San Diego Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill has agreed to a nine-year, $135 million extension, the team announced Wednesday.

The contract runs from 2026-34, includes a $30 million club option for a 10th season and carries a maximum value of $204 million, according to multiple reports.

Merrill, who turns 22 on April 19, would not have been eligible for salary arbitration until 2027. The team option in 2035 reportedly converts to a player option if he has a top-five finish in MVP voting at any point during his deal.

An All-Star and the National League Rookie of the Year runner-up in 2024, Merrill is off to a hot start through six games this season. He is batting .400 (8-for-20) with a home run, a double and six RBIs.

Merrill batted .292 with 24 homers, 90 RBIs and 16 stolen bases in 156 games in 2024. San Diego drafted him in the first round (27th overall) in 2021.

–Field Level Media

As the Los Angeles Dodgers reach rarified air for a defending World Series champion, the Atlanta Braves are left to assess all that has gone wrong as the teams get set to meet in the finale of their three-game series on Wednesday.

The Dodgers put together their seventh consecutive victory to start the 2025 season when they upended the visiting Braves 3-1 on Tuesday. Atlanta is 0-6 to start the season for their worst opening to a schedule since they were 0-9 in 2016.

Los Angeles continues to overcome the obstacles in the early going. Freddie Freeman was out Tuesday for the fourth time in seven games, and yet the Dodgers won again. Freeman missed two games early in the schedule with rib soreness and has been out the past two games with ankle soreness.

On Tuesday they had right-hander Dustin May making his first start in two seasons, while the Braves had Cy Young winner Chris Sale on the mound. And yet the Dodgers pulled off the victory when May allowed just one hit and an unearned run and Mookie Betts hit a go-ahead home run off Sale in the sixth inning.

Betts cautioned against getting too complacent.

“It’s a really long season,” Betts said. “Teams go through stretches like this. It’s really important for us to just keep our head down, one inning at a time, same way we’ve been doing.”

It’s an easier philosophy to have while knowing two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell (1-0, 3.60 ERA) will be on the mound Wednesday while the team is in search of its eighth consecutive win.

Snell is 0-2 lifetime against the Braves with a 2.95 ERA in four starts.

“I think we just do a really good job of just kind of resetting and getting ready for the next day,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of his club, which matched the 1933 New York Yankees for the best start to a season as defending World Series champion.

Atlanta will alter its rotation by sending right-hander Bryce Elder to the mound for his 2025 debut. Elder is taking the rotation spot of right-hander Reynaldo Lopez, who is headed for arthroscopic surgery on his shoulder after one start this season.

Elder, who was 2-5 with a 6.52 ERA in 10 starts last season, is 0-1 lifetime against the Dodgers with a 5.28 ERA in three starts.

With Ronald Acuna Jr. and Sean Murphy on the injured list, and Jurickson Profar out on an 80-game PED suspension, the Braves have scored just two combined runs over the past four games. They had just three hits Tuesday and four on Monday after being one-hit by the San Diego Padres on Sunday.

“I can’t explain it,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “… I’m sure they’re pressing. That’s human nature to press when everybody wants to be the guy.”

Atlanta’s lone run Tuesday was unearned on a Betts throwing error. The team’s only earned run over the past four games came Monday on a home run from Michael Harris II.

After the Minnesota Twins and Milwaukee Brewers each won games Tuesday, the Braves remain the only MLB team without a victory this season.

–Field Level Media

Eugenio Suarez is off to a powerful start to the season.

Suarez leads the majors with five homers through his first five games, and the Arizona Diamondbacks hope to see their third baseman produce another big swing Wednesday night when they visit the New York Yankees.

Suarez lifted the Diamondbacks to a 7-5 victory in Tuesday’s series opener when he hit a 2-2 splitter from Yankee reliever Mark Leiter Jr. into the left field seats. Suarez hit his sixth career grand slam in a five-run eighth inning.

“I never had a start like this year, and it feels great,” Suarez said. “I want to continue doing that, continue trusting myself and see what happens and see how the season treats me.”

After being acquired from the Seattle Mariners, Suarez produced a 30-homer season for the fifth time in his first season with Arizona in 2024. He hit only six home runs through June 30 before heating up over the final three months.

Suarez’s five homers are tied for the third-most in major league history through the first five games. Only Trevor Story (2016) and Larry Walker (1997) had more, when they hit six for the Colorado Rockies.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Suarez is the third player since 1900 to have each of his first five hits go for homers. The others were Rob Deer in 1992 for the Detroit Tigers and Rodolfo Castro in 2021 for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

“I’ve been in this game a long time, so I’ve seen some guys get hot right off the bat, but this was a moment for him,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “It was spectacular.”

Suarez also has 11 RBIs, the most through five games in Arizona’s history after hitting his 13th career homer that gave his team the lead in the eighth or later.

“He put a real good swing on it,” Leiter said. “It’s unfortunate it went out.”

The Yankees will attempt to bounce back after taking their first loss following a dominant three-game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers. Jasson Dominguez, Anthony Volpe and Ben Rice homered, but Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger, Aaron Judge and Jazz Chisholm Jr. were a combined 0-for-15 with nine strikeouts.

Even with the quiet nights from their top hitters, the Yankees are up to 18 homers this season. It is the most in major league history through a team’s first four games.

After Corbin Burnes pitched 4 1/3 innings in his debut with the Diamondbacks on Tuesday, right-hander Zac Gallen (0-1, 9.00 ERA) will start on Wednesday after allowing four runs on four hits in four innings last Thursday in a 10-6 loss to the Chicago Cubs in Arizona’s season opener.

Gallen is 2-0 and has pitched 12 scoreless innings in both of his previous starts against the Yankees.

Left-hander Carlos Rodon (1-0, 1.69 ERA) will make his 200th career appearance and is coming off a strong start to his third season with the Yankees. After winning a career-high 16 games last season, Rodon continued to show an expanded repertoire and allowed one run on four hits in 5 1/3 innings in Thursday’s 4-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers.

Rodon is 0-3 with a 5.18 ERA in six career starts against the Diamondbacks.

–Field Level Media

In search of some consistency from their lineup, the visiting New York Mets will look to clinch their first series win of the year when they meet the Miami Marlins on Wednesday.

The Mets tallied just five hits in their 4-2 loss to Miami on Tuesday, marking the fourth time in five games that New York has scored three runs or less. Brandon Nimmo hit a solo home run, but New York struggled to find its rhythm at the plate — an area of concern for Mets manager Carlos Mendoza.

“We didn’t have many good at-bats tonight,” Mendoza said. “We couldn’t create opportunities until it was too late. We didn’t get much going and didn’t hit many balls hard.”

Shortstop Francisco Lindor has been at the forefront of the Mets’ offensive struggles, beginning the year 1-for-15 and getting his first hit on Tuesday. Compounding his lackluster start to the season, the usually reliable fielder committed a pair of errors, including a boot that led to Miami’s go-ahead run.

“I felt like we played a clean game except two pitches, my two ground balls,” Lindor said. “I take a lot of pride in it, and it doesn’t feel good. … I will just have to work at it, go out there tomorrow and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

New York’s pitching staff has been a bright spot with an ERA of 2.36. Aiming to continue that trend, Clay Holmes (0-1, 3.86 ERA) will get his second start of the season after allowing two earned runs in 4 2/3 innings in a 3-1 Opening Day loss to the Houston Astros. A two-time All-Star reliever with the Yankees, Holmes is starting just his second game since 2018 — his rookie year with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

In nine career appearances against Miami, Holmes has allowed four earned runs in 10 innings.

Winners in four of six games, the Marlins are off to their best start to a season since 2020, when they began the year 7-1 and advanced to the National League Division Series. Coming off a 100-loss 2024 campaign, the projected last-place NL East finishers will vie to keep the momentum going.

“It’s been all about the fight we got,” said Marlins reliever Anthony Bender, who picked up the save on Tuesday. “We’re all fighting. It’s been fun to watch from the bullpen, and when they call your name, going out and doing your part. It’s been a good time.”

Despite an 0-for-3 showing on Tuesday, Miami second baseman Otto Lopez has paced the offense, connecting on a pair of home runs and putting up six RBIs — both team highs.

On the mound for the Marlins on Wednesday will be right-hander Connor Gillispie (0-1, 5.40 ERA). He will make his second career start following a loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday, in which he allowed four runs (three earned) in five innings.

After eight innings pitched for the Cleveland Guardians in 2024, Gillispie was claimed off waivers by Miami and will be relied on as part of the rotation, at least in the early part of the season.

–Field Level Media

Tarik Skubal, though born in California and raised in Arizona, considers Seattle a special place.

The Detroit Tigers’ left-hander and reigning American League Cy Young Award winner will look to continue his mastery of the host Mariners when he takes the mound in the finale of a three-game series Wednesday afternoon.

Skubal played collegiately at Seattle University, the only NCAA Division I school to offer him a scholarship. He took in part of the Redhawks’ 8-7 victory against the University of British Columbia on Tuesday afternoon before heading to the ballpark in Seattle.

Once in the visiting clubhouse, he flipped through old pictures in his phone to find one taken when Seattle University played a game at T-Mobile Park.

“I’ve got a picture in this locker right here,” Skubal said. “It was me taking a selfie, just being a kid … and now that it’s your life, it’s pretty cool. I don’t think that kid who sat in this locker and ate finger foods and got to be a big-leaguer for a day — there’s no chance he would’ve thought he’d be sitting here doing this right now.”

The Tigers gave Skubal permission to spend some time Tuesday to be honored by his alma mater on Tarik Skubal Night. He mingled with Seattle University players, coaches and alumni.

“I’ll try to say hi to as many (people) as I can,” Skubal said. “It’s tough to predict days that you pitch in terms of trying to plan that … but hopefully I can convince all those people to come back the next day.”

The Tigers will look to complete a three-game sweep of the Mariners after posting 9-6 and 4-1 victories the past two nights.

Detroit has scored multiple runs in the first inning of both games and hasn’t trailed. Riley Greene homered in both games, and Casey Mize and three relievers combined on a one-hitter Tuesday.

Mize allowed a leadoff single to Victor Robles in the bottom of the first and then a one-out walk before retiring 14 consecutive batters.

“He had a hard time getting into rhythm, and then he fell into an incredible rhythm,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said of Mize. “He had the split going, both variations of the slider, and was efficient … we felt like we had a bigger lead because of the way Casey was throwing.”

The Mariners have scored two or fewer runs in four of six games this season.

“A difficult one (Tuesday),” manager Dan Wilson said. “We couldn’t get anything going offensively.”

Skubal (0-1, 7.20 ERA) gave up a pair of homers Thursday in losing his Opening Day start in Los Angeles against the defending World Series champion Dodgers. He will oppose Mariners right-hander Luis Castillo (0-1, 3.60).

Skubal is 3-0 with a 2.50 ERA in three career starts against Seattle; Castillo is 0-4 with a 4.03 ERA in five starts vs. the Tigers.

Whatever happens, Skubal already knows what his postgame meal will be. The Tigers have arranged to have the clubhouse spread catered by Tacos Chukis, a popular taqueria known for its street tacos and one of Skubal’s favorite spots in the city.

“I want to eat it after I pitch and not before,” Skubal told reporters with a chuckle.

–Field Level Media

After posting a sub-.500 road record in their first season under manager Bob Melvin in 2024, the San Francisco Giants entered this campaign pressed to start on a positive note away from Oracle Park.

With their 3-1 interleague victory at the Houston Astros on Tuesday, the Giants (4-1) guaranteed they will enter their home opener this weekend against the Seattle Mariners with a winning record.

San Francisco secured its second road series win by stifling the Astros and followed a road series victory against the Cincinnati Reds last weekend by claiming its fourth consecutive series win over Houston.

The Giants will pursue the three-game series sweep on Wednesday afternoon.

“Our road record (38-43) wasn’t very good last year, and you know we’re going to start on the road,” Melvin said. “It’s kind of important with the spring that we had to get off to a good start. On top of that, to win a series in Cincinnati is huge, and now we’ve taken the first two here. Now it’s about trying to get greedy (Wednesday).”

Right-hander Landen Roupp (1-2, 3.58 ERA in 2024) will make his season debut for the Giants in the series finale on Wednesday.

Roupp broke camp with the club for a second consecutive year, making 23 appearances (four starts) as a rookie while posting 47 strikeouts in 50 1/3 innings. He went 1-2 with a 3.86 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 18 2/3 innings after joining the rotation on Sept. 10.

Roupp will make his first career appearance against the Astros. He is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA over five appearances (one start) against the American League.

Left-hander Framber Valdez (1-0, 0.00 ERA) has the starting assignment on Wednesday as the Astros seek to avert the series sweep.

Valdez worked seven scoreless innings against the New York Mets on Opening Day, allowing four hits and two walks with four strikeouts in a 3-1 victory. He joined Dallas Keuchel (in 2015 and 2017) as the only pitchers in club history to work seven scoreless innings while surrendering four or fewer hits on Opening Day.

Valdez surpassed Keuchel for the most Opening Day starts by a southpaw in club history with his fourth.

Valdez is 1-2 with a 5.40 ERA over three career starts against the Giants. He took a 5-3 road loss on June 12, 2024, after allowing five runs on eight hits and one walk over four innings.

The Astros continued their offensive struggles to open the season, recording one extra-base hit while grounding into three double plays and finishing just 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position on Tuesday. The Astros have nine runs in the first five games of their six-game homestand.

Excluding Jose Altuve, who homered Tuesday and has hit safely in all five games, the Astros are receiving little production up and down their lineup. Seven of their Opening Day starters are batting below .200, with slugger Yordan Alvarez going 1-for-16 with six strikeouts.

“It’s just a matter of being patient and letting these good hitters come through at some point,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “Which they will.”

–Field Level Media

How does center fielder Jackson Merrill explain the San Diego Padres’ best start in franchise history?

“We’re having fun,” he said. “That’s all there is to say.”

Merrill and San Diego will try to have fun one more time on what has been a perfect homestand to start the season. The Padres will host the Cleveland Guardians Wednesday afternoon in the last game of the series, going for a three-game sweep and a 7-0 start.

Merrill, 21, got the Padres started on their 7-0 win Tuesday night, blasting a two-out solo homer in the fourth. He later walked and scored, again demonstrating his improved patience at the plate.

Twenty at-bats in six games isn’t a full season by any means, but Merrill already has drawn a pair of walks. In 156 games last year, he walked just 29 times, the only real weakness in his offensive profile.

While Merrill acknowledges more patience could lead to better pitches to hit, he also knows you can’t get a hit unless you swing the bat.

“I’m always looking to hit,” he said. “I’m a hitter, not a walker. What can I say?”

Merrill’s teammates more than make up for his willingness to swing. The Padres worked a season-high seven walks Tuesday night, giving them 24 in six games. Despite hitting just four homers, they’re averaging more than five runs per game.

Meanwhile, their pitchers have thrown three shutouts, making them the first team since the 1980 Cincinnati Reds to start 6-0 with three shutouts.

Right-hander Dylan Cease (0-0, 6.23 ERA) will try to keep the roll going in the series finale. He gave up three runs in 4 1/3 innings of Friday night’s 4-3 win over Atlanta. He’s faced Cleveland 13 times in his career, going 6-5 with a 3.57 ERA.

The Guardians will try to avoid a sweep behind right-hander Ben Lively (0-0, 5.40), who started Thursday’s season opener in Kansas City on short notice and delivered a decent outing. He allowed four hits and three runs in five innings during his team’s 7-4, 10-inning win, walking none and striking out three. He lost 2-1 to San Diego last season in his only career outing against the team.

Cleveland will try to square its record at .500 six games into a season-opening nine-game road trip. After taking two of three in Kansas City, the Guardians haven’t played well in any aspect of the game in this series. That includes their two-hit, two-error performance on Tuesday.

Even Jose Ramirez, the Guardians’ best player, wasn’t immune to struggling. He went 0-for-3 Tuesday with a strikeout and dropped a pop-up in the eighth inning, leading to the Padres’ last run.

It was a 180-degree turn from his Monday effort, which saw him collect three hits and his first homer of the year in his return from a wrist injury that forced him to sit out on Sunday.

Teammates aren’t worried about Ramirez.

“He’s our superstar. He’s our guy,” said Cleveland catcher Austin Hedges. “Any time he’s in the lineup, he can win the game by himself.”
–Field Level Media

The Washington Nationals will find themselves in a familiar situation on Wednesday afternoon, needing a win to avert a three-game series sweep by the host Toronto Blue Jays.

The Nationals avoided being swept at home by the Philadelphia Phillies with a 5-1 victory on Sunday afternoon.

Washington is in the same position after a 5-3 loss on Tuesday, when the Blue Jays scored two unearned runs in the eighth inning to clinch a series victory.

The Nationals could use an encore performance from Opening Day by left-hander MacKenzie Gore (0-0, 0.00 ERA), who struck out a career-best 13 and allowed one hit over six scoreless innings. Philadelphia, however, went on to record a 7-3 victory in 10 innings.

“He’s a different guy,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez of Gore. “He doesn’t let too many things rattle him. He went out there, and on some close calls that didn’t go his way, he got right back to that next pitch.”

Gore is 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA in two career starts vs. the Blue Jays. He allowed six runs (two earned) in three innings in a no-decision against them last season.

Toronto will send out left-hander Easton Lucas to make his first major league start on Wednesday. He is 1-0 with a 9.28 ERA in 14 career relief appearances in the majors and has never faced Washington.

Right-hander Kevin Gausman had been scheduled to make his second start of the season on Wednesday. Instead, he will start on Friday on the road against the New York Mets.

The adjustment to the rotation was made because Max Scherzer (thumb) was put on the 15-day injured list on Sunday, with Lucas being promoted from the minors.

Lucas, 28, pitched twice for the Blue Jays last season.

The Nationals have had trouble scoring runs early in both games of the series.

“Our swings got better late on,” Martinez said. “We just need to keep grinding.”

The Nationals overcame a three-run deficit Tuesday to tie the game at 3 in the seventh inning when CJ Abrams doubled against Mason Fluharty, who made his major league debut.

That denied Toronto starter Jose Berrios a chance at his 100th career victory. He allowed two runs and four hits while striking out eight in 5 2/3 innings.

Toronto regained the lead in the eighth on Bo Bichette’s bouncing two-run single that twisted down the first base line. The runs were unearned because of reliever Jose A. Ferrer’s error on a sacrifice bunt by Will Wagner.

Martinez said his team needs better starts to games.

“I’d like to see our offense get going early,” he said. “Our offense needs to kick it in in the first inning.”

The Blue Jays had plenty of early hits on Tuesday. They scored three runs on five hits in the second inning and outhit the Nationals 12-6 for the game.

Toronto used the bunt effectively.

Ernie Clement and Wagner had sacrifice bunts in the eighth, and Wagner had a bunt single in the second inning.

“We actually had a bunting competition, true story, in spring training,” Toronto manager John Schneider said. “We divided the guys up into teams, with the winning team getting $1,000. … courtesy of me. They worked hard at it.

“I think Ernie (Clement) kind of stood out just with the consistency in which he practiced.”

But, as Schneider pointed out: “It doesn’t matter unless you get it done here.”

–Field Level Media