ATLANTA -- What on earth to make of these Padres? One night, they look capable of reaching their sky-high potential. The next, they struggle to score early, surrender six late runs, then nearly mount a comeback in a disheartening 7-6 defeat.
Here’s some instant reaction from Truist Park, where San Diego will aim for a split on Thursday against the Braves after a costly loss in the National League Wild Card picture:
These bullpen absences are looming large
Michael King was lifted before the bottom of the seventh inning with the game tied at 1. At various points in their season, the Padres could’ve felt reasonably confident that their bullpen would hold things in check from there.
Right now? Not so much. The Padres still have Mason Miller and Adrian Morejon at the back end. But Jason Adam, Jeremiah Estrada and David Morgan are all on the IL. And with a heavy workload for rookie Bradgley Rodriguez recently, the Padres didn’t quite have the cover they needed for the final three frames.
Morejon worked in and out of trouble in a scoreless seventh. Manager Craig Stammen went to Wandy Peralta for the bottom of the Atlanta order in the eighth. But the Braves were all over him. They were all over Randy Vásquez, too.
Atlanta hung a six-spot in the frame and raced out to a 7-1 lead. The Padres clawed back in the ninth, scoring five times. It wasn’t enough.
Merrill keeps mashing
Jackson Merrill tied the game with a solo home run in the top of the seventh inning. And he left absolutely no doubt.
Merrill’s Statcast-projected 449-foot homer landed with a splash atop the waterfall in the center-field batter’s eye at Truist Park. It was the longest home run of his career. More importantly, it was the fourth he’s hit in the past four games. He’s starting to look like himself again at the plate.
It’s been a grind of a season for Merrill. He endured the worst slump of his career for most of the first half. He’s always been prone to chasing pitches outside the zone. But he says one of the keys to his success was actually just accepting that fact -- and not letting his chases affect his mindset.
“I just know I’m going to swing at some balls,” Merrill said Tuesday night. “It’s going to happen. In my opinion, I’m the best hitter when I’m swinging at balls -- that’s the best version of myself. That’s just being aggressive.”
King grinds his way through
It’s been a season full of these kinds of outings for King. He wasn’t his sharpest on Wednesday. He wasn’t all that efficient. His command was erratic. But he made it work. Somehow.
King walked the first three Braves he faced. Overall, he walked four and allowed five hits. And yet, somehow, King limited the Atlanta offense to just one run across six innings.
King is hard on himself. He’s made it clear that he views himself as an ace. He’s also made it clear that he doesn’t believe he’s lived up to that billing this season.
But here are the facts: King is the one holding this rotation together right now. He’s the only Padres starting pitcher to work six innings in a game since June 5 -- and he’s done so six times.
No, this is not King at his dominant best. This is not the version of King who looked like a Cy Young contender down the stretch in the 2024 season. But he has a 3.24 ERA and hasn’t missed a start. The Padres will absolutely take that.