Padres rout Marlins, finish with winning trip

MIAMI — For three innings Thursday, the Padres looked a lot like they have. And then, for the next three innings, they looked a lot like they thought they would.

After their first nine batters went down without reaching base, they scored in three consecutive innings, capping that run with their biggest inning of the season, and beat the Marlins 10-1 at loanDepot park.

The victory ended a winning road trip and got the Padres to within four games of .500 as they took a flight home after 11 days on the East Coast.

Padres starting pitcher Joe Musgrove allowed a run in the third inning and his first hit in the sixth.

Marlins starter Jesus Lúzardo struck out five of the first six batters he faced. That was after six of the final seven Padres batters struck out at the end of Wednesday night's 2-1 walk-off loss in which the Marlins scored two runs in the ninth against closer Josh Hader.

In the first two months of a season that have already had a season's worth of disappointment, the awful ending and sluggish start was arguably as pathetic a sequence as there has been for the 2023 Padres.

And from that sprang a rout in which they scored a season-high seven runs in an inning.

Through the first three innings, Lúzardo had thrown 40 pitches.

In the bottom of the third, Musgrove lost the strike zone for a bit, walking the first two batters he faced. And in between the free passes to No.8 hitter Jonathan Davis and No.9 hitter Joey Wendle, Davis stole second and went to third when catcher Austin Nola bounced a throw into center field. So when Luis Arraez lofted a fly ball to left field for the first out, it scored Davis.

Musgrove would retire the next eight batters he faced.

And the Padres started hitting.

Ha-Seong Kim led off the third inning with a double that hit high off the wall in left field and scored on Fernando Tatis Jr.'s ground-rule double that hopped the wall in right-center field.

Juan Soto followed by taking a 99-mph fastball off his left forearm before Xander Bogaerts grounded out to the right side, moving both runners up. That allowed Tatis to easily score on Brandon Dixon's sacrifice fly to center field.

Gary Sánchez, who was claimed off waivers Monday and started the past two games at catcher before serving as designated hitter on Thursday, led off the fifth with his second homer in two games.

Lúzardo lasted three batters into the sixth.

Tatis led off by drawing a walk, stole second and went to third on Bogaerts’ one-out double off the wall in right field.

Matt Barnes replaced Lúzardo and four consecutive singles — by Dixon (which scored Tatis), by Jake Cronenworth (which scored Bogaerts), by Sánchez (which scored Dixon and Cronenworth, who had stole second) and by Jose Azocar. After retiring Austin Nola, Barnes walked Kim and was replaced by Bryan Hoeing. Tatis greeted Hoeing with a double down the left field line that cleared the loaded bases and made it 10-1.

After sitting, standing and trying to stay loose in the dugout for more than 30 minutes, Musgrove took the mound in the bottom of the sixth. He gave up his first hit of the game on an infield single to MLB batting average leader Arraez. A line drive single to center field by Jorge Soler followed, and an infield single by Bryan De La Cruz loaded the bases.

Musgrove quickly ended the inning by fielding a comebacker from Jesús Sanchez and throwing home to start a double play and then which began by started with a force at home

With the big lead and 80 pitches in, Musgrove was gave way to Drew Carlton, who worked the next two innings before Tom Cosgrove pitched the ninth, as mass substitutions on both sides ensued over the final three innings.

©2023 The San Diego Union-Tribune. Visit sandiegouniontribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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