Merrill, Tatis homer and Miller gets save as Padres fend off Giants 7-6

SAN FRANCISCO — Jackson Merrill and Fernando Tatis Jr. each hit solo homers, Mason Miller pitched a flawless ninth inning and the San Diego Padres beat the San Francisco Giants 7-6 Saturday.

Michael King (11-9) worked around solo homers from Rafael Devers and Shay Whitcomb to pitch three-run ball over seven innings, but the Giants rallied against reliever Bradgley Rodriguez. Drew Cavanaugh led off with his first career homer, and Drew Gilbert added a two-run shot to get within a run.

Miller stifled the Giants from there, striking out two on 19 pitches for his 36th save.

The Padres entered the day a half-game ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks for the last NL wild card. Arizona was set to play later against the Texas Rangers.

In his second career start, Cesar Perdomo (0-1) surrendered five runs on 10 hits in 4 2/3 innings.

Devers' shot in the first inning was the slugger’s seventh home run of the month. He is batting .342 with 19 RBIs and a .456 on-base percentage in September.

Xander Bogaerts added four hits in five at-bats for San Diego while Austin Hays added two hits.

Up next

Giants ace Logan Webb (8-8, 4.10 ERA) opposes Padres RHP Nick Pivetta (2-2, 3.43) for the final game of the series on Sunday.