Jackson Merrill and Martín Maldonado delivered key run-scoring hits in the second inning, and the San Diego Padres made the early lead stand up to beat the Miami Marlins 2-1 on Monday night at loanDepot park.
Merrill put the Padres on the board first with an RBI single that brought home Xander Bogaerts. Moments later, Maldonado laced a double down the left field line off Marlins starter Eury Pérez (3-3), scoring Merrill all the way from first base to make it 2-0.
The Marlins cut the deficit in half in the fourth when Kyle Stowers launched a solo home run off Padres starter Randy Vásquez. Stowers, who leads Major League Baseball with 12 home runs since June 22, connected on a 1-0 changeup and sent it 400 feet to left-center for his 22nd homer of the year.
Vásquez worked 4 1/3 innings, allowing one run on seven hits. He issued one walk but did not record a strikeout before giving way to Adrian Morejon (8-4), who retired the final two batters of the fifth to strand a runner. Robert Suarez pitched a scoreless ninth for his 29th save, locking down the narrow win.
Pérez pitched five innings for Miami, striking out five while surrendering two runs on five hits. Xavier Edwards led the Marlins offensively with three hits, but Miami went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position—a key factor in the loss.
One pivotal moment came in the top of the fifth, after Edwards singled against Vásquez to put the tying run on base. Morejon entered and struck out Jesús Sánchez, then got Otto Lopez to ground out, ending the threat.
The Padres, who have now played 56 games decided by two runs or fewer this season—including seven of their last 10—improved to 3-1 on their current road trip.
The Marlins send right-hander Edward Cabrera (3-4, 3.61 ERA) to the mound for Tuesday’s game. San Diego has yet to announce a starting pitcher.
