PADRES POSTCAST: PADRES AVOID SWEEP! Merrill Leads 3-0 Shutout, Bullpen Escapes HUGE Jams in FINALE

The  San Diego Padres avoided a sweep and protected their position in the NL Wild Card race with a 3-0 shutout victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates at Petco Park.   Jackson Merrill powered the offense with two hits, scoring the game's first run before driving in Manny Machado with an RBI triple to make it 2-0. Luis Rengifo delivered the first RBI of the game, while Jake Cronenworth added an eighth-inning RBI single after Freddy Fermín stole second.   Randy Vásquez set the tone with five scoreless innings while allowing only one hit, but the biggest story came from a Padres bullpen operating without Adrian Morejon and Mason Miller. Kyle Hart escaped a sixth-inning jam after a spectacular diving play by Cronenworth, Yuki Matsui inherited a bases-loaded situation in the seventh and struck out two straight hitters, and Bradgley Rodriguez escaped back-to-back singles in the eighth before helping finish the shutout.   The series produced just nine total runs across three games, with both teams struggling historically with runners in scoring position. Pittsburgh finished 2-for-30 with RISP and 16 strikeouts in those situations, while San Diego finished 4-for-24.   Arizona's win over Chicago increased the pressure on San Diego, but the Padres answered and remained one game ahead in the Wild Card race.   GRIES breaks down Merrill's big day, Vásquez's strong start, the bullpen's incredible sixth-through-eighth inning survival act, Cronenworth and Bogaerts' defensive gems, the historically bad RISP numbers and a badly needed win to avoid the sweep.   #Padres #SanDiegoPadres #JacksonMerrill #RandyVasquez #JakeCronenworth #MLB #NLWildCard #PadresBaseball #LockedOnPadres #Pirates   🎙️Padres Postcast with Host Jim "Gries" Grieshaber   The Padres are off tomorrow before heading out on the road for back-to-back series' at Tampa Bay and Cincinnati starting Friday night.   We will be here right after every game with your PADRES POSTCAST, hosted by Jim "Gries" Grieshaber. ——-   Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!   Amazon This Back To School Season, spend less on your kids, with Amazon. With Amazon’s low Back To School Prices, just spend less on your kids. Because every dollar you don’t spend on them, is a dollar you haven’t spent on them.   Clutch Parlays Go to https://ClutchParlays.com today and use code LOCKEDON for your first month free on a monthly plan. Pick Smarter. Parlay Sharper.   Stance Check out the ICON collection from Stance—premium comfort, performance, and durability designed for whatever your day brings. Use promo Code LOCKEDON at checkout for 20% off your purchase.  Learn more at https://Stance.com. Stance. The Official Sock Partner of Major League Baseball.   5-Hour ENERGY Get candy-flavored chaos with Fruity Rainbow 5-hour ENERGY®️ Shots - available online at https://5hourENERGY.com or Amazon   Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast.   KALSHI For a limited time, Download the Kalshi app and use code [LOCKEDON] to get $10 when you trade $10.   Gametime Today's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply.   FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Join all the action at https://FANDUEL.COM to play Daily Dingers and make your free pick on who’s hitting a homer this MLB season.   FANDUEL DISCLAIMER 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.