Sunday brought a small step forward from Fernando Tatis Jr.
The slump-ridden Padres star sustained improved form throughout a 5-2 loss to the Athletics that denied the home team a three-game sweep.
The first time up, Tatis smacked a hard liner the other way for a single.
In his next two at-bats, he pulled the ball, going for a single and a double.
As Tatis batted in the ninth inning as the potential tying runner, the A’s stayed true to the Tatis scouting report.
Righty reliever Scott Barlow began with two sweepers — one too low, one off the plate.
Tatis took each for a ball.
This was progress.
Barlow prevailed, throwing a 2-0 fastball on the outside corner that Tatis hit for a game-ending flyout to right field.
Tatis could point to gains in the four at-bats other than a check-swing, first-pitch groundout.
“Felt better,” he said. “More comfortable. More timing. So, it’s coming along.”
Tatis isn’t the only Padres star who, with the season nearly a third done, has underperformed his career norms by a lot.
Manny Machado brought in a .186 batting average, a .341 slug rate, although he had eight home runs and a career-best walk rate.
Sunday, the cleanup hitter had a sacrifice fly on a home run pitch and a walk.
Jackson Merrill of the San Diego Padres reacts after popping out to end the fourth inning against the Athletics at Petco Park on May 24, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)
Jackson Merrill sought better results, too.
He took in a .278 on-base rate and .328 slug rate.
Seemingly recovered from a back ailment caused by Wednesday’s attempt to catch Shohei Ohtani’s home run ball, after which he sat out a game, Merrill took hard swings and ran freely.
The No. 6 hitter’s day ended on a high note: he earned a leadoff walk in the ninth inning by challenging a full-count fastball that was less than one-tenth of an inch off the outside corner.
Merrill’s other three plate appearances brought only frustration to the third-year big leaguer, 23.
All came with a man or two on base.
Merrill got ahead each time, but hit a soft flyout, a popout and a groundout.
A’s long reliever Jacob Lopez won each of those lefty-on-lefty duels against Merrill, who batted in front of right-handed home run threats Ramon Laureano and Ty France.
Lopez was this game’s MVP.
He far outpitched his poor season statistics as part of an 4 2/3-inning, one-run outing. The A’s, playing their 13th game in 13 days, were in desperate need of Lopez’s success.
“He was attacking the strike zone,” Tatis said. “All his pitches, he had command today. So, he just mixed really well, and probably had the right attack plan today.”
Padres manager Craig Stammen was asked about Tatis’ at-bats.
He called them a great sign. “He’s trending in the right direction,” Stammen said.
The manager was asked about Machado and Merrill as well.
“I know (Machado) wants that pitch back that he hit the sacrifice fly,” he said. “He walked once. Those are two pretty good at-bats. It’s coming.
“Jackson, same thing,” Stammen added. “Big walk in the ninth inning. Got us going against a tough lefty. They had a lefty on him the entire game. Tough at-bats on him. He’ll get back at it.”
On this day, the Padres saw a San Diegan give them a hard time.
Shortstop Alika Williams, a Rancho Bernardo High School graduate and former first-round pick of the Rays, made three big plays in his first start since the A’s got him from the Pirates.
Williams backhanded a laser-groundball to start a first-inning double play.
Increasing Oakland’s lead to 3-0 in the third, he grounded a run-scoring single off Padres ace Michael King.
Two frames later, Williams threw Ty France out at home as France tried to score on Tatis’ two-out double.
The Padres (31-20) didn’t get the sweep despite what appeared to be a lopsided pitching matchup when the game began.
But if Tatis’ progress leads to the righty hitter heating up further and soon, Sunday’s game will go down as a big win.