Ramon Laureano snapped a tie with a home run in the bottom of the seventh inning Friday night as the San Diego Padres stopped the visiting Athletics 7-3 in the opener of a three-game series.
Laureano worked a full count against Jeffrey Springs (3-5) and then hammered a changeup an estimated 401 feet to left field for his sixth homer of the year. The clout made a winner of reliever Adrian Morejon (4-1), who worked 1 1/3 perfect innings and fanned three.
Springs allowed only three hits — all homers — and four runs in 6 1/3 innings while walking three and striking out three. San Diego starter Walker Buehler received a no-decision after yielding five hits and three runs in five innings with four walks and four whiffs.
The Padres used four singles and a sacrifice fly to log three insurance runs in the eighth. Gavin Sheets grounded a two-run single to left with the bases loaded, scoring Rodolfo Duran and Fernando Tatis Jr. Xander Bogaerts lofted a sacrifice fly to center that plated Miguel Andujar.
The Athletics, who had a three-game win streak snapped, initiated scoring with two runs in the top of the first. Carlos Cortes led off with a single and Nick Kurtz rifled a double to the wall in left-center for an RBI. Two groundouts, the second by Brent Rooker, cashed in Kurtz.
San Diego equalized in its half of the inning with one swing of Manny Machado’s bat. He turned on a high, inside fastball from Springs and lined it an estimated 370 feet to the seats in left-center for his eighth homer with Tatis aboard after a leadoff walk.
Henry Bolte put the Athletics ahead 3-2 in the fourth when he followed Zack Gelof’s leadoff double by singling up the middle for an RBI. That lead lasted until the bottom of the fifth, when Nick Castellanos drilled his fourth homer of the year just inside the left field foul pole.
The Athletics loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth but Morejon fanned pinch hitter Colby Thomas to quash the threat. Morejon, Jason Adam and Jeremiah Estrada combined to retire the last 10 hitters they faced.
