SAN DIEGO -- Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Chris Stewart believes the San Diego Padres did an excellent job of pitching to Andrew McCutchen on Sunday.

"They walked him twice," said Stewart. "Good job."

McCutchen homered the other three times, helping the Pirates defeat the Padres 7-1 at Petco Park to end a four-game losing streak that dropped Pittsburgh from 2 1/2 to 5 1/2 games off the Chicago Cubs' pace in the four-team National League Central scramble.

McCutchen homered in the first off Padres starter and loser Clayton Richard. Then he homered in the eighth and ninth off left-handed reliever Jose Torres. In between, McCutchen walked twice, including a leadoff pass in the sixth that triggered a decisive three-run inning.

It marked the third time in his career that the 2013 National League Most Valuable Player homered three times in a game. And it was his fourth multi-homer game of the season and 15th of his career.

"These are special days and I told Andrew that as he came off the field," said Pirates manager Clint Hurdle. "I've gotten to see him hit three homers in a game a couple times now. He creates a wake in everything he does.

"To have your best players have the performances they had today makes the game look easy ... and it's not."

The other "best" player Hurdle was talking about was right-handed starter Gerrit Cole, who held the Padres scoreless for five innings while working with the one-run lead supplied by McCutchen's first-inning homer.

After the Pirates widened their lead to 4-0 in the sixth, the Padres finally scored on a solo homer by shortstop Dusty Coleman -- the second in the last three games for the call-up from Triple-A El Paso last Monday. The Pirates then took Torres deep three times -- McCutchen twice around a solo pinch-hit shot by Josh Bell.

McCutchen's first homer came on a fastball by Richard that the left-hander said "was just a little up, but not that bad a pitch." The first homer barely cleared the leap of center fielder Manuel Margot.

The second homer was also hit to center and carried 413 feet. It was hit off a 3-and-1 fastball. The third homer -- and second off Torres -- was a 328-foot, opposite-field drive that clanked off the right-field foul pole.

The last one had an unusual degree of difficulty. The bottom of the eighth ended with McCutchen making a headfirst diving catch in left-center -- with no one on in a 5-1 game. The catch knocked some of the wind out of McCutchen, who was still a bit winded when he teed off.

"I just wanted that one to stay fair," said McCutchen. "I didn't know if it was going to stay fair. I just kept running until someone signaled something. It feels great. I'm in good position to hit. I wasn't missing anything.

"I've done it before," McCutchen said of his three-homer game. "It's pretty cool. Doing it for the third time is pretty cool. And we needed a win. Gerrit did a great job protecting that 1-0 lead before we could put more runs on the board."

"We missed against him," said Padres manager Andy Green of McCutchen's performance. "That's what good hitters do to mistakes, they punish you."

Cole (9-7) allowed five hits, two walks and hit a batter while striking out eight in seven innings.

Richard allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks over six innings to suffer his fifth straight loss. Richard (5-12) leads the National League in losses, hits allowed (175) and earned runs allowed (80).

But for five innings, the only difference between the Pirates and Padres was McCutchen's first-inning homer.

"I didn't know if he had it and I don't think he knew," said Richard. "After he hit it, I looked at him and he was shaking his head and I'm thinking, 'he just missed.' I take a couple steps toward the dugout and look over my shoulder and it's gone."

As much as Richard lamented the first-inning homer to McCutchen, it was the walk to McCutchen to open the sixth that bothered Richard more.

"That changed the complexion of that inning," said Richard. "But you have to give him credit. He has power to all fields and a great eye at the plate. He's one of the best."

Meanwhile, the Pirates scored three times in the top of the sixth to end the pitching duel between Roberts and Cole.

After McCutchen walked to open the sixth, David Freese singled. Jose Osuna then drove a Richard fastball to the gap in right-center, the ball skipping past right fielder Hunter Renfroe for a two-run triple. Jody Mercer singled home Osuna to make it 4-0.

San Diego had some opportunities against Cole.

Walks to Yangervis Solarte and Matt Szczur around a strikeout of Renfroe put Padres on first and second with one out in the second. Cole then struck out Austin Hedges and retired Dusty Coleman on a grounder.

In the third, Margot and Carlos Asuaje had consecutive, one-out singles. Cole got Jose Pirela on a soft fly to left and struck out Solarte. Pirela led off the sixth with a double after the Pirates expanded their lead but never advanced.

Coleman ended Cole's shutout bid in the bottom of the seventh.

The sweep-denying loss ended the Padres' winning streak at four games.

NOTES: The Padres activated C Austin Hedges and INF Yangervis Solarte from the disabled list Sunday and optioned OF Jabari Blash and RHP Kevin Quackenbush to Triple-A El Paso. Hedges had been on the concussion disabled list since July 11. Solarte had been out since June 21 with a left oblique strain. Sunday marked the sixth this this season that Quackenbush has been optioned to El Paso. ... Pirates second baseman Josh Harrison left the game in the third with lower left leg discomfort. Harrison hit the first bag awkwardly while reaching on an error. He stayed in for one pitch before leaving. ... Left-handed reliever Kyle McGrath struck out two in a perfect seventh while becoming the ninth player to make his Major League debut with the Padres this season. ... The Padres were 14-11 in July, their first winning month since going 15-11 in July of 2015.