Jackson Merrill ripped a two-run home run to right field that banged off the advertising on the face of the second deck and ricochetted back down onto the field as he rounded the bases en route to home plate where he completed his trip and pulled the San Diego Padres within two runs of the Philadelphia Phillies. The Padres trailed 6-4, but with no outs and Phillies reliever Jose Alvarado having already allowed two runs, there was a glimmer of hope that San Diego could pull off some late-inning magic and avoid the series sweep. Alvarado would not allow another run, in fact, he did not allow another baserunner, before closing out the game and securing the win for Philadelphia.
The Padres continued to struggle at the plate and saw six of nine batters who were in the starting lineup finish their day without a hit. San Diego amassed just four hits in the game with two of those hits accounting for the four runs scored. Manny Machado hit a two-run home run in the top of the seventh, which made the score 3-2 before Adrian Morejon took the ball in the bottom of the inning and allowed three runs on three hits with one walk. He was replaced on the mound by Wandy Peralta after 1/3 of an inning and the Phillies enjoyed a 6-2 lead.
Merrill drove in Ty France who walked to open the ninth inning, and the only other hits in the game for San Diego came from the No. 9 hitter, Bryce Johson. He singled in the sixth and singled in the eighth. Johnson moved to second in the eighth inning after a Gavin Sheets walk, but with two on and two out in the inning, Machado grounded to third to end the top half of the frame.
The Padres return to Petco Park to host the New York Mets today at 6:40 p.m. still looking to find some kind of offensive identity. The problem for San Diego now is the bullpen faltered multiple times on the road trip and are showing signs of wearing down and being less affective.
Padres News:
- The Padres catching tandem of Freddy Fermin and Rodolfo Duran have provided nothing at the plate recently, but minor league catcher Blake Hunt is hitting homers for El Paso.
- A.J. Preller is always one of the general managers the baseball world keeps an eye on at the trade deadline and this season could have an interesting deadline according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.
Baseball News:
- The New York Yankees are without their biggest bat in Aaron Judge, but they were able to squeak out a 2-1 win against the Cleveland Guardians to avoid a sweep.
- Boston Red Sox pitcher Brayan Bello was beat by the Baltimore Orioles, 8-2 and was optioned to Triple-A after the game.
- The San Francisco Giants split their series with the Milwaukee Brewers with a 12-9 win Thursday.
