Padres complete sweep of Marlins

Jake Cronenworth extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a two-run home run in the bottom of the second inning and he added a second two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to lead the San Diego Padres to a 7-3 win, and season sweep, over the Miami Marlins at Petco Park on Sunday.

Cronenworth, who got the start at third base to allow Manny Machado to have a DH day, held his own at the hot corner, but it was his offensive performance that stood out. Cronenworth put the Padres on the board with a two-run home run that gave them a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. He later added an RBI-double in the bottom of the fourth inning to make the score 3-0, and added a second two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning that put the game out of reach, giving San Diego a four-run lead.

The offensive outburst by Croneworth was in support of Padres starting pitcher Walker Buehler, who had one of his best starts of the season. His final line is a bit misleading thanks to a three-run home run by Javier Sanoja that pulled Miami within a run with the score 4-3. Buehler had been cruising through his outing and was trying to complete seven innings, but he was pulled after the home run. He finished with a final line of three runs allowed over 6.2 innings. Buehler allowed three hits with two walks and six strikeouts.

The Padres’ offense allowed Buehler to work with a lead throughout the game and even after he allowed the home run to Sanoja in the top of the seventh, Fernando Tatis Jr. offered an immediate response in the bottom of the inning. The superstar connected on a one-out solo home run, giving him 25 homers on the season, that pushed the San Diego lead to 5-3 before Cronenworth added on in the bottom of the eighth inning.

The hot hitting that seemed to take off when the Padres went to Colorado continued in the series finale with the Marlins. San Diego banged out 10 more hits to give them 33 hits throughout the three-game series with Miami. The output at Petco Park over the weekend followed the four-game series against the Rockies where the Padres totaled 52 hits.

With the win, the magic number for San Diego to clinch a playoff berth is two. Any combination of Padres wins and Arizona Diamondbacks losses that equal two will put the Friars in the playoffs. That could come as early as their next game if the Padres win and the Diamondbacks lose. San Diego remains tied with the Chicago Cubs for the top Wild Card spot and one game ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies. The Cubs hold the tiebreaker of over the Padres thanks to their head-to-head record this season.

San Diego has the day off today, but travels to Los Angeles for a three-game series against the Dodgers, which begins Tuesday at 7:10 p.m.

Padres News:

• Padres manager Craig Stammen confirmed the team is lining Michael King up to pitch the final day of the season if it comes down to a win-or-go-home game against the Diamondbacks.

• El Paso wrapped up the regular season with a 2-1 loss.

Baseball News:

• The Atlanta Braves completed a sweep of the Houston Astros and clinched the NL East Division.

• The Boston Red Sox clinched a postseason berth with a win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

• Pete Crow-Armstrong almost hit for the cycle and led the Chicago Cubs to a win over the Cincinnati Reds.

• Nolan Arenado hit a grand slam to lift the Arizona Diamondbacks over the New York Yankees.

• Gavin Williams pitched the Cleveland Guardians past the Athletics with a 1-0 win.

• The Toronto Blue Jays used a four-run seventh inning to beat the Texas Rangers.

• The Philadelphia Phillies topped the New York Mets, 7-2.