Bedard marvelous in win over Padres

SAN DIEGO — Erik Bedard struck out nine and allowed three singles in eight innings, and Miguel Olivo homered to lead the Seattle Mariners to a 4-1 win over the punchless San Diego Padres on Friday night. The Padres avoided their ninth shutout when left fielder Carlos Peguero, who earlier robbed Jorge Cantu of a two-run homer, couldn’t hang on to Ryan Ludwick’s fly ball as he tried to make a diving catch. Ludwick’s single scored Chris Denorfia, but Ludwick was called for aiding Jason Bartlett, who had turned back to first base. Bedard (2-4) and Chris Ray combined on a four-hitter as Bedard improved to 8-1 with a 1.79 ERA in 16 career interleague starts. The lefty dominated the Padres, who had just one runner reach third base. Bedard won his second straight decision, over four starts, after losing his first four starts. He walked two. In four career starts against the Padres he is 4-0 with a 1.63 ERA and 31 strikeouts. Bedard last pitched Saturday, when he recorded two outs before the game at Cleveland was rained out. Padres ace Mat Latos (1-6) continued to struggle, losing for the 11th time in 13 starts. He didn’t lose his sixth decision last year until Sept. 12. The right-hander allowed four runs and eight hits in six innings, struck out four and walked one. San Diego has scored just five runs in its last four games, three of them at Petco Park, after scoring 45 runs in its previous five. The Padres are 8-16 at home, worst in the big leagues. Peguero made a spectacular catch at the wall to rob Cantu of a two-run homer in the seventh, then Seattle doubled Ludwick off first. It was Seattle’s third double play of the night.