Lucchesi, long balls carry Padres to 8-3 win over Mariners

SAN DIEGO (AP) — San Diego Padres rookie Joey Lucchesi could have been down for the count after Ryon Healy’s comebacker glanced off the big left-hander’s glove and then hit him in the groin.

Lucchesi, though, grabbed the ball and threw out Healy, took a few steps and then went down in a heap. But after being checked by the training staff, he got up, walked it off, threw a few warmup pitches and stayed in the game, striking out Kyle Seager and Mike Zunino to end the fourth inning.

“It hurt, for sure, but not enough to where I couldn’t play anymore,” Lucchesi (7-7) said after striking out nine in a career-best 6 2-3 innings to lead the Padres to an 8-3 win against the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday for a twogame sweep.

“It woke me up for sure,” Lucchesi said. “I was like, ‘All right, let’s attack these guys, keep going.’ “

Manager Andy Green was impressed with Lucchesi’s resiliency.

“The ball back off of him, to get right back up and finish that play, there’s a lot of pitchers who just end up staying on the ground in that moment. He recovered and was able to keep going. He battled well today. Those are good signs.”

As Lucchesi walked it off, some of his teammates had their faces in their gloves.

“Honestly they were probably laughing at me. I mean, we’re all boys,” Lucchesi said. “It’s pretty funny that I got hit there and I was all right so I guess it’s all right to laugh at.”

The rookie was the beneficiary of a nice offensive outburst. Hunter Renfroe homered and drove in four runs, Manuel Margot had a homer among his three hits and prized rookie Luis Urias had his first three hits.

Lucchesi held the Mariners to one run and six hits in a career-high 6 2-3 innings, matched his career-best with nine strikeouts and walked two.

The lefty credited “fastball location and finishing them off with two strikes. I was trying to beat my career record. I always get stuck at nine.”

The teams, deemed natural rivals by MLB, meet again in Seattle on Sept. 11-12. The Mariners lost their third straight and for the fifth time in seven games.

Eric Hosmer also had three hits for the Padres, who worked over Mariners starter Erasmo Ramirez (1-3) for seven runs and nine hits in three innings.

San Diego took a 7-1 lead after three innings.