Jackson Merrill drove in three runs with a double, Michael King delivered six strong innings, and the San Diego Padres secured a 5-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Monday night in an interleague clash between playoff hopefuls.
Michael King gave an insightful response when asked about Jackson Merrill's impact and what his energys to th bringe Padres.
Michael King giving Jackson Merrill his flowers
“He's 21 years old. Everything he does is baseball. It's not like he has a family that he goes home to and kids that he goes and talks to. He gets to the field and he's so happy to be here and talks about how we're all his best friends and we're just having fun,” King said of Merrill via AJ Cassavell on X (formerly Twitter).
Jackson Merrill, who previously made headlines by hitting four game-tying home runs in the eighth inning or later within an 11-day stretch from July 31 to August 10, had a notable impact on Monday's game in a different way.
Instead of a home run, he delivered a double in the third inning that drove in all three runners on base, bouncing off the left-center field wall just short of the warning track.
“Now me, sitting here, having a bad outing — I look at Jackson and I'm like: That's the mentality that I need to have. It's just his contagious mentality. We go out, and we're playing a kids game, we're loving each other, and it's a lot easier game when you're playing for your brothers,” he continued.
Early game jitters but a quick recovery for King
King (11-6) struggled during his first two innings, allowing two runs and using 45 pitches. However, he improved as the game progressed, allowing just four hits in total and recording six strikeouts.
He found his rhythm in the middle innings, retiring nine of the last 10 batters he faced. After Austin Martin's one-out single in the fourth, Minnesota managed just one more hit—a two-out infield single by Christian Vázquez in the ninth that brought Julien home.
Merrill quickly found himself in an 0-2 count but managed to drive a hip-high changeup the opposite way for his ninth go-ahead RBI of the season. He also has seven game-tying RBIs, and his total of 16 go-ahead and game-tying hits ranks fourth on the team, trailing only Jurickson Profar (23), Manny Machado (21), and Jake Cronenworth (20).
The San Diego Padres setting the tone the entire game
Jason Adam and Tanner Scott each delivered a scoreless inning for San Diego, setting the stage for Robert Suarez, who secured his 28th save in the ninth.
Edouard Julien drew a walk and came around to score on Christian Vázquez’s two-out single, but Suarez closed it out by getting Jose Miranda to ground out to shortstop.
In his second major league start, Twins right-hander Zebby Matthews (1-1) pitched five innings, giving up four hits. He was tagged for five runs, but only two were earned.
With the bases loaded and two outs, Merrill smashed a double into the left-center field gap.
Minnesota grabbed an early 1-0 advantage in the first inning when Matt Wallner's double drove in Trevor Larnach from first base.
San Diego quickly countered in the bottom of the inning, scoring twice as Jake Cronenworth's groundout brought in a run, followed by Xander Bogaerts' RBI single that brought Profar home.
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