Jackson Merrill reveals biggest reason behind Padres' series sweep over Braves

The San Diego Padres shoutout the Atlanta Braves on Sunday to sweep the four-game series, maintaining their unbeaten start to the season. All-Star outfielder Jackson Merrill reflected on the NL West team's strong start to the 2025 MLB season.

The Padres had a spirited run in the postseason last year but came up short against fierce rivals and eventual World Series winners, the Los Angeles Dodgers, in the NLDS.

Although the Padres weren't one of the most active teams in the offseason, they have made a strong start to the season by sweeping a star-studded Braves team. Following the win on Sunday, Merrill revealed the reason behind the team's stellar start in a conversation with Marty Caswell.

"I mean our pitchers dominated, you know," Merrill said (2:00 onwards). "Mike and Dylan did their thing, we scored runs those first two days, and in the last two days, shutouts. So, our pitchers do their jobs. The pitchers do their job, It's pretty easy to win ball games."

Like Merrill mentioned, the Padres shutout the Braves in the final two games of the series, with offseason acquisition Nick Pivetta restricting Atlanta to just one hit in Sunday's 5-0 win.

Jackson Merrill reflected on Nick Pivetta's stellar Padres debut

Jackson Merrill talked about the Padres starters after Sunday's win, highlighting Nick Pivetta's gameplan, who signed a $55 million, four-year deal in free agency in February.

Merrill said in a post-game interview (MLB.com):

"He's come in and bet on himself. He just had a hit today. He came in today, and he was going right after the hitters. He wasn't scared, he wasn't afraid he was trying to go get people out. That's what we appreciate. Letting us play defense too."

Jackson Merrill was the only person to single out Nick Pivetta's solid seven innings on Sunday and Padres manager Mike Shildt gave the ace his flowers after his Padres debut.

“I mean, welcome to San Diego, Nick Pivetta,” Mike Shildt said. “He dominated counts, had life on his heater, a really, really good curveball. His sweeper was good. … Really masterful game from Nick.”

After a breakout rookie year in 2024, Jackson Merrill is hoping for another strong season, helping the team to a World Series. The NL West team has started on the right note, winning four games to start the season for the first time in more than four decades.