Padres Sweep Marlins, Boost Wild-Card Hopes

The San Diego Padres swept the Miami Marlins in a weekend series, capped by a dramatic 5-3 comeback win as Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill homered in the eighth to erase a 3-0 deficit. Earlier, Ty France drove in three for San Diego in a 7-2 victory, with Merrill going 3-for-4 as the Padres leaned on a multi-armed bullpen strategy to stabilize the staff. The Padres have been mixing openers and bullpen games to cover rotation depth, a shift designed to sustain their push in the wild-card race. Luis Rengifo has become a key contributor, delivering a clutch two-run homer in a 4-2 win that highlighted the team’s depth signings and late-inning offense. The Marlins, meanwhile, continued a franchise-record losing streak during the series, dropping games as their rotation faced unfamiliar pressures and their offense struggled. Overall, San Diego’s opportunistic offense and bullpen resilience, along with strategic pitching usage, kept them within striking distance of a playoff berth while Miami sinks further in the standings.