SAN DIEGO — One night after blowing a three-run lead in the ninth inning, the Philadelphia Phillies bounced back in a big way Tuesday night.
Domonic Brown homered and tied his career high with four RBIs, and the Phillies recorded a 6-2 victory over the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.
Brown, who went 1-for-4 with a walk, drilled a three-run homer off Jason Marquis in the third inning, giving the Phillies a 3-2 lead they would not surrender. The long ball was Brown’s 20th of the season, also a career best.
“I was just trying to hit something in the middle the other way,” said Brown, who also drew a bases-loaded walk in the fifth. “(Marquis) challenged me. He was thinking he might sneak a fastball by me, and he threw a change up.”
Brown, who hadn’t homered in 56 at-bats, drove the pitch an estimated 411 feet.
It was the fifth time Brown has driven in four runs in a game, the last occurring June 2 in a win over the Milwaukee Brewers. It also helped wipe out the stench of the Phillies’ loss Monday, when they blew a three-run lead in the ninth, after a strong performance from Cliff Lee, and dropped a 4-3 decision in 10 innings to the Padres.
“That’s the great thing about having a lot of veteran leadership in the clubhouse,” Brown said. “They keep us nice and upbeat. I watch Jimmy (Rollins) and Ryan (Howard) and Utley and those guys. They just worry about the next game. That’s all you can do.”
Marquis had his string of consecutive wins snapped at eight. He hadn’t dropped a decision since April 22, when he lost to Milwaukee. The Phillies tagged Marquis (9-3) for six runs on six hits in 4 1/3 innings. Marquis walked five and struck out four.
“Write it off to one of those starts. It’s going to happen five, six, seven times a year. Hopefully, this is one of them and go on to the next one,” said Marquis, who is 6-9 with a 5.72 ERA in 27 appearances and 20 career starts against the Phillies.
Kyle Kendrick (7-4) allowed two runs and scattered seven hits over eight innings. He struck out six and walked none. Reliever Antonio Bastardo gave up two hits in the ninth before striking out Logan Forsythe for the final out.
“It’s always nice to pitch eight innings, especially with some key guys (in the bullpen) hurt,” said Kendrick, who has allowed just two earned runs or less in 11 of his 16 starts this season. He is 6-0 in those contests.
“I had a couple of long innings, but I was able to battle through those. It was a good game, a good win for us. Obviously, (Monday night) was a tough loss, but it’s over. There’s nothing we can do. Guys jumped on (Marquis) early and got some runs. That was good. We just have to take one game at a time.”
The Phillies (37-41) have captured 25 of the 32 games they’ve played at Petco Park since it opened in 2004. The Padres, who are 24-10 in their past 34 games at Petco, which is the second-best winning percentage in the National League since April 24, lost for the third time in their past four contests.
Kyle Blanks, who had a career-high four hits in Monday’s win over the Phillies, including the game-winner, led off the second with a single and scored on a groundout by Alexi Amarista for a 1-0 San Diego lead.
Pedro Ciriaco’s RBI single to left made it 2-0 for the Padres.
Brown jumped on a 2-0 pitch from Marquis and launched it deep into the seats in right for a three-run homer with two outs in the third to put the Phillies on top.
The Phillies added three more runs in the fifth when Brown’s bases-loaded walk scored Jimmy Rollins and chased Marquis, and then a wild pitch by reliever Brad Brach brought home Chase Utley.
A sacrifice fly by John Mayberry scored Howard for the game’s final run.
NOTES: Howard returned to the lineup Tuesday after sitting out Monday’s game with a sore left knee. The Phillies first baseman was batting .432 with three home runs and 11 RBIs over his last 12 games before going 0-for-4 Tuesday. … Padres 2B Jedd Gyorko, who is eligible to come off the disabled list, flew to Double-A San Antonio on Tuesday and will play there in rehab games Wednesday and Thursday. Gyroko, out due to a right groin strain, probably will be activated Friday when the Padres open their upcoming road trip in Miami. … LHP Robbie Erlin (1-0), whom the Padres called up from Triple-A Tucson, will start against Phillies LHP Cole Hamels (2-11) on Wednesday. … Rollins and Utley played their 1,000 game together Monday. … The game drew a crowd of 24,695.