PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Even without his best stuff, Jhoulys Chacin knew he needed to pitch effectively with the way his counterpart, Aaron Nola, was throwing.
Chacin tossed 6 1/3 strong innings and Austin Hedges drove in the winning run for the second straight game to lead the San Diego Padres to a 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday.
Carlos Asuaje added an RBI triple for the Padres, who have won five of six.
Chacin (8-7) allowed one run and three hits with six strikeouts and two walks.
“It wasn’t like I felt bad, but I didn’t feel like my ball was coming out like I’m used to,” Chacin said. “I knew it was going to be a close game. I was just trying to keep my team there and give them a chance to score some runs for me.”
Nola (6-6) tied career-highs by going eight innings and striking out nine, but he was the hard-luck loser. Nola gave up four hits and walked two.
“That was about as sharp as I’ve seen anybody all year,” Padres manager Andy Green said. “It was a tough matchup, but we scratched two across.”
Maikel Franco homered and Tommy Joseph had two hits with a double for Philadelphia, which has lost five straight and seven of nine.
“No offense once again,” Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. “A tough loss.”
Brandon Maurer pitched a scoreless ninth for his 19th save.
The Padres went ahead with two runs off Nola in the seventh.
Hunter Renfroe led off with a double down the right-field line. Renfroe initially thought he popped the ball up and didn’t run out of the box, but he took off for second once he saw first-base umpire Chris Guccione signal fair.
“You hit the ball out of the cup of the bat and you have no clue where it’s going,” Green said. “That’s a pretty fortuitous bounce for us that he still got to second base and set us up for that scoring opportunity.”
Nola got the next two outs before Asuaje tied the game with a triple, the first of his career, off the wall in right-center. Hedges, a night after connecting on two solo homers and the game-winning sacrifice fly in San Diego’s 4-3 win over the Phillies, followed with an opposite-field RBI single to make it 2-1.
Philadelphia threatened in the bottom of the seventh, putting runners on second and third with one out. Green lifted Chacin for right-hander Kirby Yates, and the reliever got Franco to pop out behind short and Andrew Knapp to fly out to left.
“He’s been huge for us,” Green said of Yates.
Franco put the Phillies ahead with his 13th homer, a solo shot to deep left in the fifth.
MORE NOLA
Nola continued his strong run of late, as he is 3-1 with a 1.53 ERA in his last four starts.
“Nola was great, what a performance,” Mackanin said. “He’s been good for a while now.”
STREAK SNAPPED
The Padres will look for a sweep in Sunday afternoon’s finale of the three-game series. Saturday’s win clinched a victory in the series, snapping a streak of dropping six straight series in Philadelphia.
ANOTHER ONE
Philadelphia upped its club record before the All-Star break to 23 one-run losses. The Phillies are 11-23 in one-run games.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Padres: Renfroe was back in the lineup a day after having to leave the game in the ninth inning after getting hit in the left wrist by a pitch from Nick Pivetta in the sixth inning. He left Saturday’s game after running the bases in the seventh after tweaking his neck while swinging the bat and looking skyward on his double. Green said Renfroe likely wouldn’t play on Sunday.
UP NEXT
Padres: RHP Trevor Cahill (3-2, 2.96) makes his ninth start for the Padres. He is limiting lefties to a .169 average, but righties are hitting .258 against him.
Phillies: RHP Jerad Eickhoff (0-7, 4.93) will make his first start since going on the DL on June 18 with an upper back strain. He will be looking for his first victory in his 15th start.
To make room for Eickhoff, the Phillies optioned RHP Ben Lively to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
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