sacrifice fly by Machado that scored Luis Arraez as San Diego took a 1-0 lead. Pittsburgh's Ji Hwan Bae made an outstanding diving catch on Machado’s sinking liner to prevent further damage.

With Machado on first in the fourth inning, Bae robbed Jackson Merrill with a leaping catch near the wall in center field to end the inning.

Peralta hit a 410-foot shot to right-center in the fifth off Ortiz to make it 2-0.

“Another good swing tonight to get us that second run. He has done a tremendous job,” Shildt said. “He is just a guy who brings it every night. He is a glue guy for our club.”

Machado singled in Arraez from third base in the eighth against reliever Kyle Nicolas for an unearned insurance run.

The Pirates banged out eight hits, but stranded seven runners. Pittsburgh reliever Ben Heller pitched two scoreless innings.

Jason Adam and Tanner Scott each threw a scoreless inning in relief for the Padres. Robert Suarez worked the ninth for his 27th save.

“We like to have leads and have our guys pitch at the end, so that part is great. Clearly we don't want them to pitch every night,” Shildt said when asked about the heavy workload for his bullpen lately. “We have a chance to win ballgames. We have guys in that are capable and able to pitch.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Pirates: LHP Marco Gonzales was placed on the 60-day injured list with a left forearm strain, the same injury that caused him to miss three months of action from mid-April to mid-July. ... RHP Ryder Ryan replaced Gonzales on the roster after being selected from Triple-A Indianapolis on Monday.

UP NEXT

Pirates RHP Mitch Keller (10-6, 3.56 ERA) will face Padres LHP Martin Pérez (2-5, 4.78) on Wednesday in the finale of the three-game series.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Pittsburgh Pirates' Oneil Cruz tosses his bat as he walks back to the dugout after popping out during the first inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Luis Ortiz works against a San Diego Padres batter during the fourth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Luis Ortiz works against a San Diego Padres batter during the first inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Bae Ji-Wan makes a leaping catch at the wall for the out on San Diego Padres' Jackson Merrill during the fourth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

San Diego Padres' David Peralta, right, celebrates with teammate Kyle Higashioka after hitting a home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

San Diego Padres' David Peralta celebrates with teammates in the dugout after hitting a home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Michael King works against a Pittsburgh Pirates batter during the first inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Michael King works against a Pittsburgh Pirates batter during the first inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

PRAGUE (AP) — The head of NATO's military committee said Saturday that Ukraine has the solid legal and military right to strike deep inside Russia to gain combat advantage — reflecting the beliefs of a number of U.S. allies — even as the Biden administration balks at allowing Kyiv to do so using American-made weapons.

“Every nation that is attacked has the right to defend itself. And that right doesn’t stop at the border of your own nation,” said Adm. Rob Bauer, speaking at the close of the committee's annual meeting, also attended by U.S. Gen. CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Bauer, of Netherlands, also added that nations have the sovereign right to put limits on the weapons they send to Ukraine. But, standing next to him at a press briefing, Lt. Gen. Karel Řehka, chief of the General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces, made it clear his nation places no such weapons restrictions on Kyiv.

“We believe that the Ukrainians should decide themselves how to use it,” Řehka said.

Their comments came as U.S. President Joe Biden is weighing whether to allow Ukraine to use American-provided long-range weapons to hit deep into Russia. And they hint at the divisions over the issue.

Biden met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday, after this week’s visit to Kyiv by their top diplomats, who came under fresh pressure to loosen weapons restrictions. U.S. officials familiar with discussions said they believed Starmer was seeking Biden’s approval to allow Ukraine to use British Storm Shadow missiles for expanded strikes in Russia.

Biden’s approval may be needed because Storm Shadow components are made in the U.S. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to share the status of private conversations, said they believed Biden would be amenable, but there has been no decision announced yet.

Providing additional support and training for Ukraine was a key topic at the NATO chiefs’ meeting, but it wasn't clear Saturday if the debate over the U.S. restrictions was discussed.

Many of the European nations have been vigorously supportive of Ukraine in part because they worry about being the next victim of an empowered Russia.

At the opening of the meeting, Czech Republic President Petr Pavel broadly urged the military chiefs gathered in the room to be ”bold and open in articulating your assessments and recommendations. The rounder and the softer they are, the less they will be understood by the political level.”

The allies, he said, must “take the right steps and the right decisions to protect our countries and our way of life.”

The military leaders routinely develop plans and recommendations that are then sent to the civilian NATO defense secretaries for discussion and then on to the nations' leaders in the alliance.

The U.S. allows Ukraine to use American-provided weapons in cross-border strikes to counter attacks by Russian forces. But it doesn’t allow Kyiv to fire long-range missiles, such as the ATACMS, deep into Russia. The U.S. has argued that Ukraine has drones that can strike far and should use ATACMS judiciously because they only have a limited number.

Ukraine has increased its pleas with Washington to lift the restrictions, particularly as winter looms and Kyiv worries about Russian gains during the colder months.

“You want to weaken the enemy that attacks you in order to not only fight the arrows that come your way, but also attack the archer that is, as we see, very often operating from Russia proper into Ukraine,” said Bauer. “So militarily, there’s a good reason to do that, to weaken the enemy, to weaken its logistic lines, fuel, ammunition that comes to the front. That is what you want to stop, if at all possible.”

Brown, for his part, told reporters traveling with him to the meeting that the U.S. policy on long-range weapons remains in place.

But, he added, “by the same token, what we want to do is — regardless of that policy — we want to continue to make Ukraine successful with the capabilities that have been provided” by the U.S. and other nations in the coalition, as well as the weapons Kyiv has been able to build itself.

“They’ve proven themselves fairly effective in building out uncrewed aerial vehicles, in building out drones,” Brown told reporters traveling with him to meetings in Europe.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has made similar points, arguing that one weapons system won't determine success in the war.

“There are a number of things that go into the overall equation as to whether or not you know you want to provide one capability or another," Austin said Friday. “There is no silver bullet when it comes to things like this.”

He also noted that Ukraine has already been able to strike inside Russia with its own internally produced systems, including drones.

FILE - Rescuers search for victims in an apartment building destroyed by Russian missile attack in centre Lviv, Western Ukraine, Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mykola Tys, File)

FILE - NATO's Chair of the Military Committee Admiral Rob Bauer listens during the plenary session of the Seoul Defense Dialogue in Seoul, South Korea, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)