SAN FRANCISCO (Interstat) — Michael King shook off an early two-run homer and the San Diego Padres held on to beat the San Francisco Giants 7-6 on Saturday afternoon, Sept. 12, 2026, at Oracle Park. San Diego won its sixth consecutive game and improved to 80-68, while San Francisco fell to 62-87. The Padres outhit the Giants 13-8. The game lasted 2 hours, 43 minutes and drew 40,146. San Diego had taken the series opener 7-5 on Friday. The Padres entered the afternoon having won five of their previous six games.

King’s career-best 21 2/3-inning scoreless streak ended two batters into the bottom of the first. Drew Gilbert lined a single to left field, and Rafael Devers followed with a two-run homer to right-center field for his 37th home run of the season. Bryce Eldridge struck out, Jonah Cox grounded out and Turner Hill grounded out to end the first. Shay Whitcomb added a solo homer in the second on a hanging sweeper, giving San Francisco a 3-2 lead. King recovered from there, retiring 14 straight after Whitcomb’s blast and 18 of 19 overall between Devers’ homer and Jonah Cox’s single leading off the seventh. King faced only four batters over the minimum. He worked seven innings, allowing five hits and three earned runs with four strikeouts and no walks on 96 pitches. He earned the win and improved to 11-9. King’s only runs allowed came on the two homers. King retired the side in order in the third, fourth and sixth innings.

San Diego’s offense answered in the second. Austin Hays and Xander Bogaerts opened the inning with singles, and after Jake Cronenworth advanced both runners with a groundout, Samad Taylor flew out. Fernando Tatis Jr. walked to load the bases, and Dustin Harris lined a two-run single to left field that tied the game. Manny Machado then grounded into a force out to end the inning. In the third, Jackson Merrill hit a solo homer to center field. Bogaerts added a two-out single later in the inning, but Cronenworth popped out. San Diego took the lead for good in the fourth when Taylor reached on a bunt single, Tatis singled, and Harris lifted a sacrifice fly to center field that scored Taylor. In the top of the first, Tatis walked, Harris popped out, Machado flied out sharply to center, Campusano singled and Merrill struck out swinging. The Padres left two runners on.

The Padres kept adding on. In the fifth, Hays doubled to left field, moved to third on Bogaerts’ groundout and scored on Cronenworth’s bunt single to third base. In the sixth, Tatis homered to left field. San Diego scored again in the seventh when Bogaerts singled, Taylor walked and Tatis reached on a fielding error by third baseman Shay Whitcomb, allowing Bogaerts to score. The Padres scored in six of the first seven innings. Bogaerts finished 4-for-5 with a double, while Tatis went 2-for-3 with a homer, one RBI and multiple walks. Harris had one hit and three RBIs.

Cesar Perdomo took the loss for San Francisco and dropped to 0-1. The Giants made it interesting in the eighth. Drew Cavanaugh hit a solo homer to right field. Christian Koss followed with a single, and Drew Gilbert hit a two-run homer to right field that trimmed San Diego’s lead to 7-6. Bradgley Rodriguez allowed those runs. Rodriguez did not retire a batter in the eighth before Morejon took over. Adrian Morejon entered and restored order with a scoreless inning, striking out two. Mason Miller then pitched a perfect ninth for his 36th save, striking out two more. Morejon and Miller combined for four strikeouts over two hitless innings. In the bottom of the seventh, Cox singled but was erased when Turner Hill grounded into a double play. Jung Hoo Lee singled, but Whitcomb popped out. In the ninth, Turner Hill struck out, Jung Hoo Lee lined out to center and Nate Furman struck out to end it.

Devers and Whitcomb each homered for San Francisco, with Devers driving in two and Whitcomb driving in one. Gilbert went 2-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs. Dylan Smith worked a scoreless inning out of the Giants’ bullpen. San Francisco hit four homers in the loss. San Francisco’s four home runs accounted for all six of its runs. San Diego pitchers combined for 12 strikes, 58 balls and 12 balls in play. San Francisco pitchers combined for 16 strikes, 47 balls and 16 balls in play. The Padres remained in the National League wild-card chase, moving 1 1/2 games ahead of Arizona for the final playoff berth and 1 1/2 games behind Philadelphia for the second wild-card spot. The Padres’ 13 hits included four extra-base hits.

The Padres also got strong late-inning work from Morejon and Miller after Rodriguez faltered. King’s outing followed a recent stretch in which he had been one of San Diego’s most reliable starters. The Giants, meanwhile, dropped their second straight game against San Diego. San Francisco had won three of four before the series began. San Diego’s win continued a surge that has pushed the club into the middle of the playoff race. The Padres improved to 1 1/2 games ahead of the Diamondbacks for the final wild-card position and 1 1/2 games behind the Phillies for the second wild-card spot. The teams meet again Sunday at Oracle Park. The Padres will then travel to Colorado for a four-game series, while San Francisco will head to St. Louis.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of San Diego Padres 5, San Francisco Giants 4. Interstat’s ELO system had projected San Diego with a 57.6 percent probability to win. San Diego had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total score of 13 went under the over/under line of 8.