Not all quality outings are created equal. Some are light and breezy. Others are a grind. JT Brubaker’s latest start could be categorized as the latter, one that put his team in a position to win nonetheless.

Brubaker travailed through five solid innings in the Pirates’ 4-2 loss to the Padres on Wednesday at Petco Park, allowing two earned runs with seven strikeouts to three walks. While Brubaker wasn’t as crisp as he was in previous outings, he still managed to execute, a sign of the right-hander’s growth.

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“We’ve seen him have better stuff, but I thought he handled it well,” said manager Derek Shelton.

The labor-intensive nature of Brubaker’s start was partially due to a Pittsburgh defense that committed four errors, three of which happened with Brubaker on the mound.

Oddly enough, the typically sure-handed Erik González was dinged with three of those errors, becoming the first Pirates third baseman with three or more errors since Bobby Bonilla on July 31, 1989. Those errors didn’t hurt Brubaker -- Duane Underwood Jr. was dinged with an unearned run -- but the miscues forced Brubaker to make more pitches, costing him the opportunity to pitch into the sixth.

“Errors really don’t bother me behind me,” Brubaker said. “They happen. It’s baseball. I made one myself today.”

One of those errors was the result of another bit of runner’s-interference drama, an issue that has plagued the Pirates.

In the first inning, Tommy Pham reached first base on what went down as a throwing error by González. First baseman Colin Moran tried to make up for González’s bad throw and snag it, but Pham appeared to impede Moran’s attempt. Shelton came out and contended that Pham was inside the baseline, but he did not win the umpires’ favor.

“I thought that one was as clear as the ones that have been called against us,” Shelton said. “Obviously, they did not think that. My opinion of that is it should be a reviewable play. That should be something that we add to replay.”

Errors aside, Brubaker ended his night having held San Diego in check, but that potent offense made Brubaker work.

Most notably, the Padres loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the third, and thoughts of “Slam Diego” ran through Petco Park’s collective psyche. Brubaker escaped unscathed, getting the perpetually dangerous Wil Myers to ground out and end the inning with his sinker, the pitch that carried Brubaker through the night.

“I started to use it a little bit more to my glove side to lefties and righties,” Brubaker said. “It’s just been opening up.

Brubaker wasn’t the only starting pitcher who had to grind. The Pirates managed to chase Yu Darvish from the game after 5 2/3 innings, snapping the ace’s streak of five consecutive outings of six or more innings pitched.

Darvish cruised through the first five innings, but Pittsburgh keyed in on the ace in the sixth. Center fielder Bryan Reynolds led off the frame with an opposite-field home run, barely clearing the left-field fence. The heart of the order followed Reynolds’ lead, culminating in Ka’ai Tom hitting a game-tying sacrifice fly.

“He has complete control of execution, and I thought as the game went on, we did a better job of staying in our hitting zones and staying away from chase,” Shelton said.

Darvish’s night came to an end when he plunked rookie Hunter Owen, who made his Major League debut. Owen struck out in his first two plate appearances then took a 95 mph fastball to the right hand. Owen was diagnosed with a contusion and will be evaluated following the off-day on Thursday.

“Your debut off of Darvish, that’s a tough draw there -- and he got hit, so that’s unfortunate,” Reynolds said.

What has been a bit of good fortune, on the other hand, has been the emergence of Brubaker, who continues to be the Pirates’ most significant revelation.

No pitcher will be sharp every time out. Brubaker didn’t have his best stuff on Wednesday, but he still managed to provide the Pirates with a quality outing against one of the league’s most dangerous offenses. Needless to say, that’s encouraging.

“He continues to get better start after start, and that’s really promising for us,” Shelton said.