Clutch hits back Perdomo's CG as Padres beat Marlins

MIAMI -- Double plays, as they say, are a pitcher's best friend. Luis Perdomo racked them up in record-setting fashion on Sunday, inducing six of them, in the Padres' 3-1 win over Miami at Marlins Park.
Perdomo, who logged his first career complete game, repeatedly got into trouble, only to work out of it, courtesy of double plays. The Marlins hit into a franchise-record six double plays, five grounded into, and one on a line-drive comebacker. The five grounded into double plays also matches a franchise record done five times in the Marlins' history, with the most recent being July 1, 2015, against the Giants.
"Don't care for the walks to the leadoff batter, but after that, he was pretty much mistake-free from him," Padres manager Andy Green said. "He was outstanding. He's always going to get double-play balls, and that's why holding runners was paramount for his growth. Until he learned that step, he was never going to pitch that deep into a baseball game because he was never going to get the double-play ball."

For the Padres, their previous high was five, but the record was set in the eighth inning when Jeff Francoeur bounced into a 5-4-3 DP. San Diego took two of three in the series, and Miami capped a 2-4 homestand.
"He commanded his sinker well and got us to ground out," said Miami's Dee Strange-Gordon, who bounced into a DP in the third inning. "Hats off to him. He pitched a good game, mixed well and kept us off-balance."
Ryan Schimpf has done damage all series for the Padres. He knocked the game-winning home run in Saturday's 1-0 win, and on Sunday, the 27-year-old rookie collected two hits, including his RBI triple, and a hit by a pitch. Schimpf entered the game batting .120 (3-for-25) against left-handed pitchers, but he made an impact against Miami lefty Justin Nicolino.
"He's a guy that just has a consistent approach every time he comes to the plate," Green said.

The Marlins took a 1-0 lead in the second on Xavier Scruggs' RBI double, but the Padres responded with two in the fourth. Schimpf produced a run-scoring triple, and with two outs, Luis Sardiñas delivered an RBI double.
San Diego padded its lead to 3-1 in the sixth inning on Adam Rosales' two-out RBI single.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Double time: Perdomo was able to get out of trouble in the fifth inning when the Padres turned their third of a club-record six double plays in the game. Protecting a 2-1 lead, Perdomo put the first two Marlins on base before coaxing Miguel Rojas to roll into the 6-4-3 double play. Nicolino grounded out to Perdomo to end the threat. The Padres turned double plays in each of the first, third, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth innings to set the club record for a nine-inning game and equaled the mark set on Aug. 25, 1979, in a 19-inning game against Pittsburgh.
Perdomo needed just 99 pitches (65 strikes) to complete the gem.
"It was a big help," Perdomo said. "Every time I got a runner on base, that allowed me to get out of the inning quickly." More >

Spot start not too spotty: Nicolino was called up from Triple-A New Orleans to make a spot start in place of Andrew Cashner, who was scratched due to a blister. Pitching in the big leagues for the first time since July 6 at the Mets, Nicolino had a solid outing, giving up three runs in six innings. A couple of little things got him in trouble, like allowing Rosales to steal second with two outs in the fourth inning, which put him in scoring position for Sardinas' RBI hit. In the sixth inning, a wild pitch with two outs advanced Schimpf into scoring position, and he raced home on Rosales' RBI single.
"Just a couple of two-out pitches that you'd like to have back," Nicolino said. "They put the ball in play with two outs, and those runs cost us right there."
Just like stealing: With the game tied in the fourth inning, Rosales, who reached on a fielder's choice, took off for second on lefty Nicolino. Rosales slid in safely with his fourth stolen base of the season. It was significant because Sardinas followed with a double, scoring Rosales as the go-ahead run to make it a 2-1 ballgame.
"To have that speed element to get to second there to steal a base off Nicolino, that's good to see," Green said. "We've played some clean baseball the last couple of days."

Scruggs snaps scoreless drought: Blanked 1-0 on Saturday night, the Marlins' offense has been looking for any kind of spark. Scruggs came through with two outs in the second with an RBI double to left-center. Miami had gone 10 consecutive innings without scoring before the extra-base hit, which brought home J.T. Realmuto after he ripped a one-out double.
The Marlins didn't have a runner reach as far as second base after the fifth inning.
"We know their guy is a sinkerball guy, and a guy you've got to force up in the strike zone," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. "Obviously, frustrating. We're getting guys out there, and we're just not able to do anything with it." More >
QUOTABLE
"I think we've been fairly fortunate that teams around us in this Wild Card race are letting us kind of stay in it." -- Mattingly
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
The Marlins are the first team to hit into six double plays in a nine-inning game since the Rays at the D-backs on Aug. 7, 2013.
REPLAY REVIEW
The Padres won a challenge in the seventh inning when Miami's Marcell Ozuna was called safe on a tag play at first base. Sardinas' throw from short took Yangervis Solarte off the base, but Ozuna did not touch first. Solarte eventually put the tag on Ozuna as he returned to the base. After a review of 2 minutes and 30 seconds, the call was overturned.

WHAT'S NEXT
Padres: After an off-day on Monday, the Padres open a three-game series in Atlanta starting at 4:10 p.m. PT on Tuesday. That's when Edwin Jackson (3-4, 5.71 ERA) takes the mound for the Padres. Jackson was tagged with the loss in his last outing against the Cubs, yielding seven hits and five runs over five innings.
Marlins: Miami opens a four-game series beginning at 7:10 p.m. ET on Monday against the Mets at Citi Field. José Fernández (13-7, 2.91 ERA) gets the start for the Marlins, with New York giving the nod to Rafael Montero (0-0, 11.57 ERA). Fernandez is 2-0 with a 1.42 ERA in three starts against the Mets this year.
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