Padres Week in Review: A San Francisco Sweep Yields Wild-Card Breathing Room

[Steve Drumwright]

San Diego Padres Weekly Snapshot

Record last week: 6-0

Runs scored last week: 37

Runs allowed last week: 23 (season run differential: plus-22)

Scores

• Game 144 (Monday): Padres 3, Nationals 2
• Game 145 (Tuesday): Padres 5, Nationals 4
• Game 146 (Wednesday): Padres 9, Nationals 2
• Thursday: Off.
• Game 147 (Friday): Padres 7, Giants 5
• Game 148 (Saturday): Padres 7, Giants 6
• Game 149 (Sunday): Padres 6, Giants 4

Week in Review and Highlights

Nationals series

Game 1: Right-hander Nick Pivetta returned to the Padres' rotation surprisingly early and gave the Friars a boost with his terrific performance. Pivetta, who hadn't pitched since leaving an April 12 start with a flexor injury in his right elbow, returned by throwing five shutout innings in a 3-2 victory over the Washington Nationals. The victory kept the Padres a half-game behind the Arizona Diamondbacks in the battle for the third and final NL wild-card berth. Pivetta returned after making just two rehab starts after he walked off the mound Aug. 4 after his elbow didn't feel right in his initial rehab assignment. Other than having an issue with being sharp, Pivetta did more than what the Padres expected him to against one of the top offenses in MLB. He retired the first seven batters he faced and 15 of 17 overall, giving up just two hits while striking out two. The Nats were aggressive but didn't generate much in the way of quality contact, aside from the second batter of the game lining out to Jackson Merrill as he crashed into the center-field wall and a double off the wall by James Wood in the third inning.

The offense did just enough. Fernando Tatis Jr. and Merrill each had three hits with Manny Machado adding two. Merrill also drove in a pair of runs. Merrill had an RBI single in the first inning to stake Pivetta to an early lead, then the Padres added two more in the third on singles by Machado and Merrill. Tatis and Merrill each stole a base, too. One Pivetta left, the Nats got their runs. Those came courtesy of a two-run homer by Dylan Crews off left-hander Kyle Hart, who had allowed just two runs in his previous seven outings. Right-hander Bradgley Rodriguez and left-hander Adrian Morejon took care of the seventh and eighth without incident, then superstar Mason Miller closed out the ninth, allowing a one-out hit while striking out two for his 34th save.

Game 2: It might not have been the best win of the season, but it was certainly the most important to date. Faced with the prospect of going down 1½ games in the NL wild-card race with the D'backs already posting a victory, the Padres got off the floor with a run in the seventh and four in the eighth to steal a 5-4 victory over the Nationals. That kept the Friars within a half-game of the D'backs for the third and final NL wild-card spot. To be clear, this is a two-team race for one spot, with an outside chance of the two teams ahead of the D'backs in the wild-card race having the potential of making all three of those seeds an open competition. The Padres are five games clear of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the No. 5 team in the NL wild-card standings. Meanwhile, the Chicago Cubs are three games ahead of D'backs and the Philadelphia Phillies 3½.

But this game went from being on the verge of an embarrassing and regrettable loss to a thrilling victory. The Nats have the second-worst bullpen ERA in MLB and this was a bullpen game for them. The only bullpen technically worse than the Nats is the A's, who play in a slightly juiced atmosphere of a minor-league ballpark. Which made the start of the game that much more concerning. The mish-mash group of relievers held the Padres to just a fifth-inning Luis Campusano single through six innings. Two more hits and a wild pitch set up Merrill's sacrifice fly in the seventh. In the eighth and facing a left-hander in just his third MLB game, the Padres drew three walks to begin the inning. The Nats went deeper into their bullpen and brought in another lefty who was making his seventh MLB appearance. Pinch-hitter Austin Hays lofted a sac fly to make it 4-2, then, after a passed ball put runners on second and third, Machado bounced a single just past the pitcher and into center that scored two, tying the game 4-4. Ty France followed with a single that sent Machado to second. With two outs, Campusano lofted a broken-bat single into the Bermuda Triangle of right-center that brought in Machado with the decisive run.

From the pitching side, it was a good performance. Critically, right-hander Casey Mize turned in a decent start after three stinkers that had many questioning his spot in the rotation. Mize went 5⅔ innings, allowing two runs on four hits and a walk while striking out seven, the most since he came over at the trade deadline. Right-hander Randy Vasquez, in his first relief appearance since getting bumped from the rotation with Pivetta's return, was called upon with runners on first and second and two outs. He gave up an 0-1 two-run double that put the Nats up 3-0, then a flyout to end the inning before a 1-2-3 seventh. Left-hander Yuki Matsui gave up a homer in the eighth to make it 4-1, with right-hander David Morgan to get the final out with a runner on second. That left the ninth to Morejon, with Miller down after pitching the previous two games and three of the last four. Morejon had the same workload as Miller in the previous four games, but his arm was in a better spot to close this one out, which he did with a perfect ninth for his third save of the year.

Game 3: You most definitely aren't getting a two-homer, six-RBI game from Merrill even once a week for the rest of the season. But as long as the Padres are getting a productive Merrill, they should be in a good spot once the regular season comes to an end. However, Merrill did do that in the series finale against the Nationals, leading to a 9-2 victory and completing a three-game sweep. The D'backs lost, meaning the Friars are once again in the No. 3 NL wild-card spot, a half-game ahead of Arizona and 2½ behind the Chicago Cubs, who hold the No. 2 wild-card position. If you are curious, the half-game between the Padres and D'backs will remain until the Padres conclude a four-game series against the Colorado Rockies next week.

Merrill had been slumping before hitting his previous homer before Wednesday, which came July 26 vs. the Pittsburgh Pirates. In the 13 games since, Merrill has had six multihit games, capped by the 4-for-5, two-homer performance that led to a career-best six RBIs. That also included a triple, making him the third Padre to have two homers and a triple in the same game (Greg Vaughn 1988, Ryan Klesko 2001). Merrill got his triple first and helped erase the Nationals' early 2-0 lead. After France had an RBI single in the third, Merrill ripped a liner just to the right of the 396-foot sign in center that Jacob Young nearly caught as he smashed into the wall. Two runs scored on the play for a 3-2 Padres lead. In the fourth, Samad Taylor had his team-high fourth bunt single that led to an error by the pitcher, scoring a run. Tatis added an RBI single to make it 5-2. Merrill then lofted his 23rd homer of the season, a two-run shot, to left in the fifth for a 7-2 advantage. He added his 24th, another two-run blast, into the bullpen in left-center.

Pitching had a weird hiccup, but it ended up playing out well. Right-handed starter Walker Buehler retired the first six batters he faced, then allowed a leadoff homer to Keibert Ruiz in the third. A walk, Nasim Nunez's MLB-leading 46th steal, Young's single and a walk to Wood loaded the bases. Crews singled home a run for a 2-0 lead. After a popout for the first out, manager Craig Stammen came out to the mound. He had forgotten that pitching coach Rueben Niebla had already made a visit in the inning. Stammen said he had intended to remove Buehler, but changed his mind as he walked out and wanted to see how his right-hander felt. Buehler had to exit, with Hart coming in and retiring the next two hitters. Hart went 2⅓ innings, Morgan one-third, Matsui one inning, left-hander Wandy Peralta two innings and right-hander Griffin Canning the ninth, with none of the five relievers allowing a run and only one hit.

Giants series

Game 1: Whew. This was one of those games where you could pull the hair out of your head. It was a rout early and should have been worse. Then it got tight and then even tighter at the very end. Still, the Padres did just enough to escape with a 7-5 victory over the San Francisco Giants. With their fifth straight win, the Padres maintained their half-game lead over the D'backs for the third and final NL wild-card spot and pulled within 2½ of the Phillies for the No. 2 position. Style points don't matter at this time of year, just the bottom line. Save the various debates for elsewhere. This one started very promising as Dustin Harris and Fermin drove in runs in the top of the second. A five-run third featured an RBI double by Campusano, a two-run double by Xander Bogaerts, Harris' run-scoring triple and another RBI double, this one by Fermin. The bottom of the order had a big role in building a 7-1 lead. There were opportunities to add on, but those were not taken advantage of, which would come back to haunt the Friars.

Padres left-handed starter Robbie Ray was doing good things through four innings, but fell apart in the fifth. A double and two walks loaded the bases for Giants superstar Rafael Devers, who blasted a grand slam to trim the Friars lead to 7-5. While another day off would have been good for the Padres' primary bullpen arms, the slam put the A Team into action. Matsui, Morejon and Rodriguez retired nine of the 10 batters they faced, setting up Miller. But Miller was sharp. He did get help with a terrific sliding catch by left fielder Jase Bowen in foul territory for the first out on the first pitch. After a strikeout, Miller issued a six-pitch walk and then a bunt single caught the Padres off-guard, putting two runners on and bringing Devers up again. But Miller couldn't get Devers to bite any of the three sliders he threw before walking him on five pitches to load the bases. Rookie slugger Bryce Eldridge was next and Miller fell behind 2-0 before coming back with three straight sliders, then punching out Eldridge when he dotted a 102.8 mph four-seamer at the bottom outside corner of the zone.

Game 2: Similar song, different day. While the Padres' offense again put up a good day, there were glitches on the pitching side that made this one closer than it needed to be. It wasn't Michael King's fault as the right-hander turned in his seventh straight quality start despite yielding a pair of homers, while Merrill and Tatis went deep again as the Padres pulled out a 7-6 victory, their sixth in a row. With the D'backs losing to the Texas Rangers, the Padres finally have their biggest lead while holding the final NL wild-card position. They are 1½ up on the D'backs while now also trailing the Phillies by that same margin for the No. 2 spot. However, the Padres lose the tiebreaker to the Phillies, so would need to surpass them.

The dynamic duo of Morejon and Miller were needed again to come up big, which they did. After King turned in a good seven innings, allowing three runs and the two long balls, Rodriguez came in and had his worst outing of the season. The 22-year-old rookie gave up two homers himself and three runs without recording an out in the eighth that reduced the Friars' lead to 7-6. Morejon sprung into action to face the Giants' two best power hitters in Devers, who had homered earlier, and Eldridge. The left-hander won the battle, striking out both sluggers, then getting a tapper back to the mound. Miller took care of the ninth, striking out two of the three batters he faced for his 36th save.

After Devers took King deep for a two-run shot in the first, Harris, inserted into the No. 2 spot in the lineup for the first time, continued to be a surprising contributor when he followed two singles and a walk by grounding a single through the hole to left to tie it 2-2. King gave up his second homer in the bottom of the second before the Padres' offense used the slow-drip method to take control of the game. They scored single runs in each of the next five innings as Merrill hit his 25th homer, Harris a sacrifice fly, Jake Cronenworth an RBI single, Tatis his 21st homer and Tatis again when he reached on an error in the seventh to make it 7-3. After Rodriguez's blowup, the overworked but still effective Morejon and Miller came to the rescue once again. Morejon has pitched in six of the last seven games and Miller five of those seven (there was a team day off in there).

Game 3: Facing a second last-place team of the week, the Padres did what they should have done and swept both. Although neither was a walk in the park, the Padres now find themselves in their best postseason position of the season entering the final 13 games. Pivetta made his second start and still wasn't sharp, while Machado homered, Tatis had three hits and two RBIs and 20-year-old Ethan Salas notched his first MLB hit as the Friars made due without their top bullpen arms in a 6-4 victory over the Giants. After back-to-back three-game sweeps extended their winning streak to seven games, the Padres are now 2½ games clear of the D'backs, who lost again, and just 1½ games behind the Phillies and Cubs for the No. 1 (and 2) NL wild-card spots.

The Padres jumped on Giants ace right-hander Logan Webb for six runs over five innings, five of those runs coming in the first two innings. Merrill had a two-run double in the first, Tatis had an RBI single and Machado cracked his 27th homer, a two-run shot, in the second. Salas finally secured his first MLB hit in the fourth inning. It was a long fly ball that caromed off the tall wall in right field at Oracle Park and he displayed his speed, sliding into third base with a triple. It was his first hit after an 0-for-15 start to his career. That more than offset the two-run homer Pivetta gave up in the bottom of the second. Pivetta made it through four innings, allowing five hits and no walks while punching out five. It was another positive step for Pivetta, who probably could have used another rehab start or two had the Padres not been in the thick of a heated postseason race.

With the usual late bullpen arms unavailable, Stammen had to map out a different path to the finish. That involved Hart, Morgan and Peralta getting to the eighth inning, where Vasquez stepped into the setup role and overcame two walks to put up a clean inning. Who would close? Matsui took on that role, one he held in Japan. He allowed a two-out single in securing his first save of the season and second in his Padres career. Now, the Padres continue their seven-game road trip with four against the Colorado Rockies, another team they need to handle like they did the Nationals and Giants if they want to lock up their postseason berth and improve their seeding.

Marvelous Mason Miller

Some of the amazing stats for the Padres' closer:

• Season stats: 5-2, 1.14 ERA, 60 games, 36 saves (38 chances), 63⅓ IP, 31 H, 11 R, 8 ER, 23 BB, 117 K, .144 opponent average
• Thus far in September, has converted all four save opportunities. Of the 18 outs he has recorded, 13 have been via strikeouts. 
• With his appearance Saturday, tied his career high for games in a season with 60, the same number he had last year between the A's and Padres.

Random Stats

• The Padres officially passed the 3 million mark in attendance with the Labor Day matinee, the second team in MLB to do so (the Los Angeles Dodgers are the other). Monday also marked the 59th time in 73 home games they had a crowd of 40,000 or better.
• With the first of his two hits Tuesday vs. the Nationals, Manny Machado moved into second place in Padres history for career hits, passing Garry Templeton's 1,135. Of course, he has a ways to go to catch the legendary Tony Gwynn, who has 3,141.
• The temperature at first pitch Wednesday was 95, the hottest in Padres history. The previous high was 93 on Sept. 10, 2015, vs. the Colorado Rockies.
• Fernando Tatis Jr. had three hits Wednesday to surpass his previous career high for hits in a season. That game gave Tatis 161 hits, two more than he had in 2025. He had 148 in 2023, the year after he returned from a performance-enhancing drug suspension, and 135 in 2021, when he finished third in NL MVP voting. Tatis is also on track to play in a career high number of games. He had 155 last year and is at 147 following this weekend.
• Jackson Merrill hit his 25th homer of the year Saturday, making him the fourth player in Padres history to have 25 homers and 25 steals in a season. The others are Reggie Sanders (1999), Wil Myers (2016) and Tatis (2021, 2023, 2025).
• Michael King has 17 quality starts this season. The Padres have 34.
• At 20 years, 140 days, Ethan Salas is the youngest player to triple for their first MLB hit since a guy named Manny Machado (20 years, 34 days) did it Sept. 8, 2012.

Transactions

• Monday: Activated RHP Nick Pivetta from the 60-day injured list.
• Monday: Optioned RHP Jhony Brito to El Paso Chihuahuas.
• Monday: Designated C Blake Hunt for assignment.
• Tuesday: Sent DH Miguel Andujar on a rehab assignment to Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas.
• Tuesday: Signed free agent RHP Trevor Gott to a minor-league contract and assigned him to Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas.
• Tuesday: Released C Blake Hunt.
• Friday: Placed 1B Ty France on the paternity list.
• Friday: Recalled IF Mason McCoy from Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas.
• Sunday: Sent RHP Jason Adam on a rehab assignment to Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas.

Website Highlights

• Slight cracks are forming in Morejon's armor — Randy Holt
• Lineup reinforcements could soon be on their way for Padres — Steve Drumwright
• Campusano's defensive growth goes beyond his arm — Randy Holt
• Pivetta's triumphant return cause for celebration (and a little skepticism) — Steve Drumwright
• Merrill is slumping again, but his numbers are lying to Padres — Sam Caulder
• Padres' remaining schedule should set up a thrilling finish — Sam Caulder

Looking Ahead

• Monday: Padres (Casey Mize) at Rockies (Tomoyuki Sugano), 5:40 p.m.
• Tuesday: Padres (Walker Buehler) at Rockies (TBA), 5:40 p.m.
• Wednesday: Padres (Robbie Ray) at Rockies (Mason Adams), 5:40 p.m.
• Thursday: Padres (Michael King) at Rockies (Tanner Gordon), 1:10 p.m.
• Friday: Marlins (Nick Pivetta) at Padres, 6:40 p.m
• Saturday: Marlins (Casey Mize) at Padres, 5:40 p.m
• Sunday: Marlins (Walker Buehler) at Padres, 1:10 p.m

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