SAN DIEGO (AP) -- It was certainly not the homecoming that Alex Sanabia had envisioned.
The 24-year-old right-hander, who grew up in the San Deigo area of Chula Vista, was injured in the Padres' 5-1 victory over the Miami Marlins on Tuesday night.
San Diego's Eric Stults allowed one run into the seventh inning and Will Venable hit a two-run homer off Sanabia and drove in three runs, leading the resurgent San Diego Padres to victory.
The Padres touched up Sanabia (2-5) for nine hits and four runs before Sanabia left the game with one out in the fifth with right groin tightness.
"It's a little pull, nothing serious, just minor," said Sanabia, who will be reevaluated Wednesday.
Everth Cabrera drove home Alexi Amarista, who had doubled, with the third run of the second inning.
"I got my pitches up in the zone and what not," Sanabia said. "It happens when you're battling and if you leave it up here it gets hit."
Stults (3-2), on the other hand, gave up seven hits walked two and struck out four in 6 1-3 innings as the Padres won for the 10th time in 13 games. San Diego, which began the season 5-15 and has won eight of its last nine at Petco Park, improved to 15-18.
The Marlins have lost five of seven and have the second worst record in baseball at 10-24.
In the second, Venable hit a fly that confused right fielder Marcell Ozuna. Venable reacted to Ozuna and hesitated out of the box. As he began jogging down the first base line, Ozuna threw up his hands and shook his head looking for the ball that landed seven rows up in the right field porch.
"It felt really good," Venable said of his swing. "I knew that I had hit it high, but I felt like I hit it pretty good. Then obviously I didn't know he had lost the ball, I thought that was the play on it. Obviously disappointed that I didn't hit it better at that point. Then Doc (first base coach Dave Roberts) was saying `He can't see it, he can't see it' I start running and Jedd (Gyorko, who had singled to start the inning) took off and I saw it was in the seats."
While Sanabia said he was hopeful of making his next start, Marlins second baseman Chris Valaika appears headed for the DL.
Valaika injured his arm on Yonder Alonso's stolen base in the eighth. Alonso slid into Valaika as he was trying to catch the throw from catcher Miguel Olivo.
"Alonso was stealing second and I was just trying to get to the base," said Valaika. "I just got my hand in there and it got kind of bent back, a little hyperextend. I knew right away something didn't feel right."
Alonso scored the final run a grounder by Venable.
The Marlins scored in the fourth on a leadoff double by Matt Diaz and a two out single by Ozuna.
Dale Thayer, Luke Gregerson and Anthony Bass pitched scoreless ball in relief of Stults
NOTES: Headley, who extended his hitting streak to 12 games, was caught stealing in the fifth inning to snap the Padres' streak of consecutive stolen bases at 19. ... Padres OF Carlos Quentin was not in the starting lineup, but Black said he would start Wednesday afternoon. "You have to use your entire roster," said Padres manager Bud Black. "You have to manage six months. We thought tonight was a good time to get Will and Alexi in the lineup and use Carlos off the bench." ... Marlins OF Juan Pierre, who came into Tuesday night's game tied for the major league lead in stolen bases (12) with a 9-for-9 run in his last 15 games, was not in the starting lineup. "It think he (Pierre) got wore down a bit early in the season when (Giancarlo) Stanton went out he had to play quite a few days in a row and we couldn't give him a day off, but over the last week to 10 days I've got him a couple days off and I think it's helped him," said Marlins manager Mike Redmond. ... Marlins starting catcher Rob Brantly was also given the night off as backup catcher Miguel Olivo got to play against his former teammates. Brantly has a tender finger on his throwing hand and Redmond suggested that he would give Brantly another day off Wednesday and there was a scheduled day off on Thursday. ... Nick Green, who was designated for assignment on May 2nd, was back with the Marlins Tuesday night as a backup infielder. He replaced INF Donovan Solano, who was placed on 15-day DL with a strained left intercostal. Green made an appearance as a pinch hitter in the seventh.
