Padres Erupt for Six in Third, Survive Devers' Grand Slam
San Diego scored six runs in the third inning to turn a tie game into a rout, then held on as Rafael Devers launched a 388-foot grand slam that cut the deficit to two. Final: SD 7, SF 5.
San Francisco drew first blood in the first inning when Bryce Eldridge singled to center and Cox scored, staking the Giants to a 1-0 lead. It looked like Yunior Marte — who went five innings, allowed just three hits, and posted zero earned runs — might make that lead stand up. But Robbie Ray couldn't match him. In the second, Dustin Harris singled to left and Merrill scored to tie it, then Freddy Fermin doubled to center and Harris scored to put San Diego ahead 2-1. That Fermin double was the moment the game turned: San Francisco's win probability dropped from 43% to 31%, a 12-point swing that signaled the Giants were in real trouble.
The third inning was a demolition. Campusano doubled to left and Cronenworth scored, making it 3-1. Then Xander Bogaerts doubled to left, plating both Campusano and Merrill to push it to 5-1. Harris followed with a triple to right, scoring Bogaerts for 6-1, and Fermin — who finished 2-for-4 with 2 RBI — doubled to left again to score Harris and complete a six-run frame. San Diego had gone from trailing by a run to leading by six in the span of two innings, and Ray's night was effectively over after five innings in which he allowed five earned runs on four hits and four walks. Jackson Merrill, who went 3-for-5 and scored twice, looks like the engine that kept San Diego's lineup churning all night.
San Francisco wasn't done making noise. In the fifth, Devers — who finished 1-for-4 — launched a 388-foot homer to right that scored Knizner, Koss, and Cox, suddenly making it 7-5 and giving the Giants a pulse. But that's where the rally died. The story of the night appears to be San Diego's bullpen slamming the door: Adrian Morejon threw a perfect inning with two strikeouts, and Bradgley Rodriguez followed with another scoreless frame, two more punchouts, and just one hit allowed. Devers' grand slam was a spectacular individual moment — 4 RBI on a single swing — but it came too late against a San Diego club that had already done its damage. Harris (2-for-3, 2 RBI, 2 R) and Fermin (2-for-4, 2 RBI) were the quiet architects of a win that was never seriously threatened after the third.