Padres Postgame (8/16): Friars fail to capitalize on opportunities, fall to Marlins

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Game two of the series between the Padres and Marlins kicked off at 3:40 p.m. on Tuesday. Bob Melvin’s squad trotted out southpaw Sean Manaea (6-6), while Don Mattingly and company turned to Edward Cabrera (3-1).

For the second day in a row, it was the Marlins who scored first, pushing a run across in the second inning on a solo shot by catcher Nick Fortes. They tacked onto their lead over the next two innings, as Jesus Aguilar doubled on a sharp ground ball past Manny Machado at third base, and Fortes homered again in the fourth.

That chased Manaea, who’s shaky trend over the last month or so continued. The 30-year-old southpaw has now allowed a home run in seven straight starts and left today’s game with a 4.83 ERA. Given his current performance and the Padres necessity for quality pitching, one could certainly question if Manaea should keep his spot in the starting rotation. This bodes especially true when the Padres have an arm like Nick Martinez currently working out of the bullpen.

San Diego’s offense was, for the second straight night, quiet until the seventh inning. Ha-Seong Kim reached base via an infield single and, with one out, Jurickson Profar flared one to right field, extending the inning. Juan Soto drew a walk, his 103rd of the season, and set up Manny Machado with the bases-loaded. After working his way into a 2-2 count, Machado ambushed a lower-quadrant slider into the left-center gap, clearing the bases and tying the game at 3-3.

Unfortunately, the Marlins wasted no time in taking the lead. Fortes, who joined Miguel Rojas and Jacob Stallings as Marlins’ players with three-hit games in this series, singled to kick things off. Peyton Burdick ripped his third double of the season to right field, scoring Fortes and giving Miami a lead.

The Padres have found themselves in a rather unfortunate trend of stranding baserunners lately, something they did again in the eighth. Wil Myers kicked things off with a double to left field, but was quickly erased after attempting to tag-up on a Trent Grisham fly ball. Kim ignited a potential two-out rally with a walk and Brandon Drury’s pinch-hit single put runners on the corners. Unfortunately, in a 3-1 count, Profar grounded out to third base, ending the inning.

Miami pushed hard for an insurance run in the ninth. The aforementioned Martinez entered the game and drilled Garrett Cooper to kick things off, giving a bad offense a free baserunner. Jon Berti, who’s one of the league’s fastest players, replaced Cooper and immediately stole second on the next pitch. At first glance, Berti was called out by second base umpire Ben May, but the Marlins challenged the ruling and it was overturned. Martinez walked Jesus Aguilar before getting Brian Anderson to ground into a clutch double play – which was an excellent turn by Kim and Jake Cronenworth. After a walk to J.J. Bleday, Martinez escaped unscathed as Fortes screamed a lineout right into Kim’s glove at shortstop.

Soto started the ninth inning by beating out an infield single and Machado followed by pushing a single to the right side, giving San Diego runners on first and second with nobody out. Josh Bell’s struggles at the plate continued, as he put together yet another uncompetitive at-bat, punching out on four pitches. Cronenworth struck out looking on an inner-half fastball, and Myers struck out as well. The Padres, who absolutely should have won this game, fell to 65-54 with the loss.

TOP PERFORMERS

+ Manny Machado: 2-for-3, 2B, 3 RBI, 2 BB

+ Ha-Seong Kim: 2-for-3, BB

+ Nabil Crismatt: 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 3 K

WHAT’S NEXT?

The Padres will try to avoid being swept by the below .500 Marlins tomorrow. Pablo Lopez (7-7) draws the start for Miami, while Mike Clevinger (4-4) opposes.