The San Diego Padres needed a good start from German Marquez and he provided exactly that with five shutout innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates to open the three-game series at PNC Park on Monday. The former Colorado Rockies ace allowed six hits and just one walk with five strikeouts. Marquez, who struggled in his first start for San Diego against the San Francisco Giants, quieted a Pittsburgh offense that came into the contest on a five-game win streak.
The Padres offense needed a few innings to catch up to Pirates pitcher Bubba Chandler who was routinely throwing fastballs in triple digits. San Diego scored the first run of the game in the top of the fourth inning when Nick Castellanos doubled to left to score Manny Machado to put the Padres ahead. 1-0.
San Diego tacked on two runs in the top of the fifth inning. Jackson Merrill hit a ground-rule double to left-center to score Ramon Laureano and Fernando Tatis Jr. moved to third on the play. Chandler was removed from the game and replaced by Yohan Ramirez. Manny Machado welcomed Ramirez with an RBI-groundout that put the Padres ahead, 3-0.
San Diego added the fourth run of the game in the top of the sixth inning to take a 4-0 lead before Ron Marrinaccio took over for Marquez in the bottom of the sixth inning. He worked two scoreless frames allowing one hit, one walk and recorded a strikeout.
The Padres completed the scoring in the game in the top of the eighth inning when Freddy Fermin hit a one-out single. He scored from first base when Laureano connected on a two-double to put San Diego ahead, 5-0.
David Morgan came in for the final two innings of the game and was not perfect, allowing three walks, but he limited the damage and the defense did enough to keep the shutout intact.
The Padres will try to push their three-game win streak to four against the Pirates and their ace Paul Skenes on Tuesday at 3:40 p.m.
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