Field Level Media
Aug 23, 2023
Seth Lugo and three relievers combined for a four-hit shutout, and Xander Bogaerts hit a two-run home run as the San Diego Padres defeated the visiting Miami Marlins 4-0 on Wednesday afternoon in the rubber match of a three-game series.
Lugo gave up three hits and a walk with four strikeouts over six innings to pick up the win and improve to 5-6.
There was a touch of drama after reliever Steven Wilson retired the side in the seventh. Robert Suarez was scheduled to pitch the eighth but was ejected before he reached the mound for failing to pass the inspection for a foreign substance. Tom Cosgrove entered and struck out one in a perfect eighth.
Although it wasn't a save situation, closer Josh Hader pitched the ninth. The Marlins loaded the bases with one out on a Josh Bell single and a pair of walks. But Hader struck out pinch hitters Garrett Hampson and Yuli Gurriel to end the game.
All four Padres runs came off 2022 National League Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara.
Ha-Seong Kim opened the Padres' first with a double and scored on Juan Soto's one-out single to give San Diego a 1-0 lead.
The score remained unchanged until Manny Machado drew a one-out walk from Alcantara in the sixth and scored ahead of Bogaerts' 14th homer -- a 427-foot drive to center on a 1-1 sinker.
Former Marlin Garrett Cooper scored the Padres' final run in the seventh after singling to open the inning in his first two-hit game as a Padre. Cooper moved to second on a groundout and scored on Fernando Tatis Jr.'s two-out single.
Alcantara (6-11) gave up all four runs on seven hits and three walks with three strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings.
The win gave the Padres a 5-5 record in their longest homestand of the season. Miami has lost six of its last eight games.
--Field Level Media