The San Diego Padres just keep winning, and they did it today over the MIami Marlins.
The San Diego Padres beat the Miami Marlins again, 7-3, to sweep their three game series against Miami and lower their magic number to clinch a postseason berth to two. The win extended their latest winning streak to five games, and it was their 13th win in their last 14 games.
The Padres’ winning formula recently has been to build a lead early, then hold off the opponent, and they applied it to perfection again in this one. They broke through off Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara in the second inning on a two-run homer from Jake Cronenworth, who was the offensive hero throughout.
San Diego added two more in the fourth on a double show that started with an infield hit from Jackson Merrill. Cronenworth then doubled to score Merrill, and Samad Taylor doubled to score Cronenworth and make it 4-0 Padres.
Starter Walker Buehler used the cushion to good advantage as he cruised through six shutout innings, but the Marlins broke through for three in the seventh to make it a one-run game. The Marlins used the long ball to cut the lead, with Javier Sonoja hitting a three-run homer to make it 4-3.
But that was as close as Miami would get, thanks to Fernando Tatis Jr. to start. Tatis launched his 25th home run to center to make it 5-3 and give the Padres some breathing room.
They got even more of it in the eighth, thanks to that Cronenworth guy. He hit a two-run homer homer to make it 7-3, and that wound up being the final score.
One interesting footnote in this one was that manager Craig Stammen brought in Mason Miller in a non-save situation, perhaps to erase the bad taste after Miller’s blown save in the previous game. He pitched a scoreless ninth, following up on scoreless efforts from Kyle Hart and Bradgley Rodriguez as they successfully picked up Buehler.
Cronenworth wound up getting three hits, scoring three runs and driving in five in his memorable offensive effort, and Walker got the win as gave up three runs on just three hits to go with two walks and six strikeouts.
The win didn’t help the Padres in the wild-card standings, but it did solidify their partial hold in the top spot as they remain tied with the Chicago Cubs. They now hold a one-game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies and a five-game lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
