The San Diego Padres avoided a sweep and protected their position in the NL Wild Card race with a 3-0 shutout victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates at Petco Park.
Jackson Merrill powered the offense with two hits, scoring the game's first run before driving in Manny Machado with an RBI triple to make it 2-0. Luis Rengifo delivered the first RBI of the game, while Jake Cronenworth added an eighth-inning RBI single after Freddy Fermín stole second.
Randy Vásquez set the tone with five scoreless innings while allowing only one hit, but the biggest story came from a Padres bullpen operating without Adrian Morejon and Mason Miller. Kyle Hart escaped a sixth-inning jam after a spectacular diving play by Cronenworth, Yuki Matsui inherited a bases-loaded situation in the seventh and struck out two straight hitters, and Bradgley Rodriguez escaped back-to-back singles in the eighth before helping finish the shutout.
The series produced just nine total runs across three games, with both teams struggling historically with runners in scoring position. Pittsburgh finished 2-for-30 with RISP and 16 strikeouts in those situations, while San Diego finished 4-for-24.
Arizona's win over Chicago increased the pressure on San Diego, but the Padres answered and remained one game ahead in the Wild Card race.
GRIES breaks down Merrill's big day, Vásquez's strong start, the bullpen's incredible sixth-through-eighth inning survival act, Cronenworth and Bogaerts' defensive gems, the historically bad RISP numbers and a badly needed win to avoid the sweep.
#Padres #SanDiegoPadres #JacksonMerrill #RandyVasquez #JakeCronenworth #MLB #NLWildCard #PadresBaseball #LockedOnPadres #Pirates
🎙️Padres Postcast with Host Jim "Gries" Grieshaber
The Padres are off tomorrow before heading out on the road for back-to-back series' at Tampa Bay and Cincinnati starting Friday night.
We will be here right after every game with your PADRES POSTCAST, hosted by Jim "Gries" Grieshaber.
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