D-Backs hand Padres 5th straight loss
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Eugenio Suárez and Gabriel Moreno hit consecutive home runs in the second inning, Ketel Marte singled in the go-ahead run in the seventh and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the San Diego Padres 4-3 on Thursday night for their fifth victory in six games.
The Padres lost their fifth straight, tying their longest losing streak of the season. They were coming off being swept in a three-game series at the Los Angeles Angels, who have the AL’s second-worst record.
The Padres had plenty of scoring chances, including in the eighth when pinch-hitter Manny Machado grounded out with runners on second and third and two outs. Machado didn’t start a night after leaving a game at Anaheim with what was described as a mild hip flexor strain.
Fernando Tatis Jr. singled, doubled and singled in his first three at-bats to tie the Padres’ record with hits in eight straight at-bats. It had been done five times prior, most recently by Kevin Kouzmanoff on Aug. 12-13, 2009. Tatis grounded out in his fourth at-bat. A night earlier, he had the seventh four-hit game of his career.
Tatis drove a ball to the wall in right in the ninth that Jake McCarthy caught at the wall for the second out.
Kevin Ginkel (5-1) got the win and Jeremiah Estrada (2-1) took the loss. Paul Sewald pitched the ninth for his seventh save. He struck out Jake Cronenworth with a runner on second to end it.
The Padres went 1 for 14 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10.
“The most important thing is we’re always on the same page,” Marte said through a translator about the team’s recent success. “We know what kind of team we are.”
Arozona manager Torey Lovullo liked the way the game unfolded.
“The way we were matching up, the way we were duking it out and getting big outs, making pitches,” Lovullo said. “We just kept moving downfield. We finished the game and it was exciting. The dugout erupted. It was a big win for us.”
The Diamondbacks took a 3-0 lead off Randy Vásquez. Christian Walker hit an RBI double with two outs in the first and then Suárez and Moreno hit consecutive homers opening the second. It was Suárez’s fifth and Moreno’s second.
The Padres wasted scoring chances in each of the first four innings before breaking through in the fifth against Slade Cecconi.
Kyle Higashioka hit a leadoff homer into the lower balcony of the brick warehouse in the left field corner, his third. Luis Arraez and Tatis hit consecutive singles and were sacrificed by Jurickson Profar. Jake Cronenworth hit an RBI double that fell in just in front of diving left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr., whose throwing error allowed Tatis to score the tying run.
The Diamondbacks regained the lead in the seventh when Corbin Carroll greeted Estrada with a two-out double off the foul pole in right and scored on Marte’s single to left.
Marte said his approach was to “stay short, try to go up the middle or the other side. Thanfully, I was able to make it come through.”
Carroll was 3 for 5 to raise his batting average above .200 to .201.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Diamondbacks: Placed LHP Blake Walston on the 15-day injured list with left elbow inflammation. Claimed RHP Thyago Vieira off waivers from the Baltimore Orioles. Selected the contract of RHP Humberto Castellanos from Triple-A Reno. Recalled LHP Joe Jacques from Reno. Reinstated RHP Luis Frias from the 15-day IL and optioned him to Reno. Optioned LHP Brandon Hughes to Reno.
Padres: RHP Joe Musgrove, on the IL for the second time this season, said he has a bone spur in his pitching elbow and had a platelet-rich plasma and cortisone injection. He hopes the injection and rest will allow him to resume throwing in about two weeks.
UP NEXT
Diamondbacks RHP Brandon Pfaadt (2-4, 4.32 ERA) and Padres RHP Michael King (4-4, 3.82) are scheduled to start Friday night.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb