Merrill's HR headlines Padres' strong Maryland homecomings

BALTIMORE – Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill grew up playing baseball at Severna Park High School, about 15 miles south of Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

In 2021 as a high school senior, Merrill hit a home run at Camden Yards during the Brooks Robinson High School All-Star Game.

Merrill was drafted by the Padres as their 2021 first-round selection (27th overall) and made his MLB debut on March 20, 2024.

During his weekend return to Oriole Park, Merrill launched his seventh homer of the season on Saturday – and first as a pro at Camden Yards – a two-run shot off Baltimore starter Trey Gibson that ignited a four-run first inning for San Diego in a 9-3 win over the Orioles. The Padres ended up hitting five homers on the day.

"It's nice to hit in Camden Yards rather than Petco Park, sometimes,” manager Craig Stammen said. “The heat and humidity, the hitters seem to like that a little bit. But it's nice for those guys to feel, 'Hey, we still got it'. And they do still got it. It's not just words from the coaching staff or words from other players. But they go out and actually see the results for all the work they've been putting in."

Merrill’s blast traveled a Statcast-projected 372 feet over the left-center-field wall on an 88 mph slider. He remembers that homer here in high school going to right field.

"As a high schooler, it was pretty cool,” Merrill said. “I wasn't really a power hitter, so to hit one at Camden Yards is pretty cool. But to hit one now, all I could think about is winning the ballgame.

"Oh, it's good because I pulled one and hit one oppo. So, we got one to both sides. [I’ll] try to go to center tomorrow and get a third."

In another San Diego to Maryland connection, Gavin Sheets, whose dad Larry Sheets played for the Orioles from 1984-89, cranked a solo shot in the seventh.

Sheets has a single, a double, a homer and three RBIs in the series, and he has a .356/.408/.533 slash line in 12 career games at Camden Yards.

And Manny Machado, who made four American League All-Star teams in parts of seven seasons with the Orioles, continued his hot hitting at Oriole Park with a solo homer in the ninth, his 12th of the season. He has three extra-base hits in the series and three runs scored.

During the first-inning rally, Padres left fielder Samad Taylor hit his first career Major League home run, a two-run shot that put San Diego up 4-0.

It was his first homer since May 6 against Tacoma while with Triple-A El Paso. The 27-year-old had hit seven homers in the Minors this season prior to his callup.

"First one in the big leagues,” Machado said of Taylor’s homer. “That's awesome, bruh. That's freaking awesome. I remember my first one here when I was here. To get his first one out there, little guy, he's been really hot for us. He's been a big spark to our lineup."

Maybe his good vibes from pregame helped Taylor at the plate.

Coming off Friday’s series opening 7-3 loss, Taylor kept the mood positive (as he had done in Philadelphia for the team in early June) as he bounced into the clubhouse and dugout during pregame Saturday.

Taylor shook the media and coaches’ hands as he headed to his locker. Forty-five minutes later in the dugout, as the club prepared for batting practice, Taylor dapped personnel and teammates as he grabbed his glove for warmups.

Then, in his first at-bat, Taylor launched the most memorable swing of his early Major League stay, a Statcast-projected 407 foot shot that left the bat at 99.6 mph. He has reached base safely in 12 of his 28 plate appearances, recording nine hits and eight RBIs. Taylor finished 3-for-5 with three RBIs and a run scored. His OPS is .986.

“I've known it's there,” Taylor said of his power stroke. “It's just a matter of it showing up. I had a couple in [the] Minor Leagues this year, but you get up here. I know what type of ballplayer I am. I'm not going to hit you 25 home runs. So just tried to shorten my swing up and put a good swing on it. I had two strikes. He threw a pitch, left it middle-middle, and I put a good swing on it.”

The win was the first for starter Randy Vásquez since May 15, after four winless starts. The right-hander battled out of trouble to yield only two runs in five innings on six hits, with two walks and five strikeouts.

“That's kind of Randy for you,” Stammen said. “He hangs in there. He competes his tail off and figures out a way to have a good game.”