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SAN DIEGO-- Franmil Reyes homered in his third straight game, Clayton Richard pitched seven strong innings, and the Padres took advantage of a Miami miscue to win 3-2 in walk-off fashion on Wednesday night.
San Diego improved to 24-33 while Miami fell to 20-35.
Takeaways
Padres walk off in the 9th
Down 2-1 heading to the bottom of the ninth, the Padres were in need of a rally to avoid losing their third game in the last four days.
They got it.
Facing Marlins closer Brad Ziegler, Franmil Reyes led off the inning with a walk. Following a fly out to center by Raffy Lopez, Matt Szczur entered to pinch-run for the Reyes. The next batter, Freddy Galvis, doubled down the left-field line to move Szczur over to third. After an intentional walk to Manuel Margot, pinch-hitter Hunter Renfroe walked up to the plate with the bases loaded.
After taking a called strike, Renfroe hit a soft ground ball towards third baseman Miguel Rojas. With the speedy Szczur running, Rojas only had one play to first. He short-hopped the throw, however, which skirted past the first baseman and brought the winning run home; sending the crowd of 15,733 home happy.
"Contact was good there. Not the way you envision winning a game, but we got the job done," manager Andy Green said after the game.
It was the Padres' second walk-off win of the season.
Richard good, Urena just a bit better
Clayton Richard entered Wednesday night's start with a 2.81 ERA and 18 strikeouts in his two prior starts at Petco Park. He also entered the start looking for his 55th win as a Padre, which would tie him with Bruce Hurst for the second-most wins by lefty in franchise history.
Although the 34-year-old was unable to get that 55th win, he pitched very well on the evening. Facing a team in which he has had plenty of success against in the past, Richard threw seven innings of four-hit, two-run ball. He walked one and struck out five.
The only blip on the southpaw's radar came in the top of the fourth. With one out, J.T. Realmuto singled. The next batter, Starlin Castro, followed Realmuto with a 423-foot blast into the bullpen in left-center field to give the Fish a 2-0 lead.
Richard induced 14 ground ball outs on the night and nine whiffs on his 99 pitches.
It was a strong start for Richard. However, his counterpart was just a bit better.
That would be Marlins right-hander Jose Urena, who was sporting an 0-7 record with a 4.69 ERA coming into play. As a matter of fact, Miami was 0-11 in his starts, with Urena earning only 2.84 runs of support per start.
Urena threw six solid innings, allowing three hits and a single run. The 26-year-old had Padres hitters off balance all night, striking out six. The only run that San Diego could muster off the right-hander came in the fourth on a Franmil Reyes home run.
With the walk-off loss, the Marlins still have not won a game in which Urena has started in 2018. They are 0-12 in games started by the right-hander.
Franmil... again
Prior to the ninth, the lone bright spot offensively for the Padres came from slugger Franmil Reyes, who hit a home run off Marlins pitching for the third consecutive game.
Wednesday night’s home run came on a 3-2 pitch off Marlins starter Jose Urena. With the bases empty and two outs, Reyes skied a high fly ball off the right-field foul pole to cut the Marlins lead in half. The home run traveled 361 feet with an exit velocity of 105 mph and a launch angle of 40 degrees, making it the highest home run by a Padre all year.
"All he really needs to do is swing at pitches he can handle consistently," said manager Andy Green. "If he does that, he is going to have a ton of success."
With the home run, the D.R. native became the second Padres rookie to homer in three consecutive games this season. Christian Villanueva also accomplished the trifecta from April 14 to April 16.
Alex Dickerson holds the Padres rookie record for most consecutive games with a home run, circling the bases in four straight games in 2016.
Reyes also walked in a 1-for-3 effort.
Strahm dominant
After a rocky start to his season, Padres lefty Matt Strahm has seemingly found a groove.
It started on Sunday, when the former Royal fired two innings of scoreless ball, striking out two. On Wednesday, he came on in relief of starter Clayton Richard and retired all six Marlins he faced in a pair of spotless innings.
The performance earned him his first win as a Padre.
"Matt has been really good once he gets past the first batter he faces," Green said. "Tonight, he was borderline dominant for two innings of work. That is going to give life to our 'pen when you add another guy you can count on in those pivotal situations."
Another multihit game for Hos
First baseman Eric Hosmer had a 2-for-3 night with a walk. It was his 19th multi-hit game of the season, which leads the club.
