Padres' Jackson Merrill: Belts first big-league long ball

Merrill went 1-for-3 with a solo home run Monday in a loss to the Cardinals.

San Diego was down 4-0 when Merrill took Kyle Gibson deep to left field for the first home run of his major-league career. The 20-year-old has gone 3-for-7 with two RBI over his past two games, so he may be settling in after starting the campaign with just two hits over his first 14 at-bats. Merrill has started all but one of San Diego's seven games so far, so the team appears to be giving him plenty of space to get accustomed to major-league pitching.