The San Diego Padres finally found some offense in their series opener against the Washington Nationals. They slugged two homers and scored seven runs. It was the first time the Friars scored more than three runs in their last five games.
Jackson Merrill and Fernando Tatis Jr.’s bats continued to heat up, with Tatis going 3-for-5 and Merrill hitting a go-ahead, two-run home run.
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Starter Lucas Giolito had his first rough start, only making it through 2 2/3 innings before Yuki Matsui replaced him. Giolito gave up four runs but the Padres were able to back him up. The Friars will hope for a bounceback performance from Michael King in order to win the series in today’s game.
Taking the mound
Foster Griffin (WAS) v. Michael King (SD)
Griffin has had a great start to the season with Washington. He boasts a 3.63 ERA and a .219 opponent batting average. His recent outings have been rough, giving up 14 runs across his last three appearances.
The lone advantage he has against the Padres is their lack of experience against the young left-hander. Only Ramón Laureano has faced Griffin, with the plate appearance ending in a walk.
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The Padres ace has had a resurgent season after King’s injury-plagued 2025. He’s off to a 2.76 ERA in 62 innings. King has been dominant for the Friars but has struggled with consistency.
After his best outing of the season—maybe his career—against the Los Angeles Dodgers (0 ER, 7.0 IP), King had the worst start of his season, going just 3 2/3 innings and surrendering four runs. He struggled with command and will hopefully be able to turn things around against the Nats.
Batter up!
The offense finally surged in Friday’s opener, with Manny Machado, Merrill and Tatis going a combined 5-for-13 with two walks and four RBI. Gavin Sheets also rebounded from his recent slump, hitting 2-for-3 with a walk.
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France had a similarly great game yesterday, going 2-for-3 with a homer. His offensive contributions have been major for the Friars in their hot start to the season. Hopefully he’ll able to continue that.
Relief corps
The bullpen picked up Giolito splendidly after his tough start, with Matsui pitched two innings while the Padres were down before giving way to the high-leverage relievers when the score got closer.
Jeremiah Estrada, Adrian Morejon, Jason Adam and Mason Miller covered the final four innings of the game. Adam was the lone struggler, only recording one out in the eighth inning before giving up two hits and being replaced by Miller. Miller pitched a four-out save but made things interesting with some command struggles trying to get out of the eighth.
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That leaves Ron Marinaccio, Wandy Peralta and Bradgley Rodriguez available for Game 2 today. Only Rodriguez has been a traditional high-leverage reliever this season, but Peralta has performed just as well recently.
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