Merrill hits a 3-run double as the Padres beat the Twins 5-3
Jackson Merrill hit a three-run double, Michael King pitched six effective innings and the San Diego Padres beat the Minnesota Twins 5-3 on Monday night in an interleague matchup of playoff contenders.
San Diego (71-55) bounced back nicely after dropping two of three at Colorado over the weekend. The Padres are 21-5 since July 20.
Minnesota (70-55) had won five of seven going into the three-game set. The Twins did not hit a home run on Monday, ending their streak of eight consecutive games with a homer since Aug. 11.
King (11-6) labored through his first two innings, giving up two runs and throwing 45 pitches. But he got stronger as the game went on, surrendering a total of four hits and striking out six.
Jason Adam and Tanner Scott each pitched a scoreless inning for San Diego before Robert Suarez worked the ninth for his 28th save.
Edouard Julien walked and scored on Christian Vázquez's two-out single before Suarez retired Jose Miranda on a grounder to shortstop.
Twins right-hander Zebby Matthews (1-1) pitched five innings of four-hit ball in his second major league start. He was charged with five runs — two earned.
The game was tied at 2 in the third when Jurickson Profar reached on an error on Matthews, who dropped a throw by second baseman Julien.
With two outs and the bases loaded after two walks, Merrill doubled into the alley in left-center.
Minnesota took a 1-0 lead in the first after Matt Wallner doubled in Trevor Larnach from first.
San Diego responded with two runs in the bottom half. Jake Cronenworth had a run-scoring groundout, and Xander Bogaerts singled home Profar.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Padres: SS Ha-Seong Kim (jammed right shoulder) underwent an MRI. Manager Mike Shildt said the early indications are "mostly favorable," though he expressed caution because the team was still sorting through the results. Kim got hurt on a dive back into first base on Sunday.
UP NEXT
Twins RHP Bailey Ober (12-5, 3.49 ERA) takes the mound against Padres LHP Martin Pérez (3-5, 4.62 ERA) on Tuesday night in the second game of the series.
