Marlins drop a close one to Padres due to 9th-inning error
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- San Diego manager Andy Green didn't expect to win quite like this.
"I never envisioned winning with someone tripping over the guy at first base," Green said. "But it got the job done."
Pinch-hitter Hunter Renfroe's infield single in the ninth inning led to two runs when third baseman Miguel Rojas followed with a throwing error, lifting the Padres to a 3-2 victory over the Miami Marlins on Wednesday night.
With the bases loaded and one out, Renfroe hit a chopper to Rojas, who was charging. He double-clutched his throw, which was low to first baseman Justin Bour. When the ball skipped away from Bour and Renfroe sprawled on the ground, Freddy Galvis came home with the winning run.
"We were hoping (Renfroe) would get the ball in the air to stay out of the double play," Green said.
Rojas considered aiming for catcher J.T. Realmuto, then thought otherwise.
"I didn't get the grip to throw him out at home plate and as soon as I didn't get the grip I threw to first base, tried to make a good throw there so we could keep the game alive and unfortunately the ball got away," Rojas said.
Closer Brad Ziegler (0-5) coughed up a one-run lead to absorb the loss instead of his 10th save.
Matt Strahm (1-2) got the win for working the final two innings.
The Marlins lost for the 14th straight time in a start by Jose Urena, a franchise record, which included 12 from this year. The right-hander entered the game receiving 2.84 runs per game, the third-lowest average in the majors, and got more measly support Wednesday.
"Jose was good again," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. "It looked like that two might hold up."
Urena got just two runs on Starlin Castro's homer before departing after six innings following a strong performance. He surrendered a run, three hits and two walks. He struck out six in a 93-pitch effort.
Reliever Drew Steckenrider gave up a two-out double to Manuel Margot in the seventh but got pinch-hitter Jose Pirela looking on a 95-mph fastball to strand the tying run.
Clayton Richard had won two of his last three starts and was relying on his slider in inducing the Marlins into harmlessly pounding the ball into 14 groundouts. The left-hander exited after seven innings of two-run ball. He allowed four hits and a walk, with five strikeouts.
"I kept us close and the defense really played well," Richard said.
Richard wiggled out of a jam after hitting Lewis Brinson to start the fifth and allowing JT Riddle's single.
But when Urena tried to sacrifice, catcher Raffy Lopez made a fine play, pouncing on Urena's bunt and retiring Brinson at third to change the inning. With two outs, Realmuto walked to load the bases but Richard got Castro on a grounder to end the threat.
Franmil Reyes continued his hot streak with his third home run in three days, pulling the Padres to 2-1 in the fourth inning. The rookie right fielder took a high fastball the opposite way, his fourth homer in six games clanging off the right-field foul pole. Urena had sat down eight straight before Reyes' blast.
Reyes had studied Urena and how he liked to pound the inside and then go back outside. When he did it in Reyes' second at-bat, he paid the price.
"It was the pitch I was looking for and I put a good swing on it," Reyes said.
Richard retired the first 10 batters he faced. Then Realmuto singled up the middle and Castro hit his third home run of the season, a two-run, fourth-inning shot that landed 423 feet away in the Padres' bullpen over the fence in left-center.
"I was not trying to throw a fastball down the middle of the plate," Richard said. "And that's what happened."
TRAINER'S ROOM
Padres: C Austin Hedges (elbow) will resume his throwing program on Thursday.
UP NEXT
Marlins: LHP Wei-Yin Chen (1-2, 5.22) gets the nod for the final contest of the four-game series on Thursday with his second career start against the Padres. He beat San Diego in 2016, allowing four runs and seven hits over six innings.
Padres: RHP Jordan Lyles (1-1, 3.83) makes his fifth start of the season, which matches his total from the previous two years. He worked the second-longest perfect game in Padres history on May 15, blanking the Rockies for 7 1/3 innings.
