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  Sunday, Aug. 13 4:05pm ET
Boone sparks Padres' five-run eighth
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

MIAMI (AP) -- After the Florida Marlins wasted a bases-loaded opportunity in the seventh inning, the San Diego Padres broke the game open in the eighth.

Bret Boone
Boone

Bret Boone broke a tie with a two-run single and John Mabry's three-run homer capped the five-run inning as the San Diego Padres beat the Florida Marlins 7-3 Sunday.

"This was a pitching series all three days on both sides, Boone said. "But we took advantage when we needed to and that's the difference between winning the game."

The Padres, who have won four straight games, completed their first sweep of the Marlins.

The biggest out came in the seventh, when Kevin Walker (6-0) relieved Brian Tollberg with the bases loaded and two outs. He struck out Mark Kotsay, preserving the 2-2 tie.

"He's hitting the ball all over the place, so I had to make a quality pitch," Walker said. "I made the pitch I had to make. He can kill you with one swing. I went with my strength."

Desi Relaford led off the eighth for San Diego with a double off reliever Armando Almanza (4-1) and went to third on Eric Owens' single.

After Mike Darr lined out to second, Ryan Klesko hit a comebacker to Almanza, but instead of trying for the double play, he fired home as Relaford was tagged out in a rundown.

"Klesko takes a big swing and does not get out of the box well," Florida manager John Boles said. "Normally that is a 1-6-3 double play, but we didn't execute in any of the three games and the Padres have been playing well."

With runners on second and third and two outs, Almanza intentionally walked Phil Nevin. Braden Looper came in and allowed Boone's two-run single. Mabry followed with his second homer of the season.

"Looper throws hard and he's got some nasty stuff," Boone said. "I'm just trying to battle him and put the ball in play. John hit the big home run and gave us the comfortable lead. It was a great series for us getting out of here with three wins."

Florida's Derek Lee hit a leadoff homer, his 27th, in the ninth off Carlos Almanzar. Trevor Hoffman came on with two runners on and got the final out for his 33rd save.

"The pitching has been unbelievable for us, but we're not getting any big hits," Lee said. "We didn't get any big hits and they did."

Tollberg, winless in nine starts after winning his first two in the majors, allowed two runs -- one earned -- and eight hits in 6 2/3 innings.

Down 2-1 in the fourth, the Marlins tied the score on consecutive singles by Kotsay, Henry Rodriguez and Preston Wilson, who leads the team with 89 RBI.

The Padres had taken the lead in the second inning on an RBI double by Mabry and a run-scoring single by Tollberg off Reid Cornelius. It was Tollberg's first career RBI and only his second hit in 18 at-bats.

Cornelius settled down after the second by striking out six of the next seven hitters. His six strikeouts tied a career-high. He allowed four hits and two runs in seven innings.

The Marlins took a 1-0 lead in the first when Luis Castillo led off with a walk, stole his major league-leading 48th base, and advanced to third on catcher Wiki Gonzalez's throwing error and scored on a groundout by Kotsay.

Game notes
Hoffman has 261 career saves, passing Rod Beck for 14th place on the career list. ... The Padres placed C Ben Davis on the 15-day DL Sunday with a strained left rib cage and purchased the contract of catcher George Williams from Triple-A Las Vegas. ... Wilson struck out once, giving him 149 for the season -- 40 shy of Bobby Bonds' record set in 1970. Wilson has gone 22 games without a home run. ... Marlins SS Alex Gonzalez, on the DL since July 28, says he could return in a few days.
 


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