Jake Cronenworth hit two home runs, as the streaking San Diego Padres defeated the Miami Marlins 7-3
The brooms came out on Sunday, as the streaking San Diego Padres defeated the Miami Marlins 7-3 to complete a three-game sweep.
The Padres won their 13th in the last 14 games, as Jake Cronenworth powered them toward the postseason Sunday, launching two two-run home runs and driving in five runs to pace his team. The outcome moved within two victories of clinching a wild-card berth. The sweep was San Diego's second of Miami this season.
Cronenworth's first homer came with two outs in the second inning, when he lifted a two-run shot into the home-run porch in the right-field corner against Sandy Alcantara. He struck again in the eighth, sending a two-run blast to right field off Bradley Blalock for his seventh homer of the season and the second multi-homer game of his career.
Fernando Tatis Jr. also went deep, hitting his 25th home run of the season to lead off the seventh inning against Blalock. It marked the fourth 25-homer season of Tatis' career.
San Diego built a 4-0 advantage before Miami finally broke through against Walker Buehler in the seventh. The home starter carried a one-hitter into the inning and had retired 11 consecutive batters at one point. But with two outs, Javier Sanoja launched a three-run homer to left field, his 10th of the season, cutting the Padres' lead to 4-3.
Padres Pitcher Paces Team
Buehler earned the victory, improving to 9-6 after allowing three runs on three hits while striking out six and walking two over a season-high 6 2/3 innings. While he wasn't exactly dominant, he did everything he needed to do to put his team in position to win. That was enough for San Diego, who averaged 7.33 runs per game in the three-game set.
Alcantara took the loss and fell to 13-11. He allowed four runs on eight hits over six innings, striking out three and walking one.
San Diego and the Chicago Cubs remain tied at 87-69 for the top National League wild-card position, with Chicago holding the tiebreaker. Philadelphia sits one game behind them. The top wild-card team will host the best-of-three opening series.
Miami will now head to Chicago for a three-game series against the Cubs. 30-year-old right-hander Janson Junk, who is 6-9 on the year with a 4.50 ERA and 78 strikeouts, is scheduled to start Tuesday night's series opener for the Fish. The Windy City Nine will send veteran righty Kevin Gausman (9-12, 4.77 ERA, 177 strikeouts) to the hill.
