The third home run in as many days for Jackson Merrill was the most important one yet. The center fielder stepped to the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning with a runner on base and one out with the San Diego Padres trailing the Milwaukee Brewers, 2-1. When the at-bat was over, Merrill had collected his 19th home run of the season and put the Padres ahead, 3-2 en route to a series opening win over the Brewers at Petco Park on Monday night.
Merrill homered in each of the last two games in the previous
series against the Houston Astros. He had been 0-for-2 on the day prior to his at-bat in the bottom of the seventh. Manny Machado popped out to start the inning and Ty France followed with a single to left field. Merrill hit a 1-1 pitch from Logan Henderson to straightaway center field that traveled 431 feet to give the Padres their first lead of the game.
Adrian Morejon, maybe the most dominant left-handed reliever in the game, came on for the top of the eighth inning. He allowed one hit but faced the minimum with a strikeout and a ground ball double play to finish a scoreless inning. Mason Miller came in for the top of the ninth inning and allowed a two-out walk, but pinch runner Brandon Lockridge was thrown out by catcher Freddy Fermin attempting to steal second base to end the game.
Casey Mize made his second start for San Diego and the first at Petco Park since being traded by the Detroit Tigers at the Trade Deadline. Mize had a much better second outing, completing six innings and allowing two runs on five hits with two walks and six strikeouts. He was hurt by one pitch when Christian Yelich connected on a two-run home run in the top of the second inning that gave Milwaukee a 2-0 lead. The Padres answered in the bottom of the second when France hit a solo home run to cut the deficit to one run.
Yuki Matsui followed Mize with a scoreless seventh inning before Morejon and Miller came on to complete the game.
San Diego plays Milwaukee in the second game of the series today at 6:40 p.m.
Padres News:
- Jackson Merrill and Bradgley Rodriguez may be the two youngest players on the San Diego roster, but both players are having significant impacts on the results on the field.
- Joe Musgrove is getting closer to making his return to the MLB mound and says he is feeling good.
- The matchup between Mason Miller and Jacob Misiorowski will have to wait until the postseason after the Brewers starter threw on Sunday.
- Nick Pivetta will not be able to keep his player option, but is still looking to make an impact for the Padres this season.
Baseball News:
- The Philadelphia Phillies got a one-run win over the St. Louis Cardinals after Phillies pitcher Andrew Painter took a no-hitter into the sixth inning.
- Former star shortstop Tim Anderson announced his retirement.
- Tarik Skubal made his first start as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.
- Dean Kremer pitched the Minnesota Twins to a win over the Baltimore Orioles.
