Padres Top Marlins, Even Without Star Tatis Jr.

The Marlins lost 5-2 to the Padres on Friday night, taking back-to-back losses to open the series with the Friars.

The loss drops the Marlins to 41-57 and a season low 16 games under .500.

The Padres got out in front in the first inning, thanks to a Tommy Pham home run to right-center, just the second allowed by Thompson this season. Jake Cronenworth would follow immediately after with a triple, then come across to score on an RBI groundout by Manny Machado. The Marlins were down 2-0 before they could blink.

Thompson got two quick outs in the second inning, but let up a double to Padres starting pitcher Joe Musgrove. As it usually does, giving up a hit to the pitcher came back to bite Thompson as Trent Grisham brought him around to score with an RBI single that made it 3-0.

Adam Duvall would answer in the Marlins half of the second and get his team on the board with his 22nd home run of the year. Duvall tied his teammate Jesús Aguilar atop the NL RBI leaderboard with his 68th of the season.

Aguilar would retake the lead in the third inning as he drove in Isan Díaz for his 69th of the year with a nice RBI double. Díaz walked to lead off the inning, advanced on a Marte single, then came around to score to cut the deficit to 3-2. Duvall said as of now there is no friendly competition between him and Aguilar as they go back-and-forth atop the RBI leaderboard.

“We talk about just driving guys in all the time,” Duvall said. “That’s what me and him are supposed to do in this lineup...hopefully we keep driving them in.”

Thompson would settle in nicely after a rough first couple innings, retiring 10 of the final 12 he faced. He allowed three runs on six hits and one walk, while striking out three in five innings of work. Manager Don Mattingly said he was impressed by his pitching staff’s ability to keep them in ballgames even without their best stuff.

“It’s been a pretty resilient group,” Mattingly said. “Seeing a number of guys giving us innings and keeping the game in check.”

Thompson got sick before the All-Star break and lost about 10 pounds. He said he is still down about eight pounds and it affected him mechanically tonight, causing him to struggle early.

“My curveball was popping out of my hands, fastball wasn’t where I want it to be, cutter was all over the place,” Thompson said.

Thompson had a very easy solution to try and get back the weight he lost.

“Eat,” Thompson said. “Eat as much as I can.”

The entire game would screech to a halt after the third, as just four of the next 25 combined hitters reached base. Consecutive runners would not reach until there were two outs in the seventh when Lewis Brinson doubled and Miguel Rojas walked. However, Isan Díaz would strike out to end the threat and keep the deficit at 3-2.

The Padres would add on in the eighth after Ross Detwiler got himself into trouble once again by hitting Cronenworth and allowing a double to Manny Machado. Zach Pop would get the ball with one out and got Wil Myers to ground to Aguilar at first with the infield in. Aguilar threw home and the throw beat the runner, but the ball got away from Sandy León who missed the tag and allowed two runs to score. The Padres would shut the door the rest of the way home.

The Padres star shortstop, Fernando Tatis Jr., was not in the starting lineup on Friday, but did make a pinch-hit appearance in the ninth. He put a charge into one, but it landed just shy of the warning track. He received a loud ovation as he stepped into the on-deck circle, and as he walked to the plate.

The Marlins will look to get their first win in the series on Saturday at 6:10 PM.

Baseball Savant

Fish Picks Answer Key

1. Joe Musgrove
2. Under
3. Under
4. No
5. Padres