Late homers by Manny Machado, Jackson Merrill help Padres complete sweep of Marlins

Kevin Acee, The San Diego Union-Tribune on Jul 26, 2026

Published in Baseball

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MIAMI — Not yet. And just maybe.

That is what the San Diego Padres effectively shouted by roaring back for a 5-3 victory over the Miami Marlins on Sunday.

A game that appeared to be rolling toward a familiar finish and what would have been another blow to their playoff chances turned quickly in the eighth inning, when Manny Machado tied the game with a two-run home run and Jackson Merrill put the Padres ahead with a solo homer two batters later.

They would add another run in that inning and with their third consecutive win exponentially alter how the 10-game road trip that ended Sunday would be viewed and how it would feel and what it might mean.

“I think if we keep playing like this, we’re going to put ourselves in a position to make A.J. help this team,” Jake Cronenworth said. “I think that’s all of our goals, and I don’t think we see it any other way.”

The reference was to Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller, who is using this time to gauge whether the roster he built can be remodeled enough to become a legitimate contender with acquisitions made before the Aug. 3 trade deadline.

Multiple people familiar with the Padres’ discussions internally and with other teams say Preller has always been looking for a reason to be a buyer.

The outlook, somewhat incredibly, has only improved despite their mediocrity.

The Padres (53-53) are back to .500, coming home with the same perfectly average winning percentage they had when they departed San Diego.

But Sunday’s victory completed a sweep of the Marlins and moved the Padres past them in the standings and to within two games of the final National League playoff spot.

That is 1 1/2 games closer than they were at the All-Star break even after an exceedingly exasperating trip that saw them blow opportunity after opportunity.

They went 2-3 in games in which they scored five or more runs in Kansas City and Atlanta. They went 0-4 in one-run games, including one in which they squandered a three-run lead in the 10th inning in the opener of the first series in Kansas City.

This one seemed for seven innings like it would be one of the many losses the Padres have endured in which the offense didn’t do enough on the relatively rare day the pitching did its part. Sunday was, in fact, just their seventh victory in 19 games in which their pitchers allowed three runs, a .368 winning percentage that is worst in the majors.

Walker Buehler allowed three runs in a quick burst early, walking two batters, who both scored, in the second and surrendering a leadoff homer to Kyle Stowers in the third. He then retired 10 batters in a row to get an out deep in the sixth before Yuki Matsui finished that inning.

A double by Machado scored Cronenworth from first base in the fifth inning to cut the deficit to 3-1.

But the Padres entered the eighth inning having gone hitless in four at-bats with runners in scoring position and having made six straight outs.

From Cronenworth’s single leading off the eighth to Merrill’s blast, Marlins reliever Lake Bachar threw just 11 pitches. Eight pitches later, the Padres led by two after a double by Luis Rengifo and two-out single by Luis Campusano.

It was the 10th time in the past 12 games that the Padres scored at least three runs in an inning, something they had done just 40 times in their first 94 games.

Wandy Peralta got the win after pitching a scoreless seventh inning. Adrian Morejón took over with the lead in the eighth before Mason Miller got the final three outs for his National League-leading 27th save.

“To finish off the road trip like this was big,” Machado said. “We played some really good games. Started off not the way we wanted to — lost two series in a row — and we played some overall good baseball. We did a lot of great things as a group.”

After losing twice in three games in Kansas City and three times in four games in Atlanta, the Padres arrived in Miami in danger of dropping four games below .500 for the first time this season.

The Marlins were two games ahead of them in the standings when the series began but are now on a franchise-record 12-game losing streak.

The Padres have won three in a row for the first time since they won four straight from June 22 to 26.

“At this point right now, in this situation, it feels like a really big win,” manager Craig Stammen said. “And anytime that you have a deficit in the eighth inning, they’re bringing in their best relievers and you can come back and win a game and steal a game like that and then finish off a series where we played really well, finish off a road trip where we kind of got bit a little bit, and then finish it off to become .500, get a sweep against a team that was ahead of us in the playoff run, it’s a big game. It’s a big win.”

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