The San Diego Padres recorded just three hits against San Francisco Giants pitching, but the last hit was the most exciting. Jackson Merrill strode to the plate with one on and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning with the Padres trailing 3-0. He worked the count full and then belted a two-run home run to right field that pulled the Padres within a run. Giants reliever Ryan Walker was able to end the game and help San Francisco get its first win of the season one batter later when Xander Bogaerts grounded to short for the final out of the 3-2 loss for the Padres.
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First home run of the year by Jackson Merrill!!!#ForTheFaithfulpic.twitter.com/vjXjY7Yqk2
— San Diego Strong (@PadresStrong) March 31, 2026
Merrill was the last San Diego batter to record a hit in the game, but the list of players to record hits in the game only had two more names on it. Bogaerts recorded the first Padres hit in the bottom of the second inning with a one-out single to right field. The second hit of the game for San Diego belonged to Fernando Tatis Jr. who also had a one-out single to right field, which came in the bottom of the sixth inning.
The Padres did not have an answer for Giants starter Landon Roupp and his changeup. He threw six innings, allowing two hits and two walks with seven strikeouts. Roupp kept the Padres hitters off balance throughout the game, resulting in ugly at-bats that often involved changeups being smashed into the ground or hit softly on the infield.
Landen Roupp pitches 6 scoreless innings and strikes out 7 👌 pic.twitter.com/cdHDUNQbZX
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) March 31, 2026
The Giants crawled into the series with the Padres after getting swept by the New York Yankees to open the season. San Francisco allowed 13 runs over three games and scored just one run in that span. That changed against Padres starter Walker Buehler. The Giants were able to get to Buehler for three runs in four innings. He allowed five hits, walked two and struck out three on 72 pitches.
The San Diego bullpen was asked to cover the final five innings of the game and Wandy Peralta, David Morgan and Ron Marinaccio did so with a great deal of success. The three relievers combined to allow just one hit and one walk with four strikeouts.
Craig Stammen gave his perspective on Walker Buehler's debut and the Padres' offensive struggles tonight and thus far this season: pic.twitter.com/t64zRDNeQd
— 97.3 The Fan (@973TheFanSD) March 31, 2026
The Padres will try to take the second game of the series when German Marquez makes his Padres debut on Tuesday at 6:40 p.m.