The San Diego Padres didn’t just beat Washington on Sunday - they buried the Nationals under a 16-hit barrage and finished off a three-game sweep with a 9-2 win.
Jackson Merrill was the engine all afternoon. He put together a monster line with two home runs, four hits and six RBIs, turning a tight game into a runaway as San Diego kept piling on after falling behind early.
Washington struck first in the third inning against starter Walker Buehler. Keibert Ruiz opened the scoring with a solo homer, and the Nationals kept the pressure on after that. Buehler lost the zone, walking two hitters around a Jacob Young single, and Dylan Crews followed with a single that brought in another run for a 2-0 lead.
San Diego answered immediately in its half of the inning. Fernando Tatis Jr. started the rally with a single, Manny Machado worked a walk, and Ty France singled home Tatis. Then Merrill blew the inning open with a two-run triple that put the Padres ahead 3-2.
The lead kept growing in the fourth. Austin Hays and Samad Taylor opened with back-to-back singles, and Hays scored when pitcher Jackson Kent made an errant throw on the play. Jase Bowen then bunted Taylor to third, and Tatis added another single to make it 5-2.
Manager Craig Stammen went to the bullpen early, pulling Buehler after 2-1/3 innings. Kyle Hart handled the next 2-1/3 frames and helped shut down Washington’s offense.
Merrill came through again in the fifth. After a Kyle France double, he launched a two-run opposite-field homer to push the Padres’ lead to 7-2.
Yuki Matsui and Wandy Peralta followed and kept the Nationals off the board, while San Diego kept stretching the gap with single runs in the seventh and eighth. Merrill stayed in the middle of both scoring plays, first with a solo homer in the eighth and then with an infield single in the ninth that brought in another run.
Griffin Canning closed out the final inning, finishing off what became a strong bullpen effort after Buehler’s early departure. San Diego’s relievers allowed just one hit and a walk over 6-1/3 innings, preventing Washington from mounting any kind of comeback.
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