San Diego

Padres

Merrill’s solo home run in the seventh inning got the Padres on the board and tied this game at one run apiece. It was a majestic blast too, traveling an estimated 449 feet with a 109 mph exit velocity and Merrill is suddenly red-hot. Over his last four games, he’s gone 8-for-14 with four home runs and could finally, at long last, be getting it together this season.

King had his swing-and-miss stuff working here despite struggling with his command. He forced 16 whiffs in total – two off his season-high – and retired eight of the last nine batters he faced. But again, his command was still wonky. His four walks matched a season-high and three of those came in a row to start this game. He was throwing changeups and sweepers that were feet off the plate during that flurry and had to dig deep to only let one run in. It’s incredible how highly effective he’s remained without the fantastic command that made him an ace two seasons ago. In total, he has 103 strikeouts, 49 walks, and a 3.24 ERA across 119 1/3 innings and is scheduled for a juicy two-start week against the Rockies and Giants at home next week.

Machado is still hitting just .204. but he’s now tied for 11th in the majors in homers and for 28th with 59 RBI. Even if this winds up being the worst season of his career, he’ll probably get to 30 homers an eighth time and maybe to 100 RBI for a fifth time.

Buehler allowed just two hits, which allowed him to work around five walks. He’s issued 17 free passes over 22 innings in his last five starts, three of which were rather ugly. Still, even though he has a 5.23 ERA and isn’t pitching very deep into games, the Padres are an impressive 13-7 in his starts this season. He’s due to face the Marlins on Sunday.

Tonight’s checked in at 474 feet off JR Ritchie. Tatis has three homers in four games and is now up to eight for the year after going his first 55 games without one. He finished tonight with a .752 OPS, his highest mark after any game this season.

It’s the lowest Bogaerts has batted since 2015, according to MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell. The 33-year-old’s massive contract makes him extremely challenging to move at the upcoming deadline, but San Diego is probably going to be motivated to find a way, especially if they’re pivoting to more of a long-term reconstruction. He’s batting .194 (20-for-103) with one homer over his last 30 games and holds a career-worst .637 OPS through 95 games this season.

Miller is one of the best closers in baseball and has three more years of team control, so the Padres will not force a trade, but moving Miller would enable them to attach Xander Bogaert’s out-sized salary, which Passan notes would interest the Padres. That puts San Diego “in a position to dangle the best reliever in baseball and see what kind of bites they get.”

Machado’s home run was his 20th of the season. He hit a solo shot off Bryce Elder in the fourth inning. Machado had been 0-for-9 with four walks in three games since the All-Star break entering Monday. Machado is in the midst of one of the most difficult seasons of his career as he raised his averaged to .201 on the season with the two-hit effort Monday.

Sears gave up three hits, walked none and struck out three. He fell to 2-3 with the loss. Sears allowed an unearned run in the fifth inning when a catcher’s interference allowed Mauricio Dubon to reach base and later score. Sears has a 4.38 ERA. He’s lined up to face the Marlins on the road this weekend.

Pivetta is slated to face hitters for the first time since landing on the injured list with a flexor strain back in mid-April. He made it through an up-and-down bullpen session last Friday without any issues. The expectation from the start was that Pivetta would pitch again this season and he appears to be on track to make that a reality. There should be a definitive return timetable once he’s ready to make his first minor league rehab start at some point in August.