PITTSBURGH (AP) – Jake Peavy pitched effectively for seven innings and helped San Diego’s slumping offense by driving in his first run this season, leading the Padres past the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-3 Tuesday night for only their second victory in 14 games.

The Padres, tied with Arizona for the NL West lead entering the night despite winning only once since July 17, took advantage of Pirates starter Kip Wells’ wildness to open a 5-0 lead in the fourth. Three of the five batters Wells walked in 3 2-3 innings came around to score.

Khalil Greene had a two-run single after Wells walked the bases loaded in the second and Peavy, batting .125, followed with an RBI double for only his second extra-base hit in two seasons. Peavy also singled while going 2-for-3, giving him half as many hits as he previously had this season.

Peavy (9-4) made the lead stand up by striking out nine and walking none, despite allowing Jason Bay’s 20th homer, in the fourth, and rookie Chris Duffy’s RBI double in a two-run fifth. The right-hander has won four of six decisions despite pitching for a struggling team that has won only 19 of 54 games since June 1.

The Padres were coming off a three-game weekend sweep at home during which the Reds outscored them 24-5 and hit eight homers to their none. San Diego has gone nine games since its last homer, Geoff Blum’s shot against Philadelphia on July 23.

Maybe the Padres needed only to face a club that’s going nearly as badly as they are. Given little chance following the inconsistent Wells’ latest bout of control problems, the Pirates lost their sixth in seven games and their 15th in 21 games. They gave up eight or more runs in a one-sided loss for the fourth time in their last nine games in PNC Park, where they are 24-28.

Wells (6-12) lost his fourth in a row and eighth in nine decisions since June 8. He has walked four or more in nine of his 23 starts and leads all NL starters with 67 walks.

San Diego scored five runs on singles in the eighth against reliever Rick White. Greene, Mark Sweeney and Mark Loretta all finished with two RBIs.

Notes: The Pirates have started each of their last two homestands by allowing 11 runs in a loss. They were beaten 11-1 by Houston on July 18, starting a 3-5 homestand. … The Padres had gone 14 games without scoring more than six runs. They hadn’t scored as many as 11 since beating the Rockies 12-2 on July 8. … Peavy threw nearly as many strikes (77, in 104 pitches) as Wells did pitches (83). Peavy has 155 strikeouts and 29 walks. … CF Duffy made his second excellent catch in two games, stretching out as he sprinted toward the wall to run down Joe Randa’s drive in the fourth. Duffy also made a potential game-saving catch in the ninth inning of a 4-1 win Monday in Atlanta. … The Pirates’ Rob Mackowiak is 3-for-27, helping to drop his average from .358 on June 11 to .268.

AP-ES-08-02-05 2231EDT