Marlins at Padres
One day after the San Diego Padres pulled out a late victory to extend their opponent's woes, they vie for the series win when they host the Miami Marlins on Thursday for the finale of their four-game set. The Padres scored twice with one out in the ninth inning on Wednesday to post a 3-2 victory and hand Miami its fifth loss in six contests.
Pinch-hitter Hunter Renfroe plated the tying run with an infield single and Freddy Galvis scored on Marlins third baseman Miguel Rojas' throwing error, giving San Diego back-to-back wins after losing the set opener. Eric Hosmer recorded two of the Padres' six hits on Wednesday, making him 6-for-11 in the series. Starlin Castro accounted for both of Miami's runs with a homer in the fourth inning, giving him three RBIs in his last two games. The Marlins managed only three other hits in the loss - all singles - and finished 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position.
TV: 9:10 p.m. ET, FS Florida (Miami), FS San Diego
PITCHING MATCHUP: Marlins LH Wei-Yin Chen (1-2, 5.22 ERA) vs. Padres RH Jordan Lyles (1-1, 3.83)
Chen is coming off a strong outing against Washington on Saturday in which he settled for a no-decision despite allowing just one run and three hits over a season-high 7 1/3 innings. The 32-year-old native of Taiwan has yielded three runs over 17 frames in three turns after being tagged for nine in three innings of a road loss to the Chicago Cubs on May 9. Chen won his only career start against the Padres on June 13, 2016 even though he surrendered four runs in six innings at San Diego.
Lyles has struggled since registering 10 strikeouts while allowing just one hit in 7 1/3 scoreless innings of a victory over Colorado on May 15, yielding nine runs over 10 1/3 frames in his last two turns. The 27-year-old from South Carolina escaped with no-decisions in both outings, however, despite giving up 14 hits and six walks. Lyles owns a 1-1 record and a ghastly 7.00 ERA in three starts and two relief appearances against Miami in his career.
WALK-OFFS
1. Padres OF Franmil Reyes has homered in three straight games, putting him one away from tying the franchise rookie record set in 2016 by Alex Dickerson.
2. Miami C J.T. Realmuto is riding a seven-game hitting streak during which he has recorded three multi-hit performances and collected five RBIs.
3. San Diego C Austin Hedges (elbow) was cleared to throw and resume baseball activities Wednesday after having his rehab assignment shut down last week.