FriarNotes: Merrill, Higashioka Each Have 8 homers in Productive Junes; Notes on 9-Run, Fifth-Inning; Wins, Machado, Solano
The June power surges of Jackson Merrill and Kyle Higashioka continued Friday night as the Padres made history in the opener of a three-game series at Fenway Park.
Merrill and Higashioka both homered in the Padres’ historic nine-run fifth inning. Merrill hit a three-run home run. Two batters later, Higashioka hit a two-run shot.
Both Merrill and Higashioka have eight home runs in June.
For 21-year-old rookie center fielder Merrill, it was his 11th home run of the season. It was also doubly eventful because the Maryland native grew up a Red Sox fan.
It was also Merrill’s eighth home run in his last 15 games. Merrill is hitting .287 (27-for-94) in June with five doubles, the eight home runs, 18 RBIs and 15 runs scored with a .316 on-base percentage and a .596 slugging percentage for a .912 OPS.
Higashioka has three homers in the Padres past two games and four in the last five. In 16 games this month, Higashioka is hitting .292 (14-for-48) with a double, a triple, eight home runs, 19 RBIs and 12 runs scored with a .346 on-base percentage and a .854 slugging percentage for a 1.200 OPS.
In the six games since Luis Campusano went on the injured list, Higashioka has gone 7-for-19 with a double, four home runs, 12 RBIs, three walks and seven runs scored for a .368/.455/1.053/1.508 slash line.
Higashioka hit two home runs with six RBIs (falling one RBI short of the Padres’ single-game record for a catcher) Wednesday as the Padres completed a three-game sweep of Washington at Petco Park.
NOTES:
— The Padres nine runs in the fifth inning Friday night were the most ever scored by a National League team at Fenway Park. That not only includes the 25 seasons of interleague play but the season the Boston Braves played at Fenway Park. Friday also marked the third time in Padres history that the first nine batters in an inning reached base (by a hit, walk or hit-by-pitch) and scored (other times Aug. 2, 1995, vs. San Francisco and July 1, 1975, at the Los Angeles Dodgers). Also, the Padres are the only Major League team to twice score nine or more runs in an inning this season (also on May 31 at Kansas City).
— The Padres have won four straight games and eight of their last nine — their best mark in 2024 over a nine-game span. The are also four games over .500 for the first time this season.
— 3B-DH Manny Machado has hit safely in 10 of his last 12 games, going 18-for-47 (.383) with a double, a home run, eight RBIs, two walks and nine runs scored for a .408 on-base percentage and a .468 slugging percentage for a .876 OPS. Machado has raised his batting average 22 points to .266 during the run. He is currently riding a five-game hitting streak (7-for-19).
— DH-3B Donovan Solano is 6-for-14 (with three, two-hit games) over his last four games with a double and four RBIs.
