Michael King Shines and Manny Machado Goes Deep in Padres Victory
The San Diego Padres were in Petco Park on Monday night to open a three-game series against the Atlanta Braves with Michael King on the mound. It must have been nice to be home, because King pitched his best start since May 18 as he tossed seven scoreless innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Petco. He struck out nine and walked two, giving up four hits in that game. King pitched seven innings against the Braves, giving up no runs, six hits, no walks and five strikeouts. King pitched the Padres to a 1-0 victory.
The Padres didn’t do much to support King’s great effort on offense, but a solo home run from Manny Machado in the bottom of the fourth inning was all that King would need. He pitched seven innings and then handed the ball to Adrian Morejon for the eighth and Mason Miller for the ninth. Miller did allow a single and a walk, an odd sight, but he got the three outs he needed to nail down the win and notch his 21st save of the season.
King was the headline and Machado had the only offensive highlight, he also doubled to lead off the bottom of the ninth but was stranded on second base. However, the play of center fielder Jackson Merrill made up for his 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts at the plate. Merrill made a couple of feature reel plays, one going back to the right-center field wall on a well struck ball that would have been a double, another on a sinking liner that would have been a hit, if not for a last minute half-dive knee sliding catch. Merrill got to the balls he couldn’t snare too fast and sent them back into the infield with enough zip to limit the batters to singles on what looked like additional bases.
It wasn’t a game that put the Friar Faithful’s minds at ease regarding the offensive troubles they’ve watched the team experience all season, but it was a peek of what may be when King is dealing like the ace Padres fans know and expect him to be. Padres News: San Diego will try to win the series tonight at 6:40 p.m.
The Padres have a rough stretch of games ahead, which began with their series opener against the Braves yesterday. The Padres begin a six-game road trip with three games at Atlanta followed by three games at Chicago against the Cubs and four games at Los Angeles against the Dodgers. This will be a big test for the Padres. As the All-Star break approaches, Gaslamp Ball’s Cheri Bell takes a peek at what the team has in store.
Two Padres minor league pitchers not named Kruz Schoolcraft or Kash Mayfield are making strides and gaining attention from the organization and some baseball analysts.
The San Diego bullpen has been a key reason (if not the only reason) the Padres have had success in 2026. Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune thinks they can’t be counted on to carry the team the rest of the season.
Manager Craig Stammen, in his quest for consistency on offense, put Samad Taylor in the nine spot in the order and for the first game since being called up from Triple-A he went hitless.
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