Chad Kuhl had a rough outing Thursday night.

He needed a big pick-me-up from his Bullpen and they delivered again. They continued their dominance taking over when Kuhl was removed with one out in the fifth.

That and the timely hitting by the Pittsburgh Pirates’ lineup led to a 5-4 victory over the San Diego Padres to open the four game weekend series.

The win gave the Pirates their ninth win in the past eleven games. They are hot right now and they continue to show no signs of stopping.

Kuhl navigated through the first two innings with ease striking out four of the six batters he faced. He had no such luck following as he began throwing wildly and ended up allowing four runs with two walks and five strikeouts in 4.1 innings pitched. Steven Brault took over and pitched 2.1 innings providing a nice bridge to the back end of the bullpen.

From their, Edgar Santana finished the seventh inning by getting an out on two pitches. Michael Feliz pitched a fairly spotless eighth and Felipe Vazquez did his typical thing to close it out for the Pirates.

As good as the bullpen was, it can’t be ignored that the Pirates’ hitters weren’t going to allow a underwhelming start by Kuhl effect their game.

The lineup continued their continual dominance of the past few games by allowing the heart of their lineup to produce runs. Josh Bell, Corey Dickerson, David Freese and Sean Rodriguez provided the RBI’s for the Pirates. Most notably, Rodriguez has stepped up his game big time the past two games. He has multi-hit games in consecutive match-ups.

While the Pirates got another win against a mediocre team, the road doesn’t get any easier tomorrow. They will send the struggling Ivan Nova (2-3, 5.01 ERA) out to the mound in hopes that he can figure things out and provide the Pirates some more length after the short start by Kuhl. Tyson Ross (2-3, 3.40 ERA) will oppose Nova looking to cool the Pirates offense that is among the best in baseball right now.

Pirates call up No. 2 prospect Austin Meadows

It was announced during the fourth inning of Thursday’s game that the Pirates planned to call up their No. 2 prospect outfielder Austin Meadows to make his major league debut.

This news likely means the Pirates will place Starling Marte on the 10-day DL tomorrow as a part of the corresponding move.

Meadows has been on the minds of Pirate fans for years since  he was taken in the first round of the 2013 MLB Draft. Ever since the Pirates traded Andrew McCutchen, the fans have been craving to see their future centerfielder in action with the big league club. He likely will play center Friday evening.

The top non-pitching prospect in the Pirates’ system is batting .295 with one home run and 15 RBI in AAA Indianapolis for the Indians.

Also on the minor league front, even though it’s a rehab stint, second baseman Josh Harrison may be returning to the Pirates this weekend. He played nine innings at second base for the Altoona Curve, the Pirates’ AA affiliate,

Thursday night and went 1-for-5 as he tries to regain his timing after the broken hand he suffered from a hit by pitch earlier in the season.

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