PHILADELPHIA -- Charlie Morton was looking to measure up to the rest of the Philadelphia Phillies' rotation. A reminder from pitching coach Bob McClure helped him do just that.

Morton combined with three relievers on a four-hit shutout as the Phillies beat the San Diego Padres 3-0 Tuesday night.

Odubel Herrera and Maikel Franco drove in runs for Philadelphia, which won for the third time in four games. The Phillies (3-5) scored their other run on an eighth-inning error.

San Diego (3-5) lost for the second time in three games.

Morton (1-1) went 6 2/3 innings and allowed three hits while striking out seven and walking four. He was coming off a 10-6 loss Thursday in Cincinnati, in which he surrendered five runs in 3 2/3 innings, the poorest outing by a Phillies starter to date.

"Any time you do your job it feels good," he said. "When you don't, it feels bad."

Manager Pete Mackanin said McClure reminded Morton to mix in a curveball every once in a while.

"He hasn't been using it that much," Mackanin said, "and he started using it here and there, and I think it was real effective for him."

Morton, who came over from Pittsburgh in a December trade, earned his first victory in April since 2012, when he beat Colorado. It was also his longest scoreless start since last Aug. 20, when he also went 6 2/3 innings against San Francisco.

After improving the rotation's ERA to 2.87, he was asked about his curveball.

"I didn't know we were divulging secrets," he said with a smile.

Then he noted that left-handed hitters typically hit his sinker well.

"It kind of gives me some wiggle room if I just throw my curveball," he said. "My curveball is pretty good. If I can throw it for strikes, that gets them off my fastball."

Morton issued consecutive two-out walks to the last two hitters he faced in the seventh, but Hector Neris came on to strike out pinch hitter Wil Myers to end the inning.

David Hernandez worked a scoreless eighth, and Jeanmar Gomez pitched the ninth for his third save.

San Diego's Robbie Erlin, making his first start of the season, allowed one run and three hits in six innings. Erlin (1-1) struck out seven and walked two.

Manager Andy Green said Erlin, who held the Phillies hitless until Freddy Galvis lined a two-out single to center in the fifth, was "very efficient," and that his changeup was particularly effective.

"I tried to locate my fastball and work off that," Erlin said. "I just tried to keep my mind on hitting the glove."

He has posted a 1.96 ERA in three career starts against Philadelphia, striking out 18 in 18 1/3 innings.

Philadelphia's Tyler Goeddel opened the sixth with a single, his first major league hit. Two outs later, Herrera hit a 2-1 Erlin changeup into the right-field corner for a triple, driving home the game's first run.

It was Herrera's third clutch hit in as many days. On Sunday, he hit a two-run homer off the New York Mets' Matt Harvey in the sixth inning of a 5-2 Philadelphia victory, and on Monday, he contributed an opposite-field RBI single off San Diego's Andrew Cashner in a 4-3 Phillies loss.

The Phillies loaded the bases with one out in the eighth on two walks by Kevin Quackenbush and a third by Brad Hand. Franco then grounded into a forceout, but second baseman Cory Spangenberg threw wildly to first in an attempt to complete the double play as two runs scored.

Franco was awarded an RBI for the fielder's choice. Both runs were earned, however.

NOTES: Phillies 1B Darin Ruf, expected to start against left-handers this season, was not in the lineup after bruising his left rotator cuff while diving for a ball Monday. Manager Pete Mackanin said Ruf is day to day. ... Philadelphia SS Freddy Galvis, hitting .179 entering the game, was dropped from the leadoff spot to sixth in the order. Mackanin said he hopes to see Galvis go to a heavier bat. ... Padres 3B Alexi Amarista drove in the winning run Monday with a seventh-inning squeeze bunt. According to Elias, he became the first San Diego position player to produce the decisive RBI with a bunt since Brad Ausmus against the St. Louis Cardinals on May 15, 1995. Ausmus now manages the Detroit Tigers.