Jackson Merrill will miss a fourth straight game as Ramón Laureano is again in center field for Thursday’s finale against the San Francisco Giants.
First pitch is at 1:10 p.m. on Padres.TV.
Merrill rolled his left ankle on Friday at Dodger Stadium, played Saturday and was pulled from Sunday’s game after two strikeouts. X-rays were negative, but Merrill has not started since, was not in the clubhouse during media availability before Thursday’s game and was not seen on the field for pre-game activity.
Padres manager Mike Shildt last updated Merrill’s status before Wednesday’s game:
“Overall, Jackson is good in the sense that imaging continues to be negative. We feel comfortable and confident — even more so (Wednesday) — there is nothing structural or long-term in play here. But there is some bone bruising, which can take a while to heal.”
Bryce Johnson got the first start in center field following Merrill’s injury. Laureano, however, has started there since, giving Gavin Sheets three straight starts in left field.
Sheets homered twice on Wednesday and is hitting .412/.474/.941 in just 19 plate appearances since the trade deadline.
He hadn’t started consecutive games since before Laureano and Ryan O’Hearn were acquired on July 31.
Thursday matinee. pic.twitter.com/ksobCycvjm
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) August 21, 2025
O’Hearn is hitting clean-up as the designated hitter on Thursday. Two-hole hitter Luis Arraez is back at first base, Xander Bogaerts is back in the lineup at shortstop after a day off and Sheets will hit sixth, ahead of Laureano, Jake Cronenworth and Freddy Fermin.
Back-to-back wins have pushed the Padres (71-56) back to within a game of the Dodgers (72-55) in the NL West. They remain two games behind the Cubs (73-54) in the race for the NL’s top wild-card spot and 3½ games had of the Mets (67-59), the NL’s current No. 6 seed.
Here is how the Giants (61-66), who have lost nine of 12 so far to San Diego, will line up for the last meeting of the year between the two teams:
Series finale in SD
⌚️: 1:10 p.m. PT
📍: San Diego, CA
📺: @NBCSGiants
📻: @KNBR | KSFN#SFGiants | @CocaCola pic.twitter.com/B7cmhA6eqN— SFGiants (@SFGiants) August 21, 2025
Thursday’s pitching matchup
Giants RHP Justin Verlander (1-9, 4.23 ERA)
The three-time Cy Young winner and future Hall-of-Famer is making his first start against the Padres since 2023 (6 IP, 2 ER) and just his fourth overall (2.95 ERA, 18 ⅓ IP). The 42-year-old struck out eight over seven shutout innings on Saturday, allowing just two hits. He has a 2.00 ERA over his last five starts.
Here is how Verlander has fared against current Padres:
Padres RHP Dylan Cease (5-11, 4.61 ERA)
He looked like he’d turned a corner (1.64 ERA, 16 strikeouts, 11 IP) but he walked a season-high six batters in 3⅓ innings in Saturday’s loss at Dodger Stadium. Cease has a 1.16 ERA in five wins, a 3.80 ERA in nine no-decisions and a 7.29 ERA in his 11 losses. Cease lost his start against the Giants this year, allowing three runs in five innings in June.
Here is how Cease has fared against current Giants:
Originally Published: