Jackson Merrill and Fernando Tatis Jr. hit home runs, Michael King overcame a shaky start to complete seven innings, and the visiting San Diego Padres overtook the San Francisco Giants for a sixth consecutive win, 7-6 on Saturday afternoon.
Dustin Harris drove in three runs and Xander Bogaerts had four hits for the Padres (80-68), who temporarily moved a full game ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks for the third and final National League wild-card playoff spot. The Diamondbacks hosted the Texas Rangers later in the day.
Down 2-0 after Rafael Devers’ 37th home run in the first inning – they later trailed 3-2 following Shay Whitcomb’s blast in the second — the Padres scored in six consecutive innings to build a 7-3 lead.
Merrill’s homer, his 25th, tied the game at 3 in the third, and Tatis’ 21st made it 6-3 in the sixth. In between, Harris had a sacrifice fly and Jake Cronenworth a run-producing bunt single.
Giants starter Cesar Perdomo (0-1) couldn’t finish the fifth, having allowed five runs and 10 hits in 4 2/3 innings. He walked two and struck out three.
King (11-9) was pulled with a 7-3 lead after the seventh, having set down 16 of the final 18 batters he faced. He was charged with three runs on five hits, striking out four and walking none.
The Giants (62-87) made things interesting in the eighth when Drew Cavanaugh led off with his first career homer and Drew Gilbert followed two batters later with a two-run blast.
Adrian Morejon came on at that point and retired the middle of the San Francisco lineup in order to preserve the one-run lead. Mason Miller, called upon for the second straight day, threw a 1-2-3 ninth with a pair of strikeouts for his 36th save.
Austin Hays collected two hits and scored twice for the Padres, who beat the Giants for the eighth time in 12 tries this season. Bogaerts also scored twice, while Tatis had a single to complement his homer.
Gilbert amassed two hits, two runs and two RBIs for the Giants, who fell to 15-26 in one-run games.
-Field Level Media
