Front Row Seat: Tatis & Merrill rob HRs in Padres win
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Darren Smith
San Diego Padres
Jackson Merrill's home run robbery Jackson Merrill times his leap to perfection to rob Corbin Carroll of a home run with a tremendous catch to end the inning
— MLB Home Runs (@mlbhomeruns.bsky.social) 2025-07-09T02:50:49.292586Z
Nick Pivetta starts strong, Padres steal a win from Diamondbacks - San Diego Union-Tribune
Jackson Merrill brought a ball back from beyond the wall in center in the fifth inning. Fernando Tatis Jr. did the same in right field in the eighth.
In between all of that robbery, Luis Arraez muscled up for a home run that turned out to be all the Padres needed on Tuesday in a 1-0 win over the Diamondbacks.
“They’ve robbed me of a lot of hits this year,” said Arraez, referencing his .289 batting average on balls in play this season, well below his career BABIP of .333. “But this is baseball. There are a lot big leaguers that play really good defense like Fernando and Jackson.
“If not for Fernando and Jackson, we lose that game.”
Fernando Tatis Jr. gets in on the fun with a home run robbery of his own! 😱
— MLB (Bot) (@mlbbot.bsky.social) 2025-07-09T03:50:23.000Z
Suarez becomes 4th Padre to earn All-Star nod, his 2nd straight - Padres.com
It’s a second consecutive trip to the All-Star Game for Suarez, who will be joined in Atlanta by Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado in addition to Adam. At the Midsummer Classic last year, Suarez punched out both hitters he faced.
Manager Mike Shildt went so far as to say that he felt there were four worthy All-Stars at the back end of his bullpen, including lefty Adrian Morejon and righty Jeremiah Estrada. He called that quartet “The Four Horsemen.”
Dropped in the lineup, Jackson Merrill talks recent struggles - San Diego Union-Tribune
After missing long stretches of the season to a hamstring injury before his concussion, Merrill as lamenting the prospect of the All-Star break looming — “If I happen to find it in the next week and then go on a break, I’d rather just keep playing when you got it,” he said — while speaking with reporters after early work with hitting coach Victor Rodriguez on Tuesday afternoon.
The metrics show that Merrill’s hard-hit rate is down from 43.9% to 38.4%. The strikeout rate has crept up from 17% to 22.8% this year, the groundball rate is up from 36.8% to 43.6% and the chase rate is up from 34.4% to 38.8%.
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