Last night was a fortuitous time to get it together, coming as it did a day after they so egregiously did not<\/a> and with them trying to remain relevant in the National League playoff chase.<\/p>\n It should not be overlooked that France had another clutch hit last night \u2014 a two-out RBI single in the first inning that made sure the Padres did not blow a prime scoring opportunity yet again.<\/p>\n France extended his hitting streak to nine games, is has an 1.162 OPS over the past month and has arguably been the team\u2019s MVP to date.<\/p>\n But this team was built around a core. Its ultimate success will correlate to the core\u2019s success. And the members of that core have not been living up to their end of the deals they signed.<\/p>\n They know it.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, if we were all freaking doing well, we wouldn\u2019t be in this position,\u201d Machado said last night. \u201cIt\u2019d be a different story. So, absolutely, at the end of the day, we all need to perform at the highest level, and that\u2019s what they pay us for. That\u2019s why we\u2019re here.\u201d<\/p>\n Last night was the first game this season in which Machado, Merrill and Tatis all homered.<\/p>\n It was just the 11th time they drove in more than three runs between them and the third time they all had multiple hits.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s huge,\u201d Tatis said. \u201cThat\u2019s why we got paid. That\u2019s what we\u2019re here for, and that\u2019s what everybody expects from us, and that\u2019s what we should be doing. That\u2019s what we\u2019re here for. Simple as that.\u201d<\/p>\n Machado homered twice last night. Tatis and Merrill homered once apiece. Tatis also had an RBI double and a single. Merrill singled and walked.<\/p>\n The trio has been far from terrific in 2026.<\/p>\n Machado is on pace to hit 35 homers, more than he has had in any season since he hit 37 in 2018. But his .204 batting average is the highest it has been since he was batting .207 on May 6, and his .727 OPS is nearly 100 points below the career .824 mark he brought into the season. But things are looking up.<\/p>\n Machado has homered the past two nights and his .973 OPS over his past 35 games ranks 15th in the major leagues in that span (since June 9). This is without question the best stretch they have put together together. And that is without question the best thing that could happen to the Padres outside them starting to get quality starts night after night.<\/p>\n \u201cYou get some of your best hitters going at the same time, it\u2019s pretty hard to beat you,\u201d Merrill said. \u201cSo, you know, it\u2019s a pretty obvious key to our success.\u201d<\/p>\n How it\u2019s shaping up<\/p>\n Craig Stammen does not deny he is biased toward the players he presently has in the clubhouse.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, as the manager, it\u2019s hard to talk about getting rid of somebody and adding someone else,\u201d he said yesterday afternoon. \u201cThe guys that we have here, I think are fully capable of going on a hot streak and winning us a bunch of games and taking us through the playoffs. A.J. (Preller), that\u2019s his decision, the front office\u2019s decision, to see where we can get better and how those pieces get moved around.\u201d<\/p>\n Stammen does know how important this trip and next week\u2019s six-game homestand are, as Preller and ownership decide what to do at the trade deadline. Stammen, though, has forcefully asserted multiple times in the past few days how much of the season remains after Aug. 3.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are going to be 50 games past the trade deadline that are equally as important as these 10 games (before the deadline),\u201d he said. \u201cAnd so we\u2019re focused on finishing the season well, not just to the trade deadline.\u201d<\/p>\n While the Padres\u2019 preference remains to supplement their rotation and bullpen \u2014 and possibly their outfield \u2014 at the deadline, various factors could prevent them from making a huge splash even if they are buyers.<\/p>\n There are several teams looking to buy and relatively few sellers. The Padres might not have the prospects other teams want. Adding payroll is something they are willing to do only to a point.<\/p>\n Certainly, Stammen knows the Padres need more pitching in order to even dream about playing in October.<\/p>\n But that is not something he is projecting.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a team that we\u2019ve believed in all year,\u201d he said. \u201cSo if we stand pat, or whatever you\u2019d say, and believe in this team and go forward with it, we\u2019ve got 60 games to prove that we\u2019re the team that we thought we were at the beginning of the season. And there\u2019s nothing wrong with that. I believe in this team. I know what we\u2019re capable of. We\u2019re so close. Like right now, it seems like every loss makes us feel so far away, but we\u2019re really not that far away. You know, we get on a little bit of a hot streak, we\u2019re going to be in good shape.\u201d<\/p>\n The fact is, Preller went into this season the same way he went into 2024 and \u201825 \u2014 knowing his team\u2019s flaws and potential shortcomings and intending to address them at the trade deadline.<\/p>\n There is really not much debate about whether a Padres team without an infusion of starting pitching and another higher-leverage reliever would be able to make a serious playoff run.<\/p>\n But what has happened in the early days of the second half suggest this might be one of those seasons in which no one forcefully grasps the final wild-card spot and the sixth seed ends up being simply the last team standing.<\/p>\n The Marlins, who began the second half in possession of that No.6 seed, lost their eighth straight game last night. The Cardinals, who took over the sixth spot on Friday, last night lost their fourth in a row.<\/p>\n Yesterday\u2019s rainout in New York might be all that saved the Pirates, who are tied with the Diamondbacks for that final playoff spot after Arizona\u2019s win last night.<\/p>\n The Padres have gained 1\u00bd games in the standings since the All-Star break despite going 2-3 in that time. They do remain the sixth team of the six that are fighting for that final spot.<\/p>\n It lined up<\/p>\n Stammen made significant changes in the lineup yesterday.<\/p>\n What a genius!<\/p>\n \u201cWell, it worked out today,\u201d he said with a laugh. \u201cWe have good hitters. You know, it\u2019s not the lineup where they\u2019re hitting. When they commit to a plan and take good at-bats and the pitcher doesn\u2019t pitch his game, you can put up a game like that, which was a lot of good offense.\u201d<\/p>\n The Padres jumped on Braves starter Reynaldo Lopez and kept adding on. They scored in four of the first six innings. (That is something they did just four times in their first 91 games but have now done four times in their past 10 games.) Their six runs in last night\u2019s first six innings were 3.6 runs more than the MLB-worst average they brought into the game.<\/p>\n \u201cThe lineup is such a crazy thing,\u201d Stammen said. \u201cYou have these ideas and then it doesn\u2019t work out, and you\u2019re like, \u2018Well, it must be the lineup. We\u2019ve got to change it around.\u2019 But if the guys are feeling good at the plate and they\u2019re swinging at good pitches, it doesn\u2019t matter where they hit; they\u2019re going to find success.\u201d<\/p>\n Whatever. The jumbled concoction produced 13 hits and a total of 18 baserunners. It was just the eighth time this season they have had at least 13 hits and the seventh time they have had at least 18 baserunners.<\/p>\n You can read in my pregame notebook (here<\/a>) about the biggest of the multiple machinations \u2014 moving Xander Bogaerts lower in the lineup than he had been 11 years as the latest attempt to get him out of a skid that had seen him hit .183 with a .528 OPS over his previous 59 games.<\/p>\n Bogaerts was 1-for-4 with a double last night. He also had a 407-foot drive to center field tracked down and caught over the shoulder at the wall by Michael Harris II.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s going to get out of this eventually,\u201d Stammen said. \u201cIf he\u2019s hitting in the eight hole for us and he\u2019s hot, that means our lineup is in a pretty darn good spot.\u201d<\/p>\n Michael Harris II races back to make a nice catch at the wall \ud83d\udc4f pic.twitter.com\/4CNP1hHxpC<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 MLB (@MLB) July 21, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Big fly<\/p>\n Tatis\u2019 home run in the eighth inning was the longest of his career, the longest by a Padres player since 2021 and the longest in the major leagues this season.<\/p>\n Tatis sent a curveball from TJ Ritchie about 20 rows up beyond left-center field, a projected 474 feet from home plate. That was three feet longer than his previous career best, hit June 16, 2021, at Coors Field.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, this one felt better,\u201d Tatis said. \u201cThe other one was more Colorado air. But this one was like, yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n There are no-doubters, and then there are no-doubters. pic.twitter.com\/jTjerdX6Uq<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/bigthree.png\")
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\nTatis\u2019 .286 batting average ranks 13th in the National League, but his eight home runs are nine fewer than he has ever had this far into a season.
\nMerrill is one of five MLB players with at least 13 homers and at least 20 steals this season, but his .222 average and .646 OPS are both in the bottom 20 among qualifying players.<\/p>\n
\nTatis, whose .329 batting average in 50 games since May 24 is seventh highest in the majors, has homered in three of the past four games.
\nMerrill has three home runs in the past four games.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/standings_113a9d.png\")
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