Slam Diego in South Beach, Cronenworth, Kim, Padres bash Marlins 10-3
Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
LoanDepot Park- Miami, Florida
The Padres had been floundering on offense in Miami. The Marlins pitchers were feasting on lackluster at bats and halfhearted swings from Padres hitters. At one point, the Padres endured 15 scoreless innings between the first two games of the series.
On Wednesday, the Padres clearly had enough of that nonsense.
Padres hitters were unfazed by a laborious, short outing by starter Mike Clevinger. He was yanked in the middle of the fifth inning with one out, after allowing six hits, three earned runs, four walks while striking out just one.
The bats awoke and the bullpen nailed it down and the Padres routed the Marlins 10-3.
The game started with a bang, as the Padres loaded the bases ahead of Jake Cronenworth. Josh Bell worked a key walk ahead of Cronenworth with two outs. The All-Star second baseman then sent a ball over the right-center wall for a grand slam, San Diego’s third of the season. More importantly, it gave the Padres an early 4-0 lead before Clevinger even took the mound.
They weren’t done, as Trent Grisham worked a walk ahead of Ha-Seong Kim, who doubled home a fifth run in the inning.
GRAND SLAM DIEGO 💥🙌
Jake Cronenworth is not messing around today.
(via @BallySportsSD) pic.twitter.com/7WWM0NSzOw
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) August 17, 2022
Clevinger took the mound for the first time in the game already up 5-0. However, the Marlins battled back with two consecutive doubles, with Jon Berti doubling home Joey Wendle. He was able to work out of further damage in the inning with Miami threatening for more.
Miami starter Pablo Lopez has been stellar for most of the season and settled in after a rocky first inning. He tossed three scoreless innings and Miami got another run back in the bottom of the fourth, cutting San Diego’s lead to 5-2.
The Padres got to him again in the fifth and chased him from the game. Juan Soto did what he does better than anyone else in the league, and that’s work a walk. Manny Machado laced his 30th double of the season, putting Soto at third. Brandon Drury was able to drive in Soto with an RBI groundout, padding the Friars’ lead.
Miami refused to go quietly, getting a run in the fifth before Clevinger left the game, with two more doubles. The Marlins had four doubles in the game.
The bullpens took over from there and at least for a few innings, neither one blinked with the score 6-3. The Padres notched another run in the top of the eighth, as Kim scored on a wild pitch.
They opened it up in the top of the ninth. Drury led off with a single before Josh Bell broke his brutal 0-for-26 stretch with a double. Grisham got the intentional pass ahead of a hot Kim, who lined a double to left, scoring all three runners and opening it up to 10-3.
Both Kim and Cronenworth drove in four runs for San Diego. Machado also notched his eighth straight multi-hit game, becoming just the third Padre to do that in the last 34 years.
Quality outing today for Ha-Seong Kim today 👏#TimetoShine | @Padres pic.twitter.com/GNfEtBM2zy
— Bally Sports San Diego (@BallySportsSD) August 17, 2022
“They (Marlins) have a really good pitching staff. We couldn’t get anything going the first two games,” Cronenworth said after the game. “But tonight it felt like we executed that plan. We had some opportunities and we capitalized on it.”
Nick Martinez and Steven Wilson put a bow on the game out of the Padres bullpen with a perfect inning and two strikeouts a piece.
Overall, the Padres salvaged a game of the series and avoided what would have been a devastating sweep at the hands of the Marlins. They fly home ahead of a four-game weekend set against Soto and Bell’s old squad, the Washington Nationals.
Native of Escondido, CA. Lived in San Diego area for 20 years. Padres fan since childhood (mid-90s). I have been writing since 2014. I currently live near Seattle, WA and am married to a Seattle sports girl. I wore #19 on my high school baseball team for Tony Gwynn. I am a stats and sports history nerd. I attended BYU on the Idaho campus. I also love Star Wars.