Luis Arraez turned in a 3-for-4 night at the plate, which included an RBI-single in the bottom of the third inning that proved to be the game-winning run as the San Diego Padres opened their four-game series against the Colorado Rockies with a 2-0 win at Petco Park, Thursday.
Arraez came to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the third inning. Freddy Fermin, who reached on a one-out single and advanced to second base on a wild pitch, came in to score on the Arraez single and gave the Padres a 1-0
lead. He added two additional singles in the bottom of the fifth and the bottom of the eighth inning. Arraez accounted for half of San Diego’s six hits.
The RBI-single in the bottom of the third inning was all Padres starter Randy Vasquez would need. He delivered a dominant outing with six shutout innings, allowing four hits and no walks while striking out nine batters.
Vasquez did not need additional runs, but San Diego added to its total in the bottom of the fourth inning when Jackson Merrill hit an opposite field solo home run to left field that put the Padres ahead, 2-0.
Jeremiah Estrada came in to pitch in the top of the seventh inning and did not allow a hit, while striking out two batters. Mason Miller handled the top of the eighth inning and he too did not allow a hit and recorded two strikeouts. Robert Suarez handled the top of the ninth inning and worked efficiently retiring all three batters he faced, which included a strikeout en route to the save.
Arraez and Merrill recorded four of the six hits for San Diego and Ryan O’Hearn and Fermin added the other two hits.
The Padres play the Rockies, Friday at 6:40 p.m.
