The Padres will ride hot hands on Monday (4:15 p.m. on Padres.TV) to start a four-game series in Atlanta, with Jackson Merrill remaining in the two-hole and Ty France batting clean-up.
First of four in Atlanta. pic.twitter.com/iyaPayo9Mv
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) July 20, 2026
Both Merrill and France hit two home runs each in Sunday’s salvage job in Kansas City.
Merrill had been hitless in three straight games before driving in four runs on four hits to lift his batting line to .221/.277/.363.
Monday is his ninth straight game in the two-hole after spending a spell in the bottom half of the lineup.
France is hitting clean-up for just the fifth time this season. He’s hitting .458/.500/1.083 with four homers and nine RBIs during a seven-game hitting streak.
The Padres had also been trying Xander Bogaerts in the three-hole, but the 33-year-old veteran is hitting .132/.244/.237 over his last 10 games.
Bogaerts will drop down to sixth on Monday and serve as the designated hitter as Sung-Mun Song (.655 OPS) will man shortstop and bat ninth.
Song is hitting .302/.400/.442 over his last 20 games.
Gavin Sheets (.732 OPS) will play left field and bat fifth. Jake Cronenworth (.569 OPS) is back in the lineup, at second and in the seven-hole, and Freddy Fermin (.523 OPS) will catch and bat eighth.
Sunday’s win upped the Padres’ playoff odds from 8% to 9.7% at Fangraphs.com. They begin the week 2 ½ games out of the NL’s last wild-card spot with five teams to overtake to get back into playoff position.
The Padres swept the Braves last month in the midst of Atlanta’s 9-14 June. The Braves are 8-7 to start July and atop the NL East.
Here is how the Braves will line up for Game 1:
New series on deck!#BravesCountry pic.twitter.com/nC0pfM9PdA
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) July 20, 2026
Monday’s pitching matchup
Padres LHP JP Sears (2-2, 5.03 ERA)
He’s making his fifth start after starting the year at Triple-A El Paso, where he had a 7.92 ERA in 63⅔ innings. Sears beat the Braves in his first start of the season with 5⅔ innings of two-run ball. To date, Sears has a 17-to-8 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 19⅔ innings. He has yet to complete six innings in a start in the majors this year.
Here is how Sears has fared against current Braves:
Braves RHP Bryce Elder (5-6, 4.12 ERA)
The 27-year-old has an 11.00 ERA over his last four starts (18 IP), as he’s allowed eight home runs over that stretch. Elder has a 3.34 ERA in 10 starts at home, compared to a 5.31 ERA on the road. He has a 9.82 ERA in two starts against the Padres, the last in 2024 (3 IP, 6 ER).
Here is how Elder has fared against current Padres:
