Merrill magic pushes Padres winning streak to 7
It's a good time to be a Padres fan, Steph Curry revs it up for at least one more night, Clippers hand the OKC Thunder a gift, ethics in journalism and so much more in today's Front Row Seat!
The San Diego Padres are riding a seven-game winning streak that includes three walk-offs, the result of the last six of their games being played at Petco Park. They’ve also won 10 of their last 11 games, which includes series wins in Boston and Pittsburgh.
There is a level of success around this team that feels….magical. The vibes are good, the team legitimately believes in itself, and everyone seems to be having fun. Winning streaks are fun!
It did remind me, though, that last year’s Padres team got off to a great start before slowing down to a plodding pace the rest of the way. And it made me wonder how different this team, right now, is from a year ago.
WELL, the Padres are currently 12-6. They’re in 2nd place in the NL West, 2.0 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers. According to FanGraphs, they have a 44.3% chance of making the playoffs this year.
One year ago today, the Padres were 15-4 and leading the NL West. According to FanGraphs, they had a 61.4% chance of making the playoffs (which they eventually did!).
The difference seems to be in how the team is winning. Last year, it was pure dominance from the Padres bullpen and Fernando Tatis Jr.. This year, it’s Jackson Merrill and Ramon Laureano who are off to hot starts with the bat, but it feels much more like an “Anyone can win this game for us tonight” type of team.
Tatis, to this point, has been a below-average hitter. He’s been about as offensively-valuable as Freddy Fermín, who might be in danger of losing the starting catcher job to Luís Campusano. But it’s been guys like Campusano that have exceeded expectations and made this team, already, so much more than "Tatis, Machado, Merrill and some other guys.”
That’s exactly what you’re hoping for from a team that is trying to survive 162-game season and then the playoffs. Especially one that is still trying to figure out about half of its starting rotation. I don’t know if it’s Craig Stammen’s managing (it probably is!) or just the right group of guys (also possible!) or just some early-season magic that will fade like last year (I hope not!), but the 2026 Padres are already a joy to follow in a way that the 2025 Padres were not for most of last year.
Now, onto the links…
San Diego Padres
Merrill magic strikes twice! Fresh off HR robbery, young star caps wild rally with walk-off - MLB.com
Down six runs after five innings -- down four runs when Mariners right fielder Luke Raley corralled the second out of the ninth -- San Diego rallied for a wild 7-6 victory on Wednesday night at a frenzied Petco Park.
Jackson Merrill played the role of superman in the third inning and walk-off hero in the ninth, as the Padres extended their winning streak to seven games -- three of them via walk-off.
Merrill -- who robbed Julio Rodríguez of a home run earlier in the night -- capped a ferocious five-run, ninth-inning rally with a two-run double into the left-field corner, plating the tying and winning runs.
Padres’ Nick Pivetta dealing with flexor strain, out ‘weeks and maybe months’ - San Diego Union-Tribune
Nick Pivetta is confident he’ll pitch again this season.
Yet the root cause of the inflammation in Pivetta’s right elbow — a flexor strain — will sideline the 33-year-old right-hander “weeks and maybe months,” manager Craig Stammen said Wednesday.
There is no talk of surgery for now. Pivetta missed roughly a month with a flexor strain in 2024 and came back to throw 134 2/3 innings.
NBA Play-In Tournament
Steph Curry answers the moment as Warriors get past Clippers in NBA Play-In Tournament - The Athletic
Stephen Curry delivered when the Golden State Warriors needed him most.
His 29-foot 3-pointer with 51 seconds left highlighted a closing 16-6 run and sent the Warriors past the LA Clippers 126-121 in Wednesday’s 9-10 Play-In game at Intuit Dome.
Before the late-game surge, the Clippers led 115-110 and had been up by as many as 13 in the fourth quarter — another late-game breakdown on a stage that has consistently troubled them.
Curry, who briefly left the bench in the first quarter with an apparent injury, finished with 35 points on 12-of-23 shooting, including 7 of 12 from beyond the arc. He had just eight points in the first half after missing seven of his first nine attempts.
Clippers’ collapse in Play-In Tournament delivers Thunder a lottery gift - The Athletic
In the immediate aftermath of the 126-121 Warriors victory, the ripple effects stretched well beyond those in attendance. The Clippers’ elimination means the 2026 first-round pick owed to Oklahoma City will enter the lottery. Slotted at No. 12, the pick carries a 7.1 percent chance of jumping into the top four and a 1.5 percent chance of becoming the No. 1 pick.
Tyrese Maxey-led Sixers outlast Magic in play-in tournament, will face Celtics in first round of playoffs - Yahoo Sports
With the win, the Sixers now have the No. 7 seed and a date with the rival Boston Celtics, the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 seed, in the first round of the playoffs. The Magic, meanwhile, are in jeopardy of missing out on the main bracket. Orlando’s season will be on the line Friday night, when the Magic will welcome a Charlotte Hornets squad that’s buzzing after it opened the play-in tournament with an overtime win over the Miami Heat on Tuesday.
Odds & Ends
San Diego Sockers open playoffs in high-stakes semifinal - CBS 8 San Diego
The San Diego Sockers will battle Saint Louis in the MASL Semifinals as the No. 1 seed, bringing home field advantage and the weight of a storied 16-time championship legacy to the matchup.
Despite an earlier victory over Saint Louis this season, the Sockers are bracing for a formidable challenge.
You Can Never Let Them Think They Have A Chance - Defector
There’s a lot we don’t know about Russini and Vrabel’s relationship. We don’t know who initiated it or how long it’s gone on. We don’t even know what “it” is, really, and whether it was ever romantic or sexual. All we can say is that—in the photo where it looks like Vrabel has his arm around Russini, and they both look out to the picturesque Sedona mountain view—it appears that a line has been crossed.
To be a woman who does reporting in any field, especially one dominated by men, is to put up with a lot of propositions and harassment and unfairness that your newsroom will be unable to do much about. You also must put up with a lot of people assuming you sleep with your sources because they think that this is the only way you as a female reporter can get any information. Despite all of this, you know there is a line you cannot cross. In part, it’s because, journalistically, it is just wrong. But it’s also about self-preservation.
Trump’s Colosseum - Sports Politika
And yet, despite the difficult political circumstances, Trump still found time for his cagefighting constituency at the UFC. On Saturday night, Trump received a warm welcome from fight fans, albeit not as loud as past events. There was also a smattering of boos— a rarity at UFC events, especially in his adopted home state.
Trump has attended a total of four UFC events since being elected president for a second time in November 2024. He attended UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden less than two weeks following his electoral victory. He then appeared at UFC 314 in Miami in April 2025, where he made a pro wrestling-esque entrance to Kid Rock’s “American Bad Ass” while enjoying a standing ovation from the raucous crowd in attendance. It was an elaborate display of propaganda from the UFC, which had mastered the spectacle of the Trump walkout.