*Photo from the Ottumwa Courier*
Michael King had a solid start on the mound, Jackson Merrill drove in 3 runs, and the San Diego Padres defeated the Minnesota Twins with a 5-3 victory Monday night in San Diego.
Despite dropping two of three over the weekend to the Colorado Rockies, the Padres won to open this series and are 21-5 since July 20, now 71-55 overall. In a matchup between two teams entrenched in playoff spots, the Twins had won 5 of 7 entering this game but were shut down by the Padres.
Matt Wallner got things started for the Twins right away in this one. In the top of the first inning, he doubled to right field to score Trevor Larnach and make it 1-0. In the bottom of the first, Luis Arraez tied the game when he scored on a Jake Cronenworth groundout. Xander Bogaerts then gave the Padres a 2-1 lead on an RBI single to score Jurickson Profar.
Willi Castro quickly tied the game for the Twins in the second inning as he hit into a force out that also scored Edouard Julien. With the bases loaded in the 3rd, Merill drove them all in with a 3 run double to left center field, giving the Padres a 5-2 lead. It stayed that way until Christian Vazquez hit an RBI single in the 9th inning to make it a 5-3 game.
Merrill said of his big double "It's all a focus on winning the game. Because if I’m trying to play for the homer or myself, then I roll that over or I strike out. Play for the game, try to hit a line drive or a single. If you play for the win, it’s going to happen."
King got the start for the Padres, allowing two runs on 4 hits and 3 walks with 6 strikeouts in 6 innings of work. Jason Adam worked a shutout 7th inning, Tanner Scott did the same in the 8th, and Robert Suarez picked up his 28th save of the season despite allowing a run in the 9th.
Zebby Matthews was making his second big league start for the Twins, hitting a batter and walking two while allowing 5 runs in 5 innings, managing just one strikeout. Trevor Richards handled two scoreless innings while Caleb Thielbar added one scoreless inning of his own.
Matthews said of his two walk, one hit by pitch game "As much as I try and go out there and not walk guys and make them earn it on base, it's going to happen at some point. It's not something I put too much pressure on myself on. Obviously, I'm not happy with the two walks or the hit batter. But at the end of the day, you've just got to move on and learn from it."
Game two of the series is lined up for Tuesday night. The Padres go for the series win as trade deadline pickup Martin Perez gets the start, while the Twins try to even the series behind starting pitcher Bailey Ober.
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