, who was charged with four runs. After a pair of walks loaded the bases, Justin Miller hit Manny Machado with a pitch on the left elbow.Manuel Margot followed with a two-run single, and Hunter Renfroe hit a sacrifice fly. A second run scored when center fielder Victor Robles' throw bounced off the glove of catcher Yan Gomes and bounced toward the Padres dugout on the third-base side. Gomes made a sliding grab in an attempt to keep the ball on the field, and crew chief Joe West originally sent Margot back to third, but after a five-minute video review Margot was allowed to scoreLuis Perdomo (1-0) struck out the side in the ninth in his second appearance this season. Howie Kendrick homered off Robbie Erlin in the 10th.San Diego ensured it would win a series against the Nationals for the first time since 2016. The Padres will try Sunday for their first sweep at Washington since 2008.Stephen Strasburg struck out nine in seven innings, including the side in order in the sixth. He allowed four hits, including Renfroe's go-ahead, two-run homer in the second. Renfroe's second homer of the series was his sixth this season.Juan Soto hit a two-run homer into the second deck in right in the sixth, his fifth homer this year.San Diego starter Eric Lauer gave up two hits in 5 2/3 innings.TRAINER'S ROOMNationals: 3B Anthony Rendon was out of the lineup. He went 0 for 3 with a strikeout on Friday after missing the four games with a bruised left elbow, sustained when he was hit by a pitch. Manager Dave Martinez said that Rendon was a little sore and that his absence had nothing to do with being hit by a pitch on his left leg in his first at bat Friday.UP NEXTLHP Joey Lucchesi (3-2), who starts Sunday for San Diego, gave up one run in five innings last May 9 in his only previous start against Washington. Nationals RHP Jeremy Hellickson (2-0, 4.34) is 3-4 with a 5.40 ERA in 10 career starts against San Diego.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Padres' lefties pose challenge for Nationals Washington manager Dave Martinez has looked for ways to get left-handed hitting first baseman Matt Adams into the starting lineup.It may not be so easy this weekend, as Eric Lauer will be the second of three lefty pitchers the San Diego Padres plan to throw in the three-game series.Adams is hitting .289 with two homers, while right-handed hitting first baseman Ryan Zimmerman of the Nationals is batting .214 with three homers.Lauer (2-3, 4.67) will start Saturday afternoon against Stephen Strasburg (2-1, 4.11), who will make his 10th career start against his hometown Padres.On Opening Day, Lauer, who won't turn 24 until June 3, threw six shutout innings against the San Francisco Giants. He became the youngest pitcher to throw at least six shutout innings on Opening Day since Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2011.Friday's game, a 4-3 win for the Padres, saw a pair of top prospects play in their first big-league games and get their first hits.Infielder Ty France had a pinch-hit single in the eighth inning, in his first major league plate appearance, as the Padres took a 3-2 lead.What will he do with the baseball? "It's going back home to home to mom and dad," said France, who is from California and played at San Diego State.Then in the bottom of the eighth, Washington shortstop Carter Kieboom, in his third at-bat in the majors, hit a solo homer off former Nationals right-hander Craig Stammen to tie the game.It was a night of milestones as Washington starter Max Scherzer recorded the 2,500th strikeout of his career."It's really cool," said Scherzer, who added he will think more about it after the season.The Padres improved to 7-2 in one-run games while the Nationals are 3-5.The Nationals, who have had baserunning issues at times, will have to deal with a sneaky lefty on Saturday.Last year Lauer led the majors with 10 pickoffs and became the 20th rookie in franchise history to record at least 20 starts.In the other dugout, Strasburg was impressive in his last outing, as he won 5-0 on Sunday at Miami while recording 10 strikeouts."I have a lot of trust in my curveball," Strasburg told reporters when asked about leaning on the pitch. "So I think it's -- I get myself in trouble when I don't throw it enough, and it really kind of sets up my other pitches, and it keeps them from ambushing as much off my fastball early in the count." Strasburg's last start against the Padres at Nationals Park came on May 27, 2017. He threw seven shutout innings and fanned a career-high 15 batters.Strasburg is 7-2 with a 3.05 ERA in nine career starts against the Padres. Lauer is 0-0, 1.50 in one start in his career against Washington.Matt Strahm, another San Diego lefty, went six innings Friday and allowed just two runs while fanning a career-high eight batters.--Field Level Media
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