Say this much for San Diego Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill. When he snaps a slump, he doesn’t do it with a bloop single off the end of the bat.

The player who was 3-for-35 in July entering play Saturday hit two homers off National League Cy Young Award candidate Zack Wheeler to propel his team to a 5-4 win over the visiting Philadelphia Phillies.

Merrill and San Diego will aim for a series sweep Sunday afternoon in the final game before the All-Star break.

Merrill’s average plummeted to .258 after an 0-for-3 in Friday night’s 4-2 win. Padres manager Mike Shildt had dropped him from second to fourth in the order, then to fifth and finally to sixth, to take a little pressure off a hitter clearly pressing.

A two-run, opposite-field homer in the second inning off Wheeler lit up Merrill’s face as he rounded the bases. A 402-foot solo shot over the right-center-field wall in the sixth tied the game and reinforced the notion Merrill had found the stroke that led to 24 homers last year as a rookie.

Some felt Merrill should take a game off for a mental break. He didn’t like that idea.

“A break? I don’t want a break,” he told MLB.com before the game on Saturday. “I never want a break. Especially right now. I’d rather just keep playing.”

Shildt has had no issue using Merrill despite his offensive woes. Merrill has played excellent defense, twice robbing home runs during his slump. One of them was in a 1-0 win Tuesday night over the Arizona Diamondbacks, preserving Nick Pivetta’s scoreless outing.

Pivetta (9-2, 3.07 ERA) will go back out there Sunday, looking to beat his former team for the second time in 11 days. The right-hander scored a 6-4 win at Philadelphia on July 2, scattering seven hits and allowing a run in six innings with no walks and six strikeouts.

Pivetta is 1-1 with a 5.79 ERA in three career appearances against the Phillies.

The Phillies will counter on Sunday with left-hander Cristopher Sanchez (7-2, 2.59), who followed Pivetta’s July 2 gem with one of his own in the night portion of a day-night twinbill. He gave up just one run over seven innings during a 5-1 win over the Padres, striking out five.

Sanchez is 2-1 with a 2.37 ERA in three lifetime outings against the Padres. He is one of three Philadelphia starters who could have been All-Stars this year, along with Wheeler and Ranger Suarez. Wheeler was selected but opted to prioritize rest over a trip to Atlanta for Tuesday’s game, and Sanchez was eliminated from consideration as a replacement because he’s pitching on Sunday.

Many Phillies were furious that two of their starters, the core of the top rotation in baseball this year, were left out while Milwaukee rookie Jacob Misiorowski was named an All-Star on Friday after pitching just 25 2/3 innings in five MLB starts.

“It’s turning into the Savannah Bananas,” Philadelphia right fielder Nick Castellanos said of the independent pro team known for its zany brand of baseball.

Philadelphia has other worries besides feeling shorted in terms of All-Star selections. The Phillies are 1-4 with one game remaining on their western swing through San Francisco and San Diego and are a half-game behind the New York Mets for first place in the NL East.

The Phillies also lost third baseman Alec Bohm in the fourth inning Saturday to a rib cage contusion after he took a Yu Darvish fastball to lead off the second. Bohm’s status for the Sunday series finale isn’t known.

–Field Level Media

The Los Angeles Angels have a chance to hit the All-Star break at the .500 mark if they can complete a three-game series sweep of the slumping Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday afternoon in Anaheim, Calif.

The Angels won the series opener, 6-5, on Friday on a walk-off RBI single by pinch-hitter Travis d’Arnaud and followed that with a 10-5 victory on Saturday, rolling up a season-high 15 hits in the process.

That win moved Los Angeles (47-48) within three games of the Seattle Mariners for the final wild-card spot in the American League.

Jose Soriano (6-6, 4.00 ERA) will take the mound for the Angels and will be opposed by fellow right-hander Merrill Kelly (7-5, 3.41).

Soriano is 1-0 with a 2.00 ERA in two career appearances (one start) against the Diamondbacks. That win came in Phoenix on June 12, 2024, when he allowed two earned runs on five hits in eight innings while striking out five in an 8-3 victory.

Kelly is 0-0 with a 5.40 ERA in one career start against the Angels, with that coming in 2021. Kelly allowed four hits and three earned runs in five innings of an eventual 6-5 Angels win.

The Diamondbacks have dropped 12 of their last 17 games since a 4-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox on June 24. That was also the last time Arizona won a series.

The Diamondbacks, who have a three-game losing streak, are 6 1/2 games behind the San Diego Padres for the final National League wild-card spot — with three teams to leapfrog.

“There’s some frustration that definitely is building inside (us) each day,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said following Saturday night’s loss. “I feel like we’re playing good baseball but not great baseball. We’re not doing the things that we traditionally do to help us win games.”

Pitching has been a major issue. Zac Gallen (7-10), rumored to be on the trade market, was hammered again in Saturday’s loss, allowing six runs on eight hits in five innings. It was the seventh time this season he has allowed at least five runs in a game.

“We’ve just got to keep fighting,” Lovullo said. “We’ve got one day before the break tomorrow. I don’t want us to dwell on anything negative. Flush what happened today and come out and try and win a game tomorrow.”

Mike Trout had two hits, including a two-run homer, and drove in four runs in Saturday’s win and moved closer to a couple of impressive milestones in the process.

Trout, who is batting .279 with eight home runs since coming off the injured list on May 30 (bone bruise on his twice surgically-repaired left knee), moved to within five homers of the 400-club and within six RBIs of 1,000 in his career.

“It’s huge,” interim Angels manager Ray Montgomery said. “Any kind of benchmarks like that, let alone to that extent, I mean you want to celebrate. … I think it’s a testimony to who he is because he’s so humble about everything. Those numbers are big.”

“It’s awesome,” added first baseman Nolan Schanuel, who went 3-for-4 with a walk and an RBI and scored on Trout’s homer. “(Getting No. 395) tonight, and being on base for that, it’s just special. It’s history, so I love to be able to watch it.”

-Field Level Media

Pitchers Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Robbie Ray will put their All-Star arms on display when the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants close the season’s first half Sunday afternoon.

The weekend duel in San Francisco between the National League West’s longtime rivals has produced a pair of nail-biters, with the Giants holding on for an 8-7 win on Friday night before the Dodgers snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 2-1 triumph on Saturday afternoon.

All-Stars Logan Webb of the Giants and Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers kicked off their team’s wins on the mound in the split, setting up a rubber match in which both of Sunday’s starting pitchers also have been selected to the NL All-Star team.

In this case, however, by drawing a start just two days before the All-Star Game, both Yamamoto and Ray will be unavailable to pitch in Tuesday’s showcase.

Giants manager Bob Melvin explained during a pre-game media chat earlier this week what some might consider a controversial decision to deny a player a rare chance to shine in the midseason spotlight.

“It’s all about doing the best he can for our team,” Melvin said of Ray (9-3, 2.63 ERA), a left-hander who shares the team lead in wins with Webb. “He’s all-in on pitching.”

Ray also made the NL All-Stars while pitching for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2017. By manager’s choice, he did not get into that game, which the American League won 2-1.

His experience figures to be similar on Tuesday in that even pitchers who won’t participate are introduced to the national audience before the game.

“Ultimately, we are trying to win a World Series here,” Ray told reporters after the Giants’ rotation was announced this week. “Just being able to be named an All-Star this year and to get to go and enjoy it is great.”

The Giants have won 15 of Ray’s 19 starts this season, including both in July, when he has allowed the Diamondbacks and Philadelphia Phillies just three runs over 14 2/3 innings. The 33-year-old has gone 9-6 with a 3.33 ERA in 22 lifetime starts against the Dodgers.

Now in his second major league season, Yamamoto (8-7, 2.77 ERA) has faced the Giants just twice, going 0-1 with a 7.84 ERA.

The right-hander went up against Webb in a 6-2 home loss in June, a game in which he served up a first-inning solo home run to Willy Adames and a grand slam to Casey Schmitt in the third.

The 26-year-old made it clear before the rosters were finalized that just getting picked to join the festivities in Atlanta would be special.

“That’s Major League Baseball’s top stage where players gather,” the five-time All-Star in Japan told reporters, “so that would be an honor for me.”

The Dodgers will be represented at the All-Star Game by Ohtani as the NL’s starting designated hitter, Yamamoto, catcher Will Smith, first baseman Freddie Freeman and pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who earned an invitation as a “legend pick.” The Giants will send Ray, Webb and reliever Randy Rodriguez.

–Field Level Media

Three major league organizations parted ways with Brent Rooker before the Athletics landed him via waivers from the Kansas City Royals following the 2022 season.

In 2 1/2 seasons with the Athletics, Rooker has 89 homers and just made the American League All-Star team for the second time. He also will participate in the Home Run Derby on Monday.

But first, the 30-year-old Rooker will look to help the Athletics win a three-game series from the Toronto Blue Jays when the clubs conclude play before the All-Star break with a matchup Sunday afternoon at West Sacramento, Calif.

“It’s going to be a big game,” Rooker said after Saturday’s 4-3 win over Toronto evened the series. “Obviously, heading into the break and building some momentum against a good team, we’ll be feeling good about ourselves going into the All-Star break.”

Rooker hit a two-run, tiebreaking homer and also had a run-scoring double in Saturday’s victory. The blast gave him his third straight 20-homer season — he hit 30 for the A’s in 2023 and 39 last season.

The homer was Rooker’s 99th in the majors. The other 10 came for the Minnesota Twins, who eventually traded him to the San Diego Padres, who later gave him away to the Royals, a team that just let him go.

That journey has helped Rooker relish big moments like Saturday’s fifth-inning homer off Kevin Gausman.

“To impact the game is fun,” Rooker said. “I’ve been looking for a big swing for a few games now, and I was finally able to get one.”

Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said he was impressed with Rooker’s homer.

“That at-bat by Rook, to be able to elevate that pitch and hit it out of the yard was pretty exceptional,” Kotsay said.

Blue Jays manager John Schneider was not awed by the blast.

“The homer to Rooker is probably only a homer here,” said Schneider, referring to how the Triple-A ballpark being used by the A’s is considered a launching pad. “He’s a good hitter.”

The loss on Saturday was just the second for Toronto in the past 13 games. It also marked the first time the team lost to the Athletics in six games this season.

The Blue Jays had only six hits and struck out 13 times on Saturday. Toronto was just 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position, including back-to-back strikeouts by Ernie Clement and George Springer to end the game.

“It didn’t really bounce our way,” Schneider said.

The Blue Jays will send right-hander Jose Berrios (5-3, 3.53 ERA) to the mound on Sunday. Berrios is 3-0 over his last four starts and has allowed a total of two runs (one earned) and eight hits in the three wins.

Berrios, 31, defeated the Chicago White Sox on Monday when he gave up one run and two hits over six innings of an 8-4 win.

Berrios tied his season high of nine strikeouts when he defeated the Athletics on May 29 in Toronto. He gave up just two hits in six shutout innings of a 12-0 rout.

Overall, Berrios is 4-3 with a 3.17 ERA in 12 career starts against the A’s. Gio Urshela is 6-for-11 against Berrios while Lawrence Butler (2-for-8) has homered.

The Athletics will counter with left-hander Jeffrey Springs (7-6, 3.92), who has allowed two or fewer earned runs in each of his last five outings.

Springs defeated the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday when he allowed one run and six hits over six innings of a 10-1 A’s rout.

Springs lost to the Blue Jays on May 30 when he gave up six runs, six hits and a season-worst six walks in two-plus innings of an 11-7 Toronto win.

The 32-year-old is 2-1 with a 4.55 ERA in 11 career appearances (four starts) against Toronto. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (3-for-13) and Clement (2-for-4) each have homered off Springs.

–Field Level Media

The injury-battered Atlanta Braves are looking forward to resting during the All-Star break.

They absorbed another injury hit Friday when third baseman Austin Riley suffered a strained right abdomen that landed him on the 10-day injured list Saturday. The Braves also will go into the break with back-to-back bullpen games due to the depletion of their starting rotation.

But they have won three of four games heading into Sunday afternoon’s road game against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Atlanta won 6-5 on Friday, then 7-6 on Saturday after recalling Nacho Alvarez Jr. from Triple-A Gwinnett to replace Riley.

“We just keep battling through things like that,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “I mean, we’ve done it for over a year now. So I hate it for Austin, too, because he’s swinging the bat pretty good. It’s one of those things.”

On the plus side, outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. remained in action while dealing with a lower back concern. He changed his mind and opted out of the Home Run Derby on Monday, but he remained in the Braves’ lineup while promising he will play in the All-Star Game on his home field in Atlanta on Tuesday.

Acuna is 6-for-17 with three homers, two doubles and four RBIs in his past four games. He moved from his usual leadoff spot to No. 3 on Saturday with Riley sidelined. Alvarez Jr. went 2-for-4 with a run in Riley’s place.

The Braves’ starting pitching scenario was complicated by the need to cover six innings in relief Friday before the back-to-back bullpen starts. They used six pitchers Saturday.

They will roll out a string of relievers again Sunday. To make room for pitcher Joey Wentz, whom they claimed on waivers on Friday, Nathan Wiles was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett.

The Braves had not named their opener as of Sunday morning.

The Cardinals shuffled their pitching rotation to give right-hander Sonny Gray (9-3, 3.51 ERA) the opportunity to start Sunday ahead of the break.

Gray earned a 4-2 victory over the Washington Nationals on Tuesday in his most recent start. He allowed the two runs on five hits in five innings while striking out six and walking one.

He threw just 70 pitches due to rain that delayed the start of the game for 2 hours, 19 minutes and scrambled his pre-game preparation.

“I clearly didn’t have my best stuff or anything close to it tonight after the long delay,” Gray said after the start.

Gray is 1-3 with a 3.86 ERA in seven career starts against the Braves.

Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado aggravated his sprained right index finger Friday. Thomas Saggese replaced him in that game and started in his place Saturday.

“I’ve never dealt with something like this,” Arenado told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “My finger hurts, and it’s kind of irritating everything else. It is something I usually haven’t dealt with. I’m trying to figure it out a little bit. Maybe rest. Go from there.”

Outfielder Lars Nootbaar is another St. Louis player looking forward to the break. He has been battling rib cage soreness and exited Saturday’s game after five innings.

“He’ll be down tomorrow,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said after the game.

The Cardinals made a roster move before Saturday’s matchup to add a fresh arm to the bullpen, recalling Gordon Graceffo and returning Matt Svanson to Triple-A Memphis.

–Field Level Media

The Minnesota Twins will go for a three-game sweep against the Pittsburgh Pirates when the teams meet Sunday afternoon in Minneapolis on the final day before the All-Star break.

Pittsburgh has lost eight games in a row, and Minnesota has won six of its past eight. A victory Sunday would put the Twins at .500 as they enter the break. They held on for a 2-1 win over the Pirates in the series opener Friday and followed with a 12-4 victory on Saturday.

Minnesota’s Byron Buxton will look to stay hot in the series finale. He hit for the cycle on Saturday and finished 5-for-5 with two singles, a double, a triple, a home run and two RBIs.

Buxton achieved the feat on the same day the Twins distributed his bobblehead to fans as part of a promotional giveaway. He became the first player to hit for the cycle at Target Field — which opened in 2010 — and the 12th player in Twins history to hit for the cycle.

“That was one of the greatest individual performances I’ve ever seen,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He’s playing like this every day, where you think almost anything’s possible.

“It’s like when one of those pitchers who take the mound every outing and you’re like, ‘This guy might throw a no-hitter,’ every game. That’s the way Buck’s playing as a position player: dialed in, affecting every aspect of the game and, like (Saturday), taking over games, too.

“Incredible. Anyone that was here today will never forget it.”

The Twins will try to avoid a letdown against Pirates right-hander Mitch Keller (3-10, 3.58 ERA), who is set to make his 20th start of the season. He is coming off back-to-back quality starts against the St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals.

In two career games against the Twins, both starts, Keller is 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA. He has walked three and struck out 20 in 12 innings.

Minnesota will counter with right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson (5-4, 4.08), who will make his 14th start. He is 3-1 with a 1.38 ERA in his past five outings.

Woods Richardson maintained his hot streak Tuesday in his most recent start. He threw five scoreless innings against the Chicago Cubs in an 8-1 victory while allowing two hits, walking three and striking out four.

This will be Woods Richardson’s second career start against the Pirates. In his first matchup, he took the loss despite allowing only one run on six hits in 6 1/3 innings last season. He walked none and struck out six.

The Pirates might be without center fielder Oneil Cruz, who left Saturday’s game after hitting a single in the eighth inning. He suffered an apparent leg injury while trying to make a catch in the previous inning, and it flared up as he ran to first during his single.

Pirates manager Don Kelly said he hopes Cruz isn’t dealing with anything serious.

“We’re still evaluating,” Kelly said. “Hopefully, more precautionary there. He tried to rob that home run and felt a little something in his hip flexor area. So we’ll see how he’s doing.

“(But) yeah, after the single, it didn’t look like he was doing too well.”

–Field Level Media

The potential tying run had just reached base Saturday when Milwaukee Brewers third baseman Caleb Durbin had a premonition.

“We felt like we were going to win the game,” he said.

And he was right, thanks to his RBI single that capped a three-run rally that gave them a 6-5 win over Washington. The comeback victory put the Brewers in position to go into the All-Star break with a sweep of the visiting Nationals with a win on Sunday.

It was the sixth straight win for Milwaukee, which again is very successful despite flying under the radar. At 55-40, the Brewers are just a game behind the Chicago Cubs for first place in the National League Central. The Brewers are 24-12 since June 1, the second-best record in baseball in that span behind only Toronto (25-12).

How does second-year manager Pat Murphy explain it?

“That’s the great thing about the right people,” he said. “They work hard and know what they have to do to stick around.”

One of those people is newly minted first baseman Andrew Vaughn, floundering with the White Sox when Milwaukee acquired him for pitcher Aaron Civale on June 13. Called up Monday when first baseman Rhys Hoskins was placed on the injured list, all Vaughn has done in his first five games is knock in 10 runs, including four on Saturday with a pair of two-run doubles.

“He’s fit right in,” Durbin said of Vaughn.

The Brewers will aim to sweep the series behind Freddy Peralta (10-4, 2.74 ERA), who’s coming off a 9-1 home victory Monday night over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Peralta sailed through six shutout innings, scattering five hits and walking one while whiffing seven.

He’s 3-3 with a 6.75 earned run average in 32 innings over seven career outings (five starts) against Washington.

Meanwhile, the Nationals will counter with Jake Irvin (7-4, 4.78), who last worked on Tuesday night during a 4-2 loss in St. Louis. The right-hander was charged with four runs off six hits and four walks in six innings, fanning three.

Irvin has struggled in four career starts against Milwaukee, going 0-3 with a 7.32 ERA in 19 2/3 innings over four starts.

Washington fell to 1-4 under interim manager Miguel Cairo after Saturday’s loss, one of the tougher ones the Nationals have had to digest. It put a damper on the biggest day in the young MLB career of rookie third baseman Brady House, who homered twice and drove in three runs.

House’s first MLB homer was a 427-foot blast to left off a hanging sweeper from Milwaukee starter Brandon Woodruff in the fourth. House admitted that he didn’t remember what pitch it was.

“When I go to bat, it’s like I almost black out,” he said. “Even the trip around the bases … I felt like I was in a fog.”

There was one positive to the day for House, aside from his homers. A pair of Brewers fans came down to see him after the game bearing the first homer he slugged and gave him the ball.

“Very appreciative that they took the time to come down and give me the ball,” he said. “I’m going to give that to my parents for sure.”

–Field Level Media

Left-hander Sean Manaea finally appears set to make his season debut for the New York Mets.

Expected to piggy-back off starter Clay Holmes, Manaea looks to help the visiting Mets complete a three-game sweep Sunday of the host Kansas City Royals, who must be more opportunistic in this finale.

Manaea was expected to be a major part of New York’s rotation after going 12-6 with a 3.47 ERA in 32 starts during his first season as a Met in 2024. However, the left-hander suffered a right oblique strain during spring training and the road back has been rather arduous.

But, after several rehab outings, Manaea is finally slated to return to a major league mound.

“It feels good,” Manaea told SNY. “You want to be out there helping this team win and it’s frustrating when you can’t do that. … So, it feels good to be back.”

Manaea is set to follow Holmes (8-4, 3.29 ERA), who has been extremely solid during his first stint as a starter in 2025. However, the right-hander allowed a season-high five runs, plus seven hits, over five innings at Baltimore on Tuesday.

“Talking to (Manaea and Holmes), they said whatever you guys want to do,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We’re just trying to keep things simple for Clay, and then we’ll give Sean the proper time to make sure he’s ready before we put him in.”

Holmes has a 2-2 mark and 6.10 ERA in 10 1/3 innings over 10 appearances against the Royals, but all out of the bullpen. Meanwhile, Manaea is 2-2 with a 5.81 ERA in 31 innings over six starts versus Kansas City.

Both can help New York head into the All-Star break on a highly positive note after taking the first two of this set and recording its first winning road series since sweeping Colorado from June 6-8.

Juan Soto has homered in each of the first two games, highlighted by a two-run shot in Saturday’s 3-1 victory. During the regular season and playoffs, Soto is batting .313 with three homers and eight RBIs at Kansas City.

Soto and the Mets get their first look at the Royals’ Noah Cameron (3-4, 2.56), who continues to impress during his rookie season. The left-hander allowed only a two-run homer, plus two other hits, and a walk while striking out seven over a career-high seven innings of Monday’s 9-3 win against Pittsburgh.

It was the sixth quality start in 11 for Cameron, who made his major league debut on April 30.

“As the game went on, he settled in,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said of Cameron, who also set a career high with 109 pitches on Monday. “When he’s in the zone, he’s going to be effective.”

Cameron’s teammates totaled 21 runs while winning four straight entering this series, but have scored just four and gone 1-for-17 with runners in scoring position against the Mets.

“We’re trying to win, and so when we don’t score the (runners) we have an opportunity to score, we’re frustrated,” Quatraro said. “The guys are frustrated, they don’t want to leave runners out there.”

Jonathan India had two doubles and the Royals’ lone RBI on Saturday. He’s 4-for-9 the last two games, but a combined 1-for-7 against Holmes and Manaea.

Kansas City star Salvador Perez, batting .385 in July, is 6-for-16 with three homers against Manaea. He’s 2-for-3 with a home run versus Holmes.

–Field Level Media