France and Machado lead red-hot Padres to 9-7 victory over Cubs as Miller's scoreless streak ends
SAN DIEGO -- Ty France drove in four runs with a double and a triple to lead the surging San Diego Padres over the Chicago Cubs 9-7 on Monday night.
Manny Machado had three hits and scored three times for the Padres (19-9), who won for the 17th time in 21 games. They are 18-5 this month (.783), the best April winning percentage in franchise history.
Gavin Sheets hit a solo homer in the eighth inning to make it 9-5. Mason Miller gave up two runs in the ninth, ending his scoreless streak at 34 2/3 innings dating to last season — a San Diego record.
Nick Castellanos singled home two runs off reliever Ben Brown with two outs in the fifth to give the Padres a 6-5 lead.
Moisés Ballesteros hit his first career grand slam, a 404-foot drive to right field off San Diego starter Randy Vásquez that gave Chicago a 5-3 lead in the third.
Seiya Suzuki had a solo homer in the second for the Cubs (17-12), who have lost three in a row following a 10-game winning streak.
Machado had a single and two doubles, giving him 400 doubles in his career. He exited as a precaution in the seventh with a sore calf after a hard slide earlier in the game, but is expected to be available Tuesday.
France hit a ground-rule double to left-center in the first to score two runs for a 3-0 lead. He tripled down the left-field line in the seventh to drive in two more and make it 8-5.
Vásquez (3-0) gave up five runs and five hits in five innings to earn the win.
Brown (1-1) pitched two innings in relief and took the loss. Cubs starter Matthew Boyd allowed four runs and eight hits in four-plus innings.
Cubs RHP Edward Cabrera (2-0, 2.73 ERA) faces RHP Walker Buehler (1-2, 5.75) in the middle game of the series Tuesday.
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