Tatis Jr. and Merrill power Padres to 8-1 win, completing sweep of Twins

San Diego turned a strong weekend into a decisive statement Sunday afternoon, finishing a three-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins with an 8-1 win at home. The result capped a series in which the Padres combined timely hitting with pitching that kept Minnesota’s offense from gaining traction.

Fernando Tatis Jr. set the tone early and kept it going. He delivered a 4-for-5 performance that included two home runs, accounting for a large share of the Padres’ offensive production and reinforcing his ability to change the shape of a game with a single swing.

Jackson Merrill also contributed to the blowout by adding a home run of his own, giving San Diego multiple power threats to cover throughout the lineup. With both Tatis and Merrill delivering long balls, the Padres created separation in a way that forced the Twins to chase innings rather than work through at-bats.

On the pitching side, Walker Buehler logged six quality frames to give San Diego innings it could build on. His outing limited Minnesota’s ability to repeatedly string together meaningful contact, and it gave the Padres enough control to protect the lead as the game moved forward.

The 8-1 final also mattered because series sweeps are rare for both sides, especially when they come against an opponent that can typically adjust quickly game-to-game. For San Diego, the sweep serves as a clear, simple summary of what they do best when their core bats are producing.

For Minnesota, the challenge is obvious: despite the team getting opportunities to respond, the offense never found sustained momentum, and the deficit became too large after the Padres’ lineup produced both power and depth. The Twins will have to regroup quickly and decide how to approach the next matchup without repeating the same breakdowns over multiple games.

The next questions for San Diego are practical: can the offense keep stacking productive days, and will the pitching staff continue to offer starts that are deep enough to keep leverage in the later innings. For Minnesota, the focus will be on tightening execution and finding a way to slow the home-run damage when facing the Padres’ biggest threats.