Merrill leads Padres against the Pirates after 4-hit outing

Updated Aug. 8, 2024 4:00 a.m. ET

Associated Press

San Diego Padres (63-52, third in the NL West) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (56-57, third in the NL Central)

Pittsburgh; Thursday, 12:35 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Padres: Randy Vasquez (3-6, 4.62 ERA, 1.53 WHIP, 50 strikeouts); Pirates: Luis Ortiz (5-2, 3.21 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 65 strikeouts)

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Pirates -114, Padres -105; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The San Diego Padres take on the Pittsburgh Pirates after Jackson Merrill had four hits against the Pirates on Wednesday.

Pittsburgh is 27-30 in home games and 56-57 overall. The Pirates have gone 39-17 in games when they record eight or more hits.

San Diego has a 33-23 record in road games and a 63-52 record overall. The Padres have a 47-6 record in games when they scored at least five runs.

The teams meet Thursday for the third time this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Bryan Reynolds has 22 doubles, three triples and 19 home runs for the Pirates. Oneil Cruz is 11-for-39 with two doubles, a triple, two home runs and five RBI over the past 10 games.

Luis Arraez has a .302 batting average to lead the Padres, and has 20 doubles, two triples and three home runs. Xander Bogaerts is 16-for-42 with a home run and eight RBI over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Pirates: 4-6, .244 batting average, 4.80 ERA, outscored by five runs

Padres: 8-2, .303 batting average, 3.36 ERA, outscored opponents by 26 runs

INJURIES: Pirates: Oneil Cruz: day-to-day (illness), Joshua Palacios: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Daulton Jefferies: 60-Day IL (elbow), Carmen Mlodzinski: 15-Day IL (undisclosed), Nick Gonzales: 10-Day IL (undisclosed), Jared Jones: 15-Day IL (lat), Ryan Borucki: 60-Day IL (tricep), Dauri Moreta: 60-Day IL (elbow), Endy Rodriguez: 60-Day IL (elbow), Johan Oviedo: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Padres: Ha-Seong Kim: day-to-day (tricep), Stephen Kolek: 15-Day IL (forearm), Wandy Peralta: 15-Day IL (aductor), Joe Musgrove: 60-Day IL (elbow), Fernando Tatis Jr.: 10-Day IL (quadricep), Luis Patino: 60-Day IL (elbow)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.