Amarista, Erlin lift Padres past Phillies

Ten games remain this season for the Padres, who entered Thursday freshly eliminated from playoff contention.

After a 7-3, series-clinching win over the Phillies, what they do the rest of the way will factor into next June, when teams draft in reverse order of finish.

In between, there will be questions, enough to fill a field.

Extrapolating from a September contest between a pair of have-nots can be a futile exercise.

Still, Thursday furthered a couple of possibilities.

Alexi Amarista, who homered for the second time in three games, can be a valuable contributor in 2015. The pint-sized Venezuelan’s recent play has been such that some are questioning whether he could supplant Everth Cabrera as next April’s starting shortstop.

“The more he’s playing,” Padres manager Bud Black said, “the better he gets.”

Robbie Erlin, who made his first major league start since May 17, can be a solid, back-end option next spring. While far from overpowering, the 23-year-old lefty has been nails at Petco Park. Should the Padres choose to trade one of their top starters this winter, Erlin could provide at least a short-term answer.

“He threw the ball as though his arm’s good, his elbow’s fine,” Black said of Erlin, who missed 75 games this summer with elbow soreness. “He pitched with conviction.”

Facing the Phillies, a franchise in need of major repair, the Padres could commiserate. In the series finale, though, there had to be a winner.

In the bottom of the second, Amarista drilled a change-up from Kyle Kendrick. The solo shot, Amarista’s fifth home run of the year, landed just over the right-field fence, where the majority of his homers have touched down since last year’s reconfiguration.

The Phillies tied the score with a run in the fourth, but the Padres forged a new lead on Amarista’s sacrifice fly in the fourth.

In the bottom of the fifth, Jedd Gyorko struck a two-out single, extending his hitting streak to nine games, a new career high. Two batters later, Seth Smith struck an RBI single.

In the top of the sixth, Amarista made a diving stop of a hissing grounder, leapt to his feet and fired to first, completing a defensive gem. In the bottom of the inning, Cory Spangenberg drove in a run, adding to Erlin’s cushion.

Making a spot start in place of the fatigued Tyson Ross, Erlin reminded a crowd of 18,076 that fastball command can go a long way at Petco Park. He entered Thursday with a career 2.50 ERA in the Padres’ spacious ballpark.

He left with six innings of one-run ball. He allowed five hits and a few hard-hit outs, but he struck out four and walked none. He threw 56 of 83 pitches for strikes.

“I was just trying to get the fastball down,” said Erlin, who Black indicated had earned another start. “Change-up was good, curveball was pretty inconsistent, but the defense was outstanding.”

The Phillies threatened in the eighth, putting the first two batters on base, but Padres right-hander Dale Thayer bore down to strike out the side. In the bottom of the inning, Will Venable pummeled a three-run homer to dead-center.

In the top of the ninth, Cameron Maybin committed a fielding error, his second in four days. The Phillies scored a pair of runs.

After winning three of four, the Padres are 71-81 and a half-game ahead of the Reds, who were off Thursday. Should the standings hold through the remainder of the season, the Padres would be assigned the 12th overall selection in next June’s draft (the Astros are on pace to be assigned two picks in the top 10).

The Giants, currently in position of a National League wild card, come to Petco Park on Friday.

“We have an opportunity to affect the race,” Venable said. “It’s an opportunity to finish strong.”