MIAMI -- Leading off the eighth inning Wednesday night, Starlin Castro belted a no-doubt home run to left field at Marlins Park. Until that point, there was plenty of doubt about whether the Marlins could manage as much as a hit off rookie right-hander Chris Paddack.

Paddack did not surrender a hit through seven innings and was six outs away from tossing the first no-hitter in Padres history. That bid was erased on Castro’s home run, but the night still belonged to the 23-year-old right-hander, who was dominant in 7 2/3 innings in San Diego’s 3-2 victory.

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“You certainly know when a guy is going well,” Marlins third baseman Neil Walker said. “You try to figure him out. Guys are coming back to the dugout saying, 'He's painting. He painted this pitch, painted that pitch.'

“When you're 0-1, 1-2 for most of the night, it's going to be a battle. He did a really good job. You get to the sixth, seventh inning and are like, 'Let's go! Haven't had a hit yet!' You're doing all you can.”

Castro, who extended his hitting streak to 11 games, struck out in his previous two at-bats against Paddack. In the eighth inning, Castro turned on a 92.8 mph fastball. Per Statcast, his home run projected at 399 feet, with an exit velocity of 105.3 mph.

“After we saw a lot of fastballs, we were ready,” Castro said. “He threw me a first-pitch changeup, and then threw me a fastball, middle-in, and I drove it pretty good.”

Marlins right-hander Trevor Richards allowed three runs in the fourth inning, two coming on Austin Hedges’ home run.

Despite finishing with only three hits, the Marlins were in position to win in the ninth inning. They got within a run on Castro’s two-out RBI single. But the game ended when Padres closer Kirby Yates struck out Curtis Granderson looking with the count full.

The Marlins felt the last pitch was a ball, and they also believed Brian Anderson struck out looking for the second out of the inning on a missed pitch by umpire D.J. Reyburn.

“You don't want to sound like you're making excuses,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “Really, honestly, we only got a couple of hits tonight. We didn't do a whole lot. You still have a chance to win. You hate to see a game end on ball four.”

Castro breaking up the no-hit bid was fitting because the veteran second baseman has been the team’s hottest hitter -- batting .426 (20-for-47) during his 11-game streak.

“He's been swinging the bat as good as anyone around here lately, so it wasn't a surprise to any of us that he was the one to get a hit and get us on the board, both with a run and a hit,” Walker said. “He's as confident as it comes right now. He put a good swing on that ball.”

Castro also is a subject of trade rumors before the July 31 Deadline.

Paddack’s pro career started with the Marlins. The right-hander was an eighth-round pick by Miami in 2015 and threw a total of 73 2/3 innings over parts of two Minor League seasons with the organization. On June 30, 2016, he was dealt to the Padres for reliever Fernando Rodney.

“After the sixth inning, I was starting to count the outs,” Paddack said. “One mistake against a good hitter. I kind of had a chip on my shoulder coming into the game. This was the team that drafted me. This was where it all started for me.”

Before being traded, Paddack visited Marlins Park and met the late Jose Fernandez. The right-hander said on Wednesday he wrote “16” on the mound in Fernandez’s honor.

The Marlins did not have a baserunner until César Puello reached on shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr.’s throwing error to open the sixth inning. With two outs in that inning, Miguel Rojas nearly had a hit, ripping a liner off first baseman Eric Hosmer’s glove. Hosmer recovered the ball and made a lunge tag on Rojas, who used a headfirst slide into first.

Miami challenged, and the call stood.

“It was a little frustrating there,” Castro said. “We, as a team, thought 100 percent they were going to call it a base hit. We don't know what they saw in New York. We can't control it, so we just continued to try to have good at-bats, especially against a guy who was pitching really good today.”