SAN DIEGO _ Dinelson Lamet's fastball is so lively, his breaking stuff so sharp, that he's been able to survive while searching for his command early in this comeback from Tommy John surgery.
Boston's lineup just isn't that forgiving.
The 27-year-old Lamet struggled to find the strike zone in a difficult matchup and the San Diego Padres' hopes of a comeback were thwarted when Brock Holt greeted Kirby Yates' first pitch in a tie game in the ninth with a home run, sending the Red Sox to a 5-4 win on Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd at Petco Park.
Eric Hosmer's 19th homer drove in two runs in a three-run fourth that chased World Series Hero Nathan Eovaldi from the game.
But the Padres' first baseman struck out with the bases loaded to end a seventh-inning uprising keyed by Ty France's game-tying, pinch-hit single and again at the hands of Brandon Workman in the ninth to leave the tying and go-ahead runs on first and second base.
Boston was leading because Holt pulled Yates' first-pitch, 93 mph fastball just over the wall and a leaping Hunter Renfroe in right field. Yates loaded the bases via Mookie Betts' double and two walks before Jackie Bradley Jr. flied out to center to end the inning.
Making his ninth start since coming back from Tommy John surgery, Lamet spun two scoreless innings to start Saturday's game.
The first batter of the third inning, Mitch Moreland, singled, the second was hit by a pitch and the fourth, Betts, opened the scoring with a single to right.
An inning later, the first four batters reached base as the Red Sox built a 4-0 lead.
J.D. Martinez singled, Andrew Benintendi worked the first walk off Lamet, Christian Vazquez doubled in two runs and Moreland collected his second single of the game.
Lamet walked two more in the fifth but escaped further damage to his ERA (4.30) with a groundball double play before giving way to Matt Strahm after five grueling innings.
The four runs allowed matched a season-high, his strike percentage _ 54.5% or 48 of 88 _ was his worst rate of the year and his five strikeouts tied a season-low.
None of that was a formula for success against a lineup that entered Saturday as a top-five unit in the AL in runs, batting average, on-base percentage and slugging.
"He's had outings where he's had his command immediately and outings where he's had to search for it," Padres manager Andy Green said before the game. "This will be a tough team for him to have to search for it against."
Which is to be expected given his rapid return from last year's elbow reconstruction.
The highlight thus far has been taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning against the lowly Seattle Mariners despite walking four batters inside the first three innings of that start in Seattle earlier this month. That his strikeout rate (11.7 per nine innings) and walk rate (3.9) are slightly better than his rookie campaign in 2017 speaks to the progress he's made as a pitcher even while rehabbing his injury, as does the boost in his whiff rate on his slider (24.9 percent, up from 19.0). The fastball, too, is coming in a tick higher than it did two years ago.
"He was really good before and now the swing and miss is at the exceptional level," Green said. "I think his fastball is coming back too, the swing and miss on that. When you have multiple swing and miss weapons you're a tough guy to face."
Patience, of course, helps.
Lamet fell behind to 12 of the 23 batters he faced.
The first free pass he issued was the third-inning hit batter � which scored on Betts' third-inning single � and his first walk scored during Boston's three-run fourth. The double-play that Greg Garcia started to end the fifth inning allowed Lamet to strand two other walks.
