Tatis homers but Marlins rally late to beat Padres 3-2

MIAMI -- — Fernando Tatís Jr. hit his NL-leading 30th homer for an early lead but the Miami Marlins rallied late and defeated the San Diego Padres 3-2 Saturday night.

Jesús Aguilar lined a go-ahead, two-run single to center with one out in the seventh inning after reliever Tim Hill (5-5) walked pinch hitter Sandy León and allowed consecutive singles to Miguel Rojas and Starling Marte. Aguilar’s single scored pinch runner Magneuris Sierra and Rojas.

“We’ve been facing a good team so we had to take advantage like we did tonight,” Aguilar said. “This game sometimes is hard. We did it tonight so we have to keep doing it.”

Braxton Garrett (1-1) pitched seven innings of two-run ball in the longest start of his career. The left-hander allowed four hits, struck out 10 and walked one.

“It gives me a lot of confidence because I know I can do what I did tonight,” Garrett said. “I just have to put it all together.”

Dylan Floro pitched a perfect eighth and Yimi García got his 15th save in 17 chances with a scoreless ninth.

García walked leadoff hitter Trent Grisham and struck out Manny Machado. Wil Myers hit a grounder to second baseman Isan Díaz, who threw to shortstop Rojas for the force. Myers reached on a fielder’s choice but the Marlins successfully challenged that Grisham interfered with Rojas’ throw with a high slide, resulting in the out at first.

“Did I tell you how much I love replay and all the stuff that goes with it?” Miami manager Don Mattingly said. The call “can go either way. Not quite sure how they interpreted that.”

Plate umpire Doug Eddings ejected the Padres’ Tommy Pham for arguing a called third strike in the eighth. Padres coach Skip Schumaker was ejected in the bottom of the eighth after a pitch to pinch hitter Joe Panik was called a ball. Ealier, Tatís and Ha-Seong Kim questioned called third strikes against them.

“It was frustrating. That's as wide as I’ve seen a zone,” San Diego manager Jayce Tingler said. “Yeah, total frustration. We have the same crew (Sunday) so we have to come out and be ready to go and finish off a good road trip.”

The first three games of the series have required ninth-inning save situations and Miami finally had its opportunity to protect a late lead.

“We were able to turn it late, which was nice,” Mattingly said.

San Diego starter Ryan Weathers hit his first major league home run, a solo shot in the third. Activated from the injured list Saturday, Weathers was limited to four scoreless innings and 73 pitches. The rookie left-hander allowed two hits, struck out four, walked three and hit a batter.

The Padres struck quickly against Garrett with Tatís’ one-out solo shot in the first. Tatís drove Garrett’s first pitch near the walkway pavilion above left-center.

Weathers gave San Diego a 2-0 lead with his shot over the center field wall. He had three singles in his previous 19 at-bats.

“I saw Marte’s number so I figured it was over his head for a double,” Weathers said. “When I saw him stop, there’s no way that went out. It was a cool feeling.”

Miami cut it to 2-1 after Rojas scored from third on San Diego third baseman Machado’s throwing error in the fifth.

HOME RUN CONNECTIONS

Tatís and Weathers can now relate a home run-linked story with their fathers, who are former major leaguers. Fernando Tatis Sr. homered against David Weathers on July 12, 2009, while the elder Tatís played for the New York Mets and Weathers was in his final major league season with the Cincinnati Reds.

MESSAGE TO THE FANS:

Marlins fans have seen it so often and with the trade deadline looming, player departures are possible. Top players have been traded since the club’s first World Series championship in 1997, usually for prospects. The moves have led to distrust from fans and contributed to some of the lowest home attendance figures in the major leagues.

“I would tell (fans), don’t have that mindset,” Marlins CEO Derek Jeter said Saturday. “We look at ways to make ourselves better. We’ve made a lot of progress. The organization is stronger than it was three-and-a-half years ago. We could be better. Ultimately, we have to win more games.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Padres: To make room for Weathers, RHP Miguel Diaz was optioned to Triple-A El Paso. .... RHP Dinelson Lamet (right forearm inflammation) faced batters during a live inning before the game. Tingler was encouraged with Lamet’s mix of fastballs and sliders. There is no immediate indication if Lamet will progress to a rehab assignment.

Marlins: Activated 3B Brian Anderson from the 60-day injured list. Anderson, who was sidelined because of left shoulder subluxation, started Saturday and went 1 for 4. C Chad Wallach was designated for assignment. ... LHP Trevor Rogers (lower back muscle spasms) was placed on the 10-day IL. The team’s All-Star representative, Rogers won seven of his first 10 decisions but is 0-3 in six starts since June 10. He was scheduled to start Sunday.

UP NEXT

RHP Yu Darvish (7-4, 3.09) will start the series finale for the Padres on Sunday while the Marlins have not announced a starter.

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