May 22, 1969, San Diego: Pirates 7, Padres 1 (box score)
Losers of four straight games, the Padres looked to turn their fortunes against Pittsburgh’s Steve Blass. The Pirates had other ideas, scoring two runs off Clay Kirby in the first inning.
The Padres answered with a run of their own in the fourth, when Nate Colbert hammered a two-out solo home run to narrow the gap to 2-1. That was as close as San Diego would get. Blass went the distance, limiting the Padres to three hits (two by Colbert) and fanning nine.
The Pirates added three in the eighth and then capped the scoring with a solo homer off the bat of Roberto Clemente in the ninth. In front of 4,001 fans at San Diego Stadium, the visiting team again had embarrassed the Padres, who fell to 16-26.
Off the Field: The Padres traded first baseman Bill Davis and infielder Jerry DaVanon to the Cardinals for second baseman John Sipin and catcher Sonny Ruberto. Davis never appeared in a single game for St. Louis, while DaVanon notched 58 at-bats with his new club in 1969 and 1970.
The 22-year-old Sipin would replace Jose Arcia at the keystone corner and hit .223/.251/.319 in 68 games before disapearing altogether. The 23-year-old Ruberto got into 19 games for the Padres, resurfaced with the Reds for two games in 1972, and finished his playing career with a .125/.192/.125 batting line.
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