The San Diego Padres cooled off the Los Angeles Angels’ red-hot offense with a 4-1 victory Saturday night at Angel Stadium, evening their series behind strong performances from Fernando Tatis Jr. and closer Mason Miller.
Tatis Jr. collected two hits and drove in two runs while Miller recorded two strikeouts to secure his seventh save of the season. The victory marked San Diego’s 12th win in their last 14 contests.
Ramon Laureano contributed two RBIs for the Padres, while Jake Cronenworth reached base safely four times through a single, two walks, and being hit by a pitch, also crossing home plate once. Freddy Fermin scored twice in the winning effort.
Relief pitcher Adrian Morejon (2-0) tossed 1 1/3 innings without allowing a hit, while Miller worked around a leadoff single by Yoan Moncada and a walk to Vaughn Grissom in the ninth inning. Miller’s performance extended his scoreless streak to 31 2/3 innings, dating back to August 6, 2025.
For Los Angeles, Zach Neto and Mike Trout each collected doubles, and Nolan Schanuel delivered an RBI single. The Angels managed only six hits total. Ryan Zeferjahn (1-1) surrendered two runs on three hits and two walks in one inning of work after Yusei Kikuchi completed six scoreless innings as the starter.
Kikuchi gave up four hits, one walk, and hit one batter while striking out eight Padres hitters.
The Angels entered the game having launched 16 home runs while plating 49 runs over their previous six contests, but San Diego starter German Marquez held them to just two hits through 5 2/3 innings.
Los Angeles nearly grabbed a 1-0 advantage in the second inning when Moncada launched a deep fly ball to right-center field. However, Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill made a spectacular catch, reaching over the outfield wall to rob Moncada of a home run. The defensive gem marked Merrill’s third home run robbery this season.
San Diego broke through for a 2-0 lead in the eighth inning against Zeferjahn, who issued consecutive walks to Fermin and Cronenworth on eight straight pitches to start the frame. Laureano then lined a single to center field, bringing home Fermin, before Tatis followed with a slow grounder into shallow right field that scored Cronenworth.
The Angels responded in the bottom of the eighth, cutting the deficit to 2-1 when Schanuel’s single drove home Logan O’Hoppe, who had reached on a single and moved to second base on Adam Frazier’s base hit.
The Padres added insurance in the ninth inning with two more runs, scoring on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by Laureano and an RBI single from Tatis.
