Through seven innings, the San Diego Padres had only one hit against Caleb Smith and the Miami Marlins on Wednesday night. But that hit was plenty.
Tommy Pham hit a grand slam following a two-out error by Brian Anderson in the second inning, leading the Padres to an 8-1 win over the Marlines for their 12th-win in the last 14 games. Pham’s ninth home run of the year stood up behind the pitching of Joey Lucchesi, who pitched a complete-game four hitter to improve his record to 5-2. Lucchesi walked just one, allowed only one unearned run and struck out 10.
Meanwhile, Smith kept the Padres at bay after Pham’s grand slam – until the eighth. Then the Padres broke open the game on Manny Machado’s RBI double, an ensuing RBI single from Fernando Tatis Jr. and lastly a two-run homer by Wil Myers, his sixth of the year.
Both teams committed three errors in the contest, leading to a total of five unearned runs. The Padres finished with just five hits. Anderson had two of the four hits that Miami compiled. Smith drove in the Marlins’ lone run in the fifth with a two-out single following an error by Tatis.
