SAN DIEGO -- Travis Wood sought a change of scenery and there are fewer better places for that than San Diego.

Wood pitched six solid innings and added an RBI single in his Padres debut, lifting San Diego over the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-2 on Friday night.

"I'm taking this opportunity like it's a fresh start," Wood said. "I've come here and I'm not thinking about anything that happened this season. Just come in, put in the work and help the ballclub out.''

Cory Spangenberg had two extra-base hits for the Padres, one of which drove in a run.

Three Padres relievers pitched the final three innings to combine with Wood on a three-hitter. Brad Hand worked the ninth for his sixth save as he extended his scoreless-innings streak to 19 1/3 innings.

Wood (2-3) came over to the Padres in Monday's trade with the Kansas City Royals. With Kansas City, Wood was used mostly out of the bullpen, having just three starts among his 28 appearances. The southpaw lost his only decision as a starter, never advancing to the fifth inning in any of the trio of outings.

But the Padres promised Wood a spot in the rotation and he responded. Wood, who had started three games in two years, retired the final 10 batters he faced.

"You can't ask for anything more," Padres manager Andy Green said of Wood's first win as a starter since April 28, 2015, at Pittsburgh. "He's got enough history that he's not afraid of anything."

Clint Hurdle, Green's counterpart, wasn't surprised by Wood's performance. Wood's mixture consisted of a cut fastball, curveball and changeup.

"We've seen him pitch well," Hurdle said. "This guy has been a good major-league pitcher throughout his career."

Chad Kuhl pitched 5 1/3 innings, surrendering two runs, four hits and five walks, one intentional. He struck out four as the Pirates lost for the third consecutive time.

The Padres scored twice in the sixth inning en route to their third straight win.

Spangenberg had the big hit, a one-out triple after Jose Pirela's single chased Kuhl. When reliever Daniel Hudson (2-5) walked Allen Cordoba -- who walked three times -- ball four was a wild pitch that scored Spangenberg.

"I tried to get a swing-and-miss right there and tried to do too much with it and threw a bad pitch,'' Hudson said of the ball the skipped past catcher Francisco Cervelli.

The Padres made noise in the fourth, loading the bases with two outs as Kuhl struggled with his command, walking two. Wood came through with a run-scoring base hit, slicing the Pirates' edge to 2-1. It was Wood's first hit and RBI of the season.

But the Pirates caught a break by catching Cordoba napping. He was running with his head down after Wood's single, and Jordy Mercer cut the throw home and threw behind Cordoba for the third out.

The Pirates struck in the third inning, when Andrew McCutchen blasted his team-high 19th homer, a two-run shot for a 2-0 lead. McCutchen turned on Wood's 85 mph cut fastball, depositing it in the left-field seats.

"I kept them off-balance for most the night, except the one to McCutchen that I would like to have back,'' Wood said. "But other than that, we were able to keep the ball down and throw strikes.''

The two RBIs gave McCutchen 700 for his career, as he became only the 13th Pirate in franchise history to reach that milestone.

Wood is joyful the Padres reached out for him in a trade.

"This team has a lot of passion and wants to play well,'' he said. "So I'm glad I can help the team."

NOTES: Pirates OF Jordan Luplow was called up from Triple-A Indianapolis and started. ... LHP Steve Brault was optioned to Triple-A. ... Padres C Austin Hedges (concussion) remains out, but he could start Sunday. ... RF Hunter Renfroe had the day off; he should be back on Saturday. ... Padres INF Yangervis Solarte (hamstring) is playing shortstop in his minor-league rehab games and will see time at the position when he returns soon.