Early home runs, lack of offense doom Miami Marlins in series opener against Padres

Two swings made the difference.

San Diego Padres right fielder Franmil Reyes took advantage of a Caleb Smith slider low in the strike zone in the first inning. Left fielder Hunter Renfroe did the same with a change-up in the fourth. Both balls found their way into the outfield seats.

On a night where Smith was more or less dominant otherwise, those two solo home runs and a rough night by the Miami Marlins bullpen led the Padres to a 5-2 win over the Marlins at Petco Park on Friday night to win the first of a three-game series.

“Gotta stop giving up the long ball,” said Smith, who has given up at least one home run in each of his last seven starts and nine total in that span.

Rosell Herrera recorded a pinch-hit home run for the Marlins (19-36) in the sixth inning to cut the deficit in half, but San Diego (30-27) held Miami to just four hits on the night.

Smith, who has now lost three of his last four starts, lasted just five innings after throwing 93 pitches. Smith faced 20 batters. All but three of those plate appearances lasted at least five pitches.

“I would get them 0-2, 1-2 and couldn’t put them away,” Smith said. “I thought my fastball command could have been better. ... That hurt.”

Despite that, Smith only gave up three hits and two walks while striking out eight. The only hit he allowed other than the home runs was a Reyes bloop double to shallow right field in the third that fell between Harold Ramirez, Garrett Cooper and Starlin Castro on a miscommunication.

“I thought he threw the ball really well,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “He gives up the two solos ... but I think we saw the finish that we talked about before, more swing and miss, which is kind of his signature. Definitely a lot better from Caleb.”

The bullpen gave up three more runs following Smith’s exit.

Ian Kinsler hit a solo home run and Wil Myers scored Manuel Margot with an RBI single in the seventh off Marlins reliever Austin Brice for a pair of insurance runs. Eric Hosmer scored the final run on a fielding error by Martin Prado following a Ty France infield single in the eighth.

Padres starter Joey Lucchesi went 6 1/3 innings for the win, giving up just the Herrera home run and a Miguel Rojas third-inning double that was inches away from clearing the center-field fence while striking out five.

The Marlins put together a last-ditch effort in the ninth. Garrett Cooper and Brian Anderson led off the frame with back-to-back singles and each advanced 90 feet on a fielding error on Anderson’s single. A Starlin Castro RBI groudnout to second base brought Cooper home to scratch across a second run, but a Harold Ramirez strikeout and Prado flyout ended the game.

Alfaro hurt

Catcher Jorge Alfaro left the game after the seventh inning with jaw discomfort after a foul ball ricocheted off his mask.

Mattingly said postgame that he did not believe the injury was serious.

“Obviously, I don’t know how sore it’s going to be tomorrow,” Mattingly said, “but it’s not like they were talking about the concussion protocol. I think that was good news. The doctor was just in there and they didn’t see any signs of that.”

The Marlins were already down to just two healthy catchers on the 40-man roster, with Chad Wallach placed on the 10-day Injured List with a concussion. As of Friday, Wallach was still in the concussion protocol.

Alfaro is hitting .273 on the year with a team-best eight home runs.

This story was originally published June 1, 2019 at 1:11 AM.