Jackson Merrill hit a three-run double, Michael King pitched six strong innings, and the San Diego Padres defeated the Minnesota Twins 5-3 on Monday night in a matchup of playoff contenders.
San Diego (71-55) bounced back well after losing two out of three games in Colorado over the weekend. The Padres have now won 21 of their last 26 games since July 20.
Minnesota (70-55) had won five of their last seven games before this series. The Twins didn’t hit a home run on Monday, ending their streak of eight straight games with a homer since August 11.
King (11-6) struggled in his first two innings, giving up two runs and using 45 pitches. However, he improved as the game went on, allowing just four hits and striking out six batters.
Jason Adam and Tanner Scott each pitched a scoreless inning for San Diego before Robert Suarez closed the game for his 28th save.
Edouard Julien walked and scored on Christian Vázquez’s two-out single. Suarez then retired Jose Miranda on a groundout to shortstop.
Twins right-hander Zebby Matthews (1-1) pitched five innings, allowing four hits in his second major league start. He was charged with five runs, two of which were earned.
The game was tied at 2 in the third inning when Jurickson Profar reached base on an error by Matthews, who dropped a throw from 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 inning when Matt Wallner doubled in Trevor Larnach from first base.
San Diego responded with two runs in the bottom of the first. Jake Cronenworth had a run-scoring groundout, and Xander Bogaerts singled to drive in Profar.
