Cleveland Guardians at San Diego Padres

· Major League Baseball

Cleveland Guardians

2-4, 2-4 Away

Final
2 - 5

San Diego Padres

7-0, 7-0 Home

Merrill hits a 2-run homer and Padres top Guardians 5-2 to start 7-0 for the first time

Jose Iglesias face plants but impresses with awesome kip-up

Fernando Tatis Jr. raced home on the back end of a double steal to start the scoring in the four-run third inning for the Padres, whose previous best start was 4-0 in 1984, when they went to their first World Series.

The Padres' hot start includes sweeping playoff teams from last year. Before taking three from the Guardians, the Padres swept a four-game series against the Atlanta Braves in a rematch of their NL Division Series, which San Diego won in two games.

Merrill homered in his second straight game, driving the first pitch he saw from Ben Lively (0-1) onto the party deck atop the right field wall. He began his trot, tossed his bat and gestured with his right arm.

Merrill was an All-Star in 2024 and finished second to Pittsburgh pitcher Paul Skenes in NL Rookie of the Year balloting.

Tatis and Luis Arraez hit consecutive two-out singles in the third. Arraez broke for second and drew a throw from catcher Bo Naylor. Arraez pulled up and second baseman Daniel Schneemann turned and threw home too late to catch Tatis. Arraez advanced on Manny Machado's single and scored on José Ramírez's throwing error. Merrill then homered.

Arraez homered leading off the seventh, his first.

Dylan Cease (1-0) held the Guardians to one run and four hits in 6 1/3 innings, struck out seven and walked one.

Robert Suarez pitched a perfect ninth for his third save.

Key moment The homer by Merrill, who quickly became a fan favorite last year. He had a bobblehead night Monday and turns 22 on April 19.

Key stat Tatis has five stolen bases in seven games. He had 11 last year, when he missed two months with a stress reaction in his right thigh bone.

Up next Guardians RHP Gavin Williams starts Friday night at the Los Angeles Angels. The Padres haven't announced a starter for Friday's game at the Chicago Cubs.

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How can I watch Cleveland Guardians vs. San Diego Padres?

TV Channel: Guardians at Padres 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.TV.
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Scoring Summary

	9th Inning	Arias flied out to left.
	9th Inning	Rocchio struck out swinging.
	9th Inning	Thomas grounded out to shortstop.
	9th Inning	Suarez relieved Morejon
	9th Inning	Lockridge in left field.
	8th Inning	Maldonado grounded into fielder's choice to third, Iglesias out at second.

Statistics

CLE		SD
1	Games Played	1
1	Team Games Played	1
0	Hit By Pitch	0
13	Ground Balls	13
9	Strikeouts	5
2	Runs Batted In	3
0	Sacrifice Hit	0
8	Hits	10
0	Stolen Bases	2
1	Walks	2
0	Catcher Interference	0
2	Runs	5
1	Ground Into Double Play	1
1	Sacrifice Flies	0
33	At Bats	34
0	Home Runs	2
0	Grand Slam Home Runs	0
10	Runners Left On Base	16
0	Triples	0
0	Game Winning RBIs	0
0	Intentional Walks	0
2	Doubles	0
12	Fly Balls	16
0	Caught Stealing	0
126	Pitches	143
0	Games Started	0
2	Pinch At Bats	0
0	Pinch Hits	0
0.0	Player Rating	0.0
1	Is Qualified	1
0	Is Qualified In Steals	1
10	Total Bases	16
35	Plate Appearances	36
0.0	Projected Home Runs	324.0
2	Extra Base Hits	2
2.2	Runs Created	5.4
.242	Batting Average	.294
.000	Pinch Hit Average	.000
.303	Slugging Percentage	.471
.091	Secondary Average	.294
.257	On Base Percentage	.333
.560	OBP Pct + SLG Pct	.804
1.1	Ground To Fly Ball Ratio	0.8
2.2	Runs Created Per 27 Outs	5.8
20.0	Batter Rating	34.0
0.0	At Bats Per Home Run	17.0
0.00	Stolen Base Percentage	1.00
3.60	Pitches Per Plate Appearance	3.97
.061	Isolated Power	.176
0.11	Walk To Strikeout Ratio	0.40
.029	Walks Per Plate Appearance	.056
-.152	Secondary Average Minus Batting Average	.000
4.0	Runs Produced	8.0
1.0	Runs Ratio	0.6
0.3	Patience Ratio	0.5
0.3	Balls In Play Average	0.3
73.0	MLB Rating	86.8
0.0	Offensive Wins Above Replacement	0.0
0.0	Wins Above Replacement	0.0