Sandy Alcantara pitched seven scoreless innings and JJ Bleday slugged a solo home run to lead the host Miami Marlins to a 3-0 win over the San Diego Padres on Monday night.
Padres star Manny Machado, a Miami native, went 2-for-4, but the rest of the Padres combined for just three hits. Teammate Juan Soto went 0-for-3 with a walk.
Alcantara (11-5) allowed just four hits — all singles — and two walks, striking out seven batters as the Marlins snapped a four-game skid.
The favorite to win the National League’s Cy Young Award, Alcantara lowered his ERA from 2.01 to 1.92. The Marlins improved to 15-9 when using Alcantara, who has made 18 quality starts.
Marlins reliever Steven Okert pitched a perfect eighth inning and Tanner Scott earned his 17th save of the year with a scoreless ninth.
Bleday, the fourth overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft, hit his third homer since making his major league debut on July 23. It was his first homer in Miami.
The Marlins also got three hits apiece from Miguel Rojas and Jacob Stallings.
Joe Musgrove (8-6) took the loss, allowing eight hits and three runs in six innings. He has lost six straight decisions.
Miami opened the scoring with two runs in the second inning. Bleday opened the rally by pulling a solo homer to right field, belting a 1-2 curve. The rally continued with singles by Rojas and Stallings, and Lewin Diaz’s sacrifice fly brought home Rojas.
The Marlins threatened again in the fourth, loading the bases with two outs. But Musgrove struck out Luke Williams looking at a 2-2 slider.
Miami made it 3-0 in the sixth as Rojas tripled and Stallings singled up the middle past a drawn-in infield. On the triple, Padres left fielder Jurickson Profar could’ve held it to a double, but he held onto the ball for eight steps before throwing late to third.
Scott, who blew a save chance on Sunday against the Atlanta Braves, allowed a walk and a single to San Diego before Ha-Seong Kim lined out to end the game. Kim’s at-bat took 12 pitches, including six straight foul balls with a 3-2 count.
–Field Level Media
