Jackson Merrill, Ha-Seong Kim and Kyle Higashioka each homered Saturday and the San Diego Padres overcame injuries to one-third of their starting lineup to beat the visiting Milwaukee Brewers 6-4.
Playing without right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. (quad/elbow), left fielder Jurickson Profar (knee) and catcher Luis Campusano (thumb), San Diego upped its winning streak to four games and earned its fifth win in six games this year against Milwaukee.
Randy Vasquez (2-4) pitched the first five innings for the win, scattering five hits and walking three while striking out three. After the Brewers’ Brice Turang drilled a grand slam in the ninth off Jhony Brito, Robert Suarez got the final out to notch his 19th save in 20 chances.
Carlos Rodriguez (0-3) was saddled with the loss after permitting four runs on six hits in four innings. He walked none and struck out two.
Rodriguez ran into little trouble through the first three innings but had issues on his second pass through the San Diego lineup. Donovan Solano and Jake Cronenworth started the fourth with singles, with Solano reaching third on Manny Machado’s deep flyout to center.
Merrill then crushed his 10th homer of the year and seventh homer in 10 games, drilling a shot estimated at 440 feet to center. One out later, Kim lined his 10th homer, a 374-foot blast that settled into the seats in left.
Vasquez worked around traffic in every inning with help from his battery mate, Higashioka, who caught Turang stealing in the first and third. Vasquez also induced a double play to escape a two-on, one-out jam in the second and got William Contreras to line out in the fifth to strand runners on the corners.
Higashioka made it 6-0 in the seventh when he crushed a hanging slider from Jakob Junis an estimated 413 feet into the second deck in left field with Kim aboard. It was Higashioka’s sixth homer of the year.
Merrill finished 3-for-3 with a walk, and Kim added two hits for the Padres, who have clouted nine homers in the series.
–Field Level Media
