SAN FRANCISCO – Despite his career-best 21 2/3-inning scoreless streak ending just two batters into the bottom of the first on Rafael Devers’ two-run homer, Michael King powered through, laying the groundwork for San Diego’s 7-6 win over the Giants on Saturday at Oracle Park.
It was the sixth straight win for the Padres, who remain hot as they seek to secure a spot in the National League Wild Card picture. They improved to 1 1/2 games ahead of the D-backs for the final playoff berth and 1 1/2 games behind the Phillies for the second Wild Card.
Shay Whitcomb got to King for a homer on a hanging sweeper in the second, though that concluded the damage King allowed on the day. He shook off those early issues, retiring 14 straight after the Whitcomb blast and 18 of 19 overall between Devers’ homer and Jonah Cox’s single leading off the seventh.
King only faced four batters over the minimum, finishing his day with 96 pitches across seven innings, with five hits, four strikeouts and zero walks.
“Offense picked me up and allowed me to settle in, and then it felt like it was pretty good execution after that second home run,” said King.
San Diego scored in six of the first seven innings, a cushion that proved valuable when Bradgley Rodriguez allowed the Giants to get back into the game with a pair of homers in the bottom of the eighth. Called upon to defuse any thoughts of a late-game disaster, Adrian Morejon and Mason Miller nailed down the victory.
“Michael gave up a couple home runs early, but we bounced back,” said manager Craig Stammen. “We fought back, scored runs to match them. We really tacked on runs almost every single inning, handled their pitching really well today. Ran the bases well. Played good defense. Just that eighth inning, Bradgley just didn't have it today. But then that's the nice thing about having Adrian Morejon and Mason Miller right behind him.”
For Miller, it marked another game in which the flame-throwing closer was forced into action – something to monitor down the stretch.
At 63 1/3 innings, Miller will soon reach his career high of 65, which he set in 2024 with the Athletics … with the Padres intending to play deep into October, of course.
From his seat in the bullpen, does Miller view it as an issue for workhorse arms like his and Morejon’s to be called upon so frequently to put out fires?
“No concern,” said Miller. “I mean, until it becomes a concern, it's not a concern. So we're going to keep preparing and keep doing everything we need to to be ready to go tomorrow, just keep riding this train.”
On Saturday, King played conductor before turning things over to the bullpen.
“It's crazy the amount of talent that we have down there, all the trust that we have in [the bullpen],” said King. “We've definitely asked them to do a ton, come into so many different situations, and we always feel confident having them get out of it.”
King noted Morejon’s reliability in dicey situations, calling him “the fireman.”
“You can also run him out there for a clean eighth inning, and know that he's going to go 1-2-3, with probably 11 pitches,” said King.
Key offensive moments included Dustin Harris’ two-out, two-run single in the second, Jake Cronenworth’s two-out squeeze bunt to score a run in the fifth and solo homers from Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Merrill.
For Merrill, his home run was his 25th of the season, a new career high that put him in an exclusive group of players with 25+ homers and 25+ steals this season, joining the Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong, the Reds’ Elly De La Cruz and the Nationals’ CJ Abrams.
He also became the third Padre since 2000 to hit 25+ homers and steal 25+ bases in a season, joining Tatis (three times: 2021, ‘23, ‘25) and Wil Myers (2016).
“He's a dynamic player,” said Stammen. “He does so many things for us offensively and defensively. Those are offensive numbers, the steals and the home runs. But power-speed combo, that's a rare trait. And we’ve got a couple guys that can do that. And Jackson's leading the charge this year. We think back to what we were thinking about in the first half, and now what we're thinking about in the second half. It shows how mentally tough he is, and how he can overcome just about anything and still produce a season like that.”