Seth Lugo and four relievers combined on 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 struck out one in a perfect 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