His retiring the Phillies’ 1-2-3 batters in order in the ninth inning ended a day in which the Padres otherwise relied on lower-leverage relievers Bryan Hoeing, Wandy Peralta, David Morgan and Yuki Matsui to patch together nine innings.

Merrill’s breakout year earned him an All-Star appearance, a Silver Slugger award and a second-place finish in NL Rookie of the Year voting. Over 156 games, he batted .292 with an .826 OPS and hit 24 home runs—prompting San Diego to lock him up long-term with a nine-year, $135 million contract extension this past offseason.

David Morgan worked a scoreless eighth inning despite allowing a walk to leadoff batter Yohel Pozo. He later advanced to second on a wild pitch, but was stranded there when Morgan struck out the next three batters he faced. The three strikeouts for Morgan were part of 16 total strikeouts for Padres pitchers in the game.