SAN DIEGO — Surviving in extra innings the night prior, the Padres stormed their way back from an early six run deficit and completed a historic 8-6 win over the Miami Marlins to win the series in San Diego on Tuesday.

Starting pitcher Stephen Kolek earned the win and became the first pitcher since Bartolo Colon (1999) to earn a victory after giving up six or more earned runs in the first inning.

“It’s great to get the win, but I’m undeserving of that,” Kolek said. “If we didn’t have the team support that we had tonight it’d be on the other end of the spectrum… I’m very grateful, very blessed that our team fought the way they did, and it was awesome to see.”

Mirroring the beginning of yesterday’s contest, the Marlins (21-32) jumped on Kolek and took him through the entire lineup on 38 pitches. This is also the second time the Padres (31-22) allowed half a dozen runs in the first inning (April 8 at the Athletics). 

However, mistakes by Miami’s starting pitcher Max Meyer and second baseman Ronny Simon put the Padres order in position, which ignited the comeback. Meyer failed to strikeout a single batter and Simon was charged for three errors, setting up San Diego for scoring opportunities with runners on base.  

“Absolute team win,” Padres’ manager Mike Shildt said. “My heart is in a place to share the love for this club… I stay even keeled because I have an absolute privilege of knowing what this club is about.” 

Fernando Tatis Jr., who had recorded only two hits in his last six games and hadn’t homered since May 18th, connected on Meyer’s sweeper and sent it 339 fett to the right field stands to get San Diego on the board.

The Padres got early on-base help in the second and cut the deficit in half after Tyler Wade’s ground single, bringing across Xander Bogaerts. Shortly after Jake Cronenworth came home by virtue of a throwing error by Simon.  

During their next at-bats in the third inning, Bogaerts and Cronenworth helped continue to chip at the Marlins lead with back-to-back RBI’s to make it 6-5.

Playing against his former team, Luis Arraez drove a pair of runs in consecutive innings to tie and give the Padres their first lead of the night. Arraez now has nine three-hit games this season. 

After working a seven pitch at-bat, Jackson Merrill launched his fifth homer of the season to give the Padres some insurance. That was his first home since May 7 against the Yankees. 

Kolek was able to find his stride and settle into the game after the horrendous start, allowing only a single hit the rest of the way. Through 5 ⅓ innings he finished with a total of 93 pitches, six earned runs, six hits, three strikeouts and two walks. 

“Stephen (Kolek) was fantastic,” Shildt said on Kolek and his pitching department. “Especially on a day where we just go through in our last six games… Be able to piece it together with those unsung guys in the bullpen… It was pretty special. 

The infielders stepping up at times with runners on base was a big part of Kolek’s redemption and became a driving force behind their comeback. The Marlins grounded into two double-plays, in the fourth and seventh innings, which ended up being the few scenarios where they were able to gather any offense. 

The Padres offensively produced a solid outing, recording six different batters with an RBI. In addition with no runs and no hits, the bullpen played lights out, building on the momentum that was left to them. Relievers Sean Reynolds pitched 1 â…“ innings, Yuki Matsui pitched one inning and closing Jeremiah Estrada pitched 1 â…“ innings to earn his first save.

The finale of this series will take place at 1:10 p.m. on Wednesday. Left-handed pitcher Kyle Hart (2-2, 6.00 ERA) will take the mound for the Padres, while right-hander Sandy Alcantara (2-7, 8.04 ERA) will stand on the opposing hill.  

“We just need to continue to play like that,” Arraez said. “It’s baseball… When we do the little things, we just win games.”Â