Jake

Cronenworth

Cronenworth went deep off left-hander JoJo Romero to give San Diego a 3-2 lead in the must-win game. The 32-year-old also singled and is now hitting .200/.250/.400 in the postseason. He’ll have a chance to help San Diego stave off elimination again in Game 4 against the Brewers on Wednesday.

Merrill is hitting second for the first time since late July as San Diego attempts to stave off elimination and begin climbing out of an 0-2 deficit as the best-of-five series shifts to Petco Park. It’ll be Ethan Salas handling the catching duties for the third time in five postseason contests with Gavin Sheets getting the nod at DH. Here’s the full lineup: Fernando Tatis Jr. (RF), Merrill (CF), Manny Machado (3B), Ty France (1B), Salas (C), Sheets (DH), Xander Bogaerts (SS), Dustin Harris (LF) and Jake Cronenworth (2B).

The Padres are rolling with the same starting nine that they did in Game 1, the only change is that Salas and Xander Bogaerts have swapped lineup spots and Luis Campusano will do the catching with Salas serving as the DH. Here’s how they’ll line up against Brewers’ right-hander Logan Henderson on Sunday: Fernando Tatis Jr. (RF), Dustin Harris (LF), Manny Machado (3B), Ty France (1B), Jackson Merrill (CF), Salas (DH), Xander Bogaerts (SS), Luis Campusano (C) and Jake Cronenworth (2B).

Salas earns his second consecutive nod behind the plate as the Padres kick off a best-of-five matchup against a powerhouse Brewers squad. The 20-year-old prodigy, who is a revelation from a defensive standpoint, has gone 1-for-2 with an RBI in the postseason. Here’s the full lineup: Fernando Tatis Jr. (RF), Dustin Harris (LF), Manny Machado (3B), Ty France (1B), Jackson Merrill (CF), Xander Bogaerts (SS), Salas (C), Luis Campusano (DH) and Jake Cronenworth (2B).

Salas will be the youngest player in baseball history to catch a postseason game when he makes his playoff debut at just 20 years old in this one. The Padres have a chance to punch their ticket to the NLDS after scoring eight runs during a Game 1 blowout victory on Tuesday night at Petco Park. Here’s the full lineup: Fernando Tatis Jr. (RF), Dustin Harris (LF), Manny Machado (3B), Ty France (1B), Jackson Merrill (CF), Xander Bogaerts (SS), Salas (C), Austin Hays (DH) and Jake Cronenworth (2B).

The biggest surprise here is sparkplug Samad Taylor getting a chance to face Cubs lefty Matthew Boyd in the second spot in the order with Dustin Harris presumably set to come off the bench in his place once Chicago goes to the bullpen. Here’s the full lineup as San Diego kicks off the postseason at Petco Park with Michael King on the hill: Tatis Jr. (RF), Taylor (LF), Manny Machado (3B), Ty France (1B), Jackson Merrill (CF), Austin Hays (DH), Xander Bogaerts (SS), Jake Cronenworth (2B) and Luis Campusano (C).

Where did that come from? Cronenworth entered with five homers and 31 RBI all season. His only previous two-homer game came in Apr. 2023 against the Brewers. That was also his last five-RBI game. He hadn’t even had a four-RBI game since 2024. The performance raised his OPS this season from .608 to .637. With the win, the Padres stayed five games ahead of the D-backs with six to play.

Cronenworth’s homer, the second of three consecutive homers off Cole to begin the game, was a 98-mph liner down the left field line that sailed over the low wall at Petco Park. The 32-year-old had 84 career homers since debuting in 2020, with every single one being to the right of an imaginary line bisecting the field. He’s hitting .212/.298/.296 with five homers in 351 plate appearances this season.

Hitting this version of Cronenworth second would have been standard practice in 1986, but it’s quite unseemly now. He’s batting .218/.302/.295, and while it’s true that he does bat lower against lefties, he doesn’t have a platoon split this season, coming in at .211/.302/.289 against righties.

With the scored tied at 5-5, Cronenworth poked a single to score Freddy Fermin to give the Padres the victory. It’s just the 14th RBI of the season for Cronenworth, and he’s disappointed throughout 2026 as seen in a .215/.309/.288 slash. He probably doesn’t care about that too much right now.