Ninety-one degrees and three hits
First pitch at Petco Park registered 91 degrees on Monday night, tied for the second-hottest reading for a San Diego home game since the ballpark opened in 2004. Jackson Merrill did not enjoy it. He said as much afterwards, admitting he loves the city but not that particular kind of weather.
The center fielder then went out and produced the best line on the field. Three hits, two runs driven in, a catch at the wall, and a 3-2 win over the Washington Nationals. All three of his hits left the bat at 106 mph or harder, topping out at 112.1 mph on an eighth-inning double, and he added his 25th stolen base of the season.
Merrill knocked in the first San Diego run and the last one. That has become a pattern since the All-Star break, and it is the reason manager Craig Stammen keeps resisting the temptation to move him.
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Why Merrill stays in the five hole
Jake Cronenworth went 0-for-4 from the second spot on Monday, and Stammen was asked whether Merrill should be promoted in the order. His answer pointed at the sequencing behind Manny Machado and Ty France, where Merrill has been productive enough that shifting him would cost more than it gains. San Diego, at 76-68, sits half a game behind Arizona for the third and final National League wild card, so every lineup decision now carries weight.
Casey Mize takes the ball on Tuesday for the Padres. The right-hander is 5-9 with a 3.64 ERA overall but 1-3 with a 6.67 mark in six starts since arriving from Detroit at the trade deadline. His last outing was a 7-3 loss in Cincinnati where he gave up four runs in four innings. He has faced Washington once, back in June 2024, and allowed a single run in six innings without getting the decision.
A Washington bullpen writing the wrong records
The Nationals arrive on a five-game losing run at 67-79. They sold at the deadline, moving Luis Garcia Jr. and Curtis Mead, and have gone 12-21 since Aug. 3. Their bullpen has tied the major league record with 37 blown saves in a season.
That group just lost Orlando Ribalta to the 15-day injured list with right forearm inflammation, and manager Blake Butera called it a huge blow. Ribalta was holding left-handed hitters to a .132 average and had not conceded a hit in 11 at-bats with the bases loaded. Rookie Riley Cornelio is expected to open or carry the bulk of a bullpen game.
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