Eric Hosmer and Nelson Velazquez hit back-to-back home runs, and five pitchers held visiting San Diego to six hits as the Chicago Cubs defeated the Padres 5-2 in the rubber match of a three-game series on Thursday.
Padres starter Seth Lugo had a 1-0 lead and retired the first two Cubs in the second inning when Hosmer lined a full-count fastball 414 feet to center for his second homer of the season. Velazquez then hit the second pitch he saw from Lugo 404 feet into the seats in left center.
It was the second homer for both Hosmer and Velazquez.
The Cubs scored a third run in the inning.
After Lugo hit Nick Madrigal with a pitch, Tucker Barnhart hit a high fly to center that landed just in front of Trent Grisham when the Padres’ center fielder lost the ball in the sun for a single.
The Padres had taken a 1-0 lead when Manny Machado hit his second homer of the season off Cubs starter Hayden Wesneski in the top of the second.
Wesneski (2-1) held the Padres to that run on four hits and a walk with three strikeouts over five innings to earn the win, lowering his ERA by almost a full run to 5.24. Brad Boxberger, who turned a comebacker into a double play, got his second save.
Lugo (2-2) gave up four runs on seven hits with three strikeouts in five innings to get charged with the loss.
The Cubs extended their lead to 5-1 with single runs in the fifth and seventh. Three straight singles by Nico Hoerner, Dansby Swanson and Ian Happ off Brent Honeywell made it 4-1 in the fifth. Swanson hit his first homer of the season off Tim Hill for the Cubs’ final run.
The Padres scored their second run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by Matt Carpenter.
–Field Level Media
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