The San Diego Padres haven't been getting good starts from the back of their rotation, but German Marquez was strong.
The San Diego Padres finally got a strong start from the back of their rotation as they rode five scoreless innings from German Marquez to a 5-0 shutout over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Padres featured a hunt-and-scratch offense for most of the night, and it took until the fourth inning for San Diego to get on the board. Nick Castellanos started the scoring with an RBI double to bring home Manny Machado after the third baseman singled to give the Pads a 1-0 lead.
The Padres added to their lead in the fifth on a pair of walks, followed by a fake double by Jackson Merrill on a misplayed fly ball to left that Bryan Reynolds turned into a ground rule double. The third run was delivered by Machado on a ground out, and that was really all the Padres needed as they chased Pirates starter Bubba Chandler, who struggled with his control and ended up throwing 83 pitches and walking four in 4-1/3 innings.
The key to this one, though, was the pitching. Starter German Marquez made up for his bad first start by pitching five shutout innings. Marquez wasn’t dominant, but he scattered six hits and struck out four while throwing 92 pitches. He had an especially nice turn in the fifth as he stranded Oneil Cruz at third after a throwing error by catcher Felix Fermin to keep the Pirates off the board.
Marquez was backed up nicely by Rod Marinaccio, who pitched two shutout innings to keep the shutout intact. David Morgan was next up from the bullpen, and while he struggled with his control, Morgan was able to add two more goose eggs to the scoreboard.
The Padres padded their lead in the sixth on a pair of double by Felix Fermin and Jake Cronenworth, and a single by Fermin followed by a Ramon Laureano in the eighth completed the scoring for the night.
The cold weather made big offense hard to come by throughout the evening, but the Padres did a nice job of chipping away. This one was played in front of a very sparse crowd despite the Pirates’ 6-3 record coming in, and Pittsburgh gave the crowd very little to cheer about throughout the game.
The continuing emergence of Castellanos was the big offensive news in this one for San Diego, but Fermin and Cronenworth also had a pair of hits each.
The Padres now have a three-game winning streak as they climbed back to the .500 mark, but they’ll face a tough task keeping it going given that they face Paul Skenes tomorrow night.