SAN DIEGO (AP) — Joe Musgrove effectively displayed his heavy dose of breaking pitches, tossing six strong innings and striking out eight to lead the San Diego Padres over the Miami Marlins 8-3 Monday night.
Coming into the game, Musgrove (8-7) was the only major league pitcher with 20-plus starts this year to throw breaking balls on more than half of his deliveries. He kept the Marlins off-balance, surrendering only one run and five hits while lowering his ERA to 2.81.
“(The breaking pitch) was not as sharp as it has been in the past handful of starts. … I was still able to get it in the zone,” Musgrove said. “The slider was a lot sharper for me tonight.”
Eric Hosmer hit an early homer off Zach Thompson (2-5), then added an RBI single in a four-run eighth that broke open the game. Hosmer has hit over .400 (21 for 50) at Petco Park since the beginning of July.
“Hosmer has been spot on. He came out of the All-Star break and he is really putting it together. Great at-bats versus righties and lefties,” Padres manager Jayce Tingler said. “Big at-bats tonight from Hosmer.”
Miami outfielder Lewis Brinson, who spoke before the game about an incident with racial overtones Sunday as the Marlins played at Coors Field in Denver, had two hits and scored twice.
Brinson hit a two-run homer high off the warehouse building in left field against Emilio Pagan in the eighth that narrowed San Diego’s lead to 4-3.
The Padres scored twice in the fourth on a single by Victor Caratini that drove in Hosmer and a sacrifice fly by Musgrove.
Trent Grisham hit a two-run triple in the eighth and Caratini added a sacrifice fly.
“We are playing pretty good baseball right now and we want to continue that,” Tingler said.
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