Jackson Merrill delivered the decisive blow at Petco Park on Aug. 10, launching a 431-foot two-run home run in the seventh inning to lift the San Diego Padres past the Milwaukee Brewers 3-2. It was the kind of swing that changed the game in one moment, while also giving the Padres a result that carries real weight in the Padres standings.
The Brewers had opened the scoring through Christian Yelich's second-inning home run, but San Diego answered when Ty France singled to left and Merrill followed with the homer that decided it. The loss dropped Milwaukee to 74-45 and came in the first game of a West Coast trip, with the visitors short on late-inning bullpen options.
Merrill provides the decisive swing
The game stayed tight until the seventh, when Merrill punished a pitch and sent it 431 feet for his two-run drive. That was the difference in a 3-2 game built on timely hitting rather than long offensive runs from either side. For the Padres, it was exactly the sort of moment that can shape a stretch of the season.
Milwaukee's relief situation made the challenge tougher. Abner Uribe, Aaron Ashby and Trevor Megill were unavailable because of heavy recent workloads, leaving the Brewers without three leverage arms when the game tightened late.
Murphy's concern after another narrow loss
After the game, Pat Murphy did not hide the basic truth of the defeat. He said, “We got to score more than two runs on the road to win,” and added that Logan Henderson “pitched well enough to win.”
Murphy also pointed to the bullpen shortage, saying Henderson was out of gas but that with the three leverage arms unavailable, Milwaukee did not think it had good coverage for three. That framed the late innings as much about depth as execution.
Henderson says the margin was small
Logan Henderson had recorded an out in the seventh inning only for the second time in his career, and he was candid afterward about the challenge. He said it felt like his first time going seven ups, though he stressed that it was no excuse.
He also said he felt good to go, even if his velocity may have been down a little bit, and that he believed he was still able to get three outs there. On the Merrill homer, Henderson said he was trying to stay down and away, that he could not throw it over the middle, and that was the only place he was trying not to throw it. Once Merrill connected, Henderson said, “I knew it was gone.” He finished simply: “It sucks.”
The final out came when Brandon Lockridge was caught stealing second, but by then the key damage had already been done. Mason Miller, described as a lights-out closer, was among the Padres pitchers used over the final seven innings, alongside Casey Mize, Yuki Matsui and Adrian Morejon.
For the Padres, the win was about more than one swing. It was a clean, late response in a one-run game. For Milwaukee, it was a reminder that narrow margins become even narrower when the bullpen is stretched, and the Padres standings picture gets a timely boost from a home crowd victory.
