The Padres did their decisive work before Sunday afternoon had time to settle. Jackson Merrill drove in two runs in the first inning, Fernando Tatis Jr. added run-scoring singles in the second and fourth, and Manny Machado launched a two-run homer as San Diego beat the San Francisco Giants 6-4 at Oracle Park.
The victory finished a three-game sweep and stretched the Padres' winning streak to seven. San Diego left San Francisco at 81-68, second in the National League West and holding the third wild-card position in Major League Baseball's standings through Sunday. The distance between a comfortable early lead and the final out was less secure than the opening innings suggested, but the bullpen never allowed the Giants to pull even.
Tatis reached on a first-inning single and Dustin Harris followed with another. After Machado moved the runners with a groundout, Merrill drove a sharp fly ball to left for his 25th double, scoring both. San Diego started the second with Samad Taylor's single and stolen base. Tatis sent him home with a ground ball through the middle, then Machado turned Logan Webb's pitch into his 27th homer, a two-run shot to left that made it 5-0.
San Francisco answered immediately. Shay Whitcomb singled before Andrew Knizner hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the second. Padres starter Nick Pivetta limited the damage there and worked four innings, allowing five hits and two earned runs with five strikeouts and no walks. His 69-pitch outing was shorter than a conventional quality start, forcing manager Mike Shildt to ask five relievers to cover the final 15 outs.
The Padres manufactured their last run in the fourth. Ethan Salas tripled and Tatis singled him home, giving Tatis three hits, two runs and two RBIs in four at-bats. The Giants reduced the margin with one run in the fifth and another in the sixth. Wandy Peralta entered during that middle stretch and recorded four outs without allowing a hit, earning the decision while keeping two inherited runners from scoring.
San Diego's last three relievers protected the two-run edge. David Morgan got two outs, Randy Vásquez handled the eighth despite issuing two walks, and Yuki Matsui closed the ninth for his first save. Matsui allowed one hit, struck out one and threw 15 of 21 pitches for strikes. The bullpen's four scoreless innings mattered because the Padres did not collect a hit after Tatis' fourth-inning single.
The score also completed a tightly played sweep. San Diego won the first two games 7-5 and 7-6 before taking Sunday's finale, producing 20 runs across the series while repeatedly requiring late-inning relief. This time the leverage was created by the Giants' gradual recovery rather than a single rally. The Padres answered it with clean defense and just enough command from the relief corps.
A seven-game streak can reshape the September standings, but it does not erase the work ahead. The Padres remained nine games behind the division lead in the official table, making the wild-card position the more immediate measure. Sunday's sequence was efficient: pressure from Tatis, extra-base damage from Merrill and Machado, then 12 outs from the bullpen without another San Francisco run. That formula carried San Diego out of Oracle Park with every game in the series.