When people talk about playing a complete game or complimentary baseball, they’re referring about the Padres’ performance at Fenway Park on Saturday. The pitching was excellent. The offense was clicking. The defense was almost faultless.
Overall, it resulted in an 11-1 thumping of the Red Sox, giving the Padres the series victory and their first five-game winning streak of the season. Let’s start on the mound, where Michael King is quickly becoming a front-of-the-rotation starter.
King pitched 6.0 innings of one-run ball and six strikeouts. In his first full season as a starting pitcher, he continues to improve. Here’s how King performed in each of the first three months:
Fortunately for the Friars, he is not the only one who has become overheated with the weather. Jackson Merrillis using one of his patented heaters. On Saturday, San Diego’s slugger hit two home runs and drove in five runs, extending his already spectacular June. Manny is hitting.337 with a solid.918 OPS this month. As his elbow and hip injuries healed, he developed into the MVP candidate we saw in 2022.
And rookie Jackson Merrill could be the most impressive of them all. For the second consecutive game, he hit a tremendous ball over the huge wall in left centerfield. When the calendar changed to June, he also caught fire, hitting.303 with a.966 OPS. Merrill leads all major league rookies in home runs (12), RBI (42), hits (82), and batting average (.288). Not bad for a 21-year-old who we didn’t think was going to make the Opening Day roster three months ago.
MANNY KEEPS MASHIN' pic.twitter.com/NEeSYPVtym
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) June 29, 2024
