Good morning from San Francisco,
It starts with talent.
All the desire and resilience in the world doesn’t matter over the long haul without talent.
The Padres’ latest comeback victory and latest one-run victory provided a living illustration.
The Giants — with a lineup of Rafael Devers, a couple waiver wire pickups and a bushel of rookies — are playing their best baseball of the season.
“These guys, man,” Xander Bogaerts said yesterday. “That’s the thing. Coming down the line, you play teams that might be out of it but they’ve got some young kids.”
He recalled a Giants player at second base on Friday taking a big lead. Bogaerts talked to him during a break in action.
“Bro, you going? You want to steal?” Bogaerts recalled asking. “He said, ‘I got two weeks.’ He wants to show them. He wants to run, wants to win. You’re playing hungry guys.”
This is not to say the Padres simply out-talented the pesky — and actually kind of good — Giants for a 7-6 victory yesterday.
The Padres also did a number of little things that helped them win and could help them win in the postseason.
But, at the start and in the middle and definitely at the end, they smothered the Giants with superior talent. Just as they did the Nationals earlier in the week and as they will need to this coming week against the Rockies.
You can read in my game story (here) about all that went down.
Dynamic duo
Fernando Tatis Jr. hit his first home run of the season on May 30.
Jackson Merrill was batting .198 on June 8.
Earlier this week, Tatis hit his 20th home run to make him and Merrill the only Padres teammates to ever have at least 20 home runs and at least 20 steals in the same season.
Yesterday, Merrill hit his 25th home run, making him one of four Padres players ever to have at least 25 home runs and at least 25 steals in the same season.
Tatis has reached the 25/25 threshold three times and, after homering yesterday is four home runs from doing it a fourth.
“Those are offensive numbers, the steals and the home runs,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said. “But power-speed combo, that’s a rare trait, and we got a couple guys that can do that.”
It can certainly be a focus for the offseason and beyond that Merrill and Tatis need to find their consistent excellence closer to April. But yesterday provided occasion to reflect on just how remarkable it is that they are putting up the numbers they are.
Tatis welcomed the newest member of the 25/25 club with a sentiment that summed up what they both have done the past few months.
“He has that type of talent,” Tatis said. “He’s that type of player, and you know, also the adjustments that he has made this year to play this season (and get) better toward the end, it’s really impressive. So, just happy for him and glad it’s paying off for both of us.”
Second-half trio
What Merrill and Tatis have done since the All-Star break is part of something that might end up being unprecedented.
Merrill and Tatis have a chance, along with Ty France, to become the first trio in Padres history to all have an OPS of at least .900 after the All-Star break (minimum 200 plate appearances).
Tatis came out of yesterday with a .996 OPS in 50 games since the break. Merrill has a .933 OPS in 51 games. France is at .937 through 50 games.
There have been just two instances of even two Padres having an OPS that high after the break — Randy Ready and Tony Gwynn in 1987 and Ryan Klesko and Mark Loretta in 2004.
With 14 games remaining, Tatis (16) and Merrill (15) are already just the fourth Padres duo to ever have at least 15 home runs in the second half. The previous tandems were Fred McGriff and Gary Sheffield in 1992, Ken Camiuniti and Greg Vaughn in 1998 and Manny Machado and Juan Soto in 2023.
M&M machine
My game story focused quite a bit on how the Padres, despite their seven runs and the seven innings from Michael King, had to once again rely on the Mason Miller and Adrian Morejón machine.
A four-run lead at the start of the eighth inning had the Padres thinking they might get to the end without using their closer and setup man.
Didn’t happen.
“You’ve got to use them when you’ve got to use them,” Stammen said. “And we had to use them today.”
That’s the story of their season.
“I’m ready every day,” Morejón said. “Doesn’t matter the situation. In the fifth (inning) every time, doesn’t matter the score, I’m moving around.”
Said Miller: “Always locked in. It’s not like a slight to anybody, but you’re always staying prepared because you never know what can happen.”
Yesterday, it was the Giants scoring three runs in the eighth inning against Bradgley Rodriguez that forced Morejón into the game to get three outs. And Miller followed with three more in the ninth.
Morejón’s volume of work, in particular, is stunningly high.
Yesterday was his 70th game, and he reached 80⅔ innings for the season.
The Brewers’ Aaron Ashby (81⅓ innings, 70 appearances) is the only one doing what Morejón is, pitching so often and getting so many outs. And Ashby is not facing the heart of the order in the eighth inning while throwing 100 mph-plus almost every outing.
“I’m not concerned about it because of the work that I know he puts in behind the scenes,” Stammen said. “But it is an amazing season that he’s having right now. We’re able to count on him in any situation. He’s able to deliver.”
Miller yesterday tied last year’s career high by making his 60th appearance. He is 1⅔ innings from matching his career high in innings, which is 65 set in 2024.
“Until it’s a concern, it’s not a concern,” Miller said. “We’re going to keep preparing and keep doing everything we need in the (trainers room) to be ready for tomorrow.”
Something to watch
Rodriguez threw two four-seam fastballs and two sinkers yesterday, none of them faster than 96.9 mph. It was the first time in 70 career appearances that he did not throw at least one pitch harder above 97 mph.
A drop in velocity sometimes happens to relievers. And then they rebound.
But it is worth noting that the 22-year-old Rodriguez has pitched 66⅓ innings in 63 appearances in his first full season in the major leagues.
“There’s a part of this is his first season where he’s pitching into September and hopefully October,” Stammen said. “There’s going to be bumps along the way. It’s not always going to be smooth. He’s had such an amazing season thus far. We expect him to not have any hiccups. And there’s just going to be hiccups along the way, no matter how good you are. And there’s days you have it, and there’s days that the hitters just have you. That’s part of being a relief pitcher. So he’s a strong-minded kid. He’s going to bounce back, and he’ll be just fine.”
Rodriguez threw 18 pitches in a scoreless inning Friday night and was pitching yesterday for the fifth time in nine days.
After reaching 100 mph and throwing every one of his seven fastballs at least 98.1 mph, Rodriguez said on Friday night, “I feel great. … Honestly, I feel fresh. I feel like it’s the start of the season.”
King of quality
Two pitches kept King from possibly being on the verge of a team-record scoreless streak.
“A couple hangers,” King said.
He was referring to the sweeper he left just high enough for Devers to get a two-run homer over the tall right field wall in the first inning and the sweeper he left in the heart of the strike zone for Shay Whitcomb to hit over the center field wall in the second inning.
“I hate Devers,” King said.
It was a respectful loathing for the Giants slugger, who has 13 home runs in his past 25 games.
King lamented that his breaking ball was in just about the same place as the curveball Devers hit for a grand slam off Robbie Ray on Friday.
The pitch was about mid-shin but over the center of the plate.
“You saw what he did to Robbie’s (pitch) yesterday,” King said. “Supposed to be a backdoor breaking ball, pulled down under, which I know is still a hot zone for him. So yeah, two missed pitches there that hurt. But I settled in.”
King sure did. He retired the next 14 batters he faced before allowing two singles in the seventh inning.
The Devers home run ended a streak of 21⅔ scoreless innings by King, the 13th longest stretch by a starting pitcher in franchise history and 8⅓ innings shy of Randy Jones’ record set in 1980.
The three runs King allowed in his seven innings gave him his 17th quality start of the season, which is half of the Padres’ total. It was his seventh consecutive quality start, making him just the fourth Padres pitcher since 2015 to have that many in a row, joining Yu Darvish (nine in 2022), Joe Musgrove (12 in ‘22 and nine in ‘23), Blake Snell (nine in ‘23).
King’s ERA rose three hundredths of a point to 3.03, as he made his 30th start and reached a career-high 175 innings.
That is the same number of starts King made in 2024, his first year with the Padres and first season as a full-time starter. It is twice as many starts as he made in an injury-interrupted 2025 when he threw just 73⅓ innings.
“I didn’t even know those numbers,” King said of his innings total and number of starts this season. “Just sticking to the routine, staying out there. I know we went through a stretch there where we really didn’t even have starting pitching, so just happy to provide as many innings as possible and now really lock it in for the last stretch.”
King almost certainly has three starts remaining.
Unless they can wrap up a playoff spot before then, it is virtually certain the Padres will swap start days for Ray and King next week so that King starts the series opener against the Dodgers and is available to start the season finale against the Diamondbacks.
New 2
The Padres may have found their No.2 hitter, at least for the time being.
Dustin Harris yesterday became the 11th player to bat second for the Padres.
He continued to be productive, going 1-for-4 with a sacrifice fly. So he will likely continue to be slotted between Tatis and Machado in the lineup for now.
“We’ve been thinking about it for a while, and we’ve been trying to find what guy might fit,” Stammen said. “We’ve tried a few options here lately, and he was another option to try. And sometimes they tell you who should hit second. And today he had such a great game, I think you might be seeing him there the next couple days.”
The Padres are getting a .651 OPS from the No.2 spot, lowest in the major leagues.
Harris is batting .342 (12-for-35) since being called up on Aug. 24.
His two-out single in yesterday’s second inning drove in two runs and tied the game 2-2. His sacrifice fly in the fourth inning brought in another run.
Harris maintained that nothing changed with the text from Stammen on Friday night telling him where he’d be batting.
“I thought maybe I’d get better pitches to hit just being in front of Manny, knowing they’d rather face me than Machado,” Harris said. “… But I didn’t think too much about it. Just tried to go compete and get the next guy the at-bat.”
Opportunistic
It sort of looked like a safety squeeze. Except it was not.
There were two outs, and Jake Cronenworth bunted on his own in the fifth inning.
“If you’re gonna give me a hit, especially with a guy on third base,” Cronenworth said.
The man on third was Austin Hays, and he and third base coach Bob Henley had noticed Whitcomb, the Giants’ third baseman, playing back.
“We were just saying he’s playing over right here, but he’s not playing in, so there’s a chance he lays one down here,” Hays recalled. “(Henley said), ‘Just read it down and go.’ So I was kind of expecting it in a way, just trying to be ready for it. And sure enough, I saw him square. So as soon as I saw it with a down angle, I was gonna go.”
lemme just squeeze right past ya pic.twitter.com/4QF4HvNtiA
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) September 12, 2026
It was the second straight inning the Padres scored thanks to a bunt and heads-up baserunning.
Samad Taylor led off the fourth inning with a bunt and took off for second base on a pitch that Tatis swung at and dribbled to the left side. Taylor did not slide into second and, when Giants pitcher César Perdomo threw to first, Taylor kept running and slid safely into third.
“I was thinking about it the whole time,” Taylor said. “I’m not gonna say I’m the fastest guy in the world. But I feel like I run better than 90% of the people, and I like to play balls to the wall.”
Taylor ended up scoring when Harris lined a ball to center field for a sacrifice fly.
Stammen saw in the sequence a statement by and a warning for his team.
“We’ve got to fight for every run that we want to score,” he said. “The other team is not just going to give it to us just because they’re out of the playoff hunt. They’ve got a lot of guys over there, and credit them both games that they have not quit and they have fought back and tried to beat us. So it’s a message for us tomorrow. We got to bring our ‘A’ game. If we don’t, they’ll get us. So when we play that (way), we take the extra base, we play fast like that. That’s what Samad adds to our lineup — creates those extra runs, creates a little bit of havoc. And every single run matters.”
Right against left
Hays was signed by the Padres last month for his ability to hit left-handed pitchers.
He started with a bang, launching a pinch-hit homer off left-hander Bryan King in his Padres debut on Aug. 9.
He went 2-for-5 two nights later in his first start with his new team.
Then, he had five hits over his next 32 at-bats. That included his going 5-for-22 against lefties.
In his past two games, both starts as the designated hitter, he is 4-for-5. All of the at-bats have come against left-handed pitchers.
“We’re playing really good ball,” Hays said. “We’re winning a lot of games. We had a really good homestand. It carried over into this road series so far, so just really good vibes in the clubhouse. I know my role, so kind of found my routine and what I need to do to be ready every day, and it’s been good so far. … I’ve platooned in the past. I’ve played every day. I kind of have a routine for each one, just depending on what I’m doing. I feel like I’ve settled into that now, and am just taking really good at-bats. I’ve had good takes. Balls I’m putting in play, I’m hitting them on a line. I’m hitting them hard. So just keep doing that.”
One thing that can be counted on is that this time of year is not too big for Hays.
This is his fourth straight playoff race. The first three — with the Orioles, Phillies and Reds — ended in the postseason.
“I’ve played for a lot of good teams, which is a good atmosphere to be in,” Hays said. “There’s always something you’re playing for every night, and it’s just been nice that I’ve had that opportunity to be on good teams.”
X in a good spot
Bogaerts had a season-high four hits, scored twice and stole a base yesterday.
He is quietly having a decent September.
During what is shaping up to be the least productive of his 13 full big-league seasons, Bogaerts has at least remained disciplined.
His 23% chase rate ranks 21st among all qualifying batters. That has allowed him to keep his on-base percentage (.323) about 100 points higher than his batting average (.224).
“I think I’m seeing it good,” said Bogaerts, who is batting .314 (11-for-35) and getting on base at a .415 clip in 10 games this month. “I’m getting some walks, trying not to chase as much as possible. … When you’re not doing so well, you tend to (try to) swing your way out of it, which is kind of the way to do it. But I’m trying not to chase as much. I think that’s probably the best thing.”
Andujar update
Left fielder and DH Miguel Andujar, who has been on the injured list since July 20 with a fractured right wrist, went into Saturday having gone 2-for-12 with two doubles in three games for Triple-A El Paso.
The Padres are waiting primarily for one thing to happen before bringing him back from his rehab assignment.
“When he gets hot,” Stammen said. “Get him hot, and we’ll get that bat up here. He hasn’t played a full game in the field yet. So … get his bat hot, we’ll try to bring him up at the right time.”
Tidbits
After going 1-for-4 with a walk yesterday, Merrill is batting .387 (29-for-75) in 18 career games at Oracle Park. Among players with at least 70 plate appearances at the Giants’ ballpark, only Sean Casey’s .469 average (45-for-95) is higher. Merrill’s 1.050 OPS at Oracle Park is fifth highest ever among players with at least 75 plate appearances.
Taylor’s bunt hit was his sixth of the season, most by a Padres player since Trent Grisham had eight in 2022. Grisham got his total in 524 plate appearances. Taylor has 134 plate appearances.
Tatis was 2-for-3 with three walks yesterday. He is batting .385 (10-for-26) and has reached base in half of his 32 plate appearance during a seven-game on-base streak.
Yesterday was the first game in Tatis’ career he reached base five times, hit a home run and stole a base. Of the 10 Padres players to ever have such a day, Tatis is the only one to have also reached on an error.
Tatis’ home run left his bat at 112 mph. It was his fifth homer this season hit that hard, tied with three others for fourth most in the majors.
Luis Campusano went 1-for-5 to extend his on-base streak to eight games. He is batting .300 (9-for-30) with a .382 OBP during the streak.
Machado was 0-for-4 with a walk yesterday and is 0-for-13 with two walks over his past three games. This skid comes on the heels of his batting .452 (14-for-31) with seven walks, two doubles and two home runs over his previous nine games.
Bogaerts stole his career-high 21st base of the season yesterday. Bogaerts 93.2% success rate (41-for-44) leads all MLB players with at least 40 stolen base attempts since the start of last season.
Bogaerts hit his 400th double yesterday. That is eighth most in the major leagues since his debut on Aug. 13, 2013.
Ethan Salas pinch-hit for Hays when the Giants brought in a right-handed reliever in the seventh inning. Salas finished 0-for-2 and has begun his career 0-for-14. Among the handful of excellent plays Giants rookie second baseman Jonah Cox made was going to his left to make a sliding stop in the grass and throw out Salas.
Sung-Mun Song entered the game as a defensive replacement and ended up batting in the ninth. His strikeout dropped him to 2-for-33 since July 20.
Exactly half of the 34 games the Padres and Giants have played at Oracle Park since 2022 have been decided by one run. Just seven of the 36 games the teams have played at Petco Park in that span have had that slim margin.
Yesterday was the Padres’ 80th win. This is just the 21st time in 51 full seasons a Padres team has reached 80 wins, and five of those have come in the past five seasons.
With the Diamondbacks and Phillies losing yesterday, the Padres are as far behind the Phillies as they are ahead of the Diamondbacks. But not really. The Phillies won all six games they played against the Padres this season, meaning they hold the tiebreaker and the Padres need to finish a game ahead of them. This is the furthest ahead of the Diamondbacks the Padres have been since Aug. 27.
All right, that’s it for me.
Remember, different start time (4:20 p.m. PT) because the game is on “Sunday Night Baseball” on Peacock.
Talk to you tomorrow.