Padres 8, Twins 1: Tatis Homers Twice, Buehler Finishes the Sweep

Four hits, two homers, and a Petco sweep

August 23, 2026 - San Diego - Fernando Tatis Jr. did not need a loud leadoff. He needed the third, the sixth, and the eighth.

He finished with four hits, two home runs, and four RBI. Walker Buehler threw six strong innings. The San Diego Padres beat the Minnesota Twins 8-1 and completed a three-game sweep in a series that felt like a wild-card audition.

San Diego won for the 11th time in 14 games and held the NL's third wild-card berth. Minnesota left town still fighting the same crowded AL picture from the wrong side of a sweep.

Tatis opened it. Lee tied it. Then the sixth broke open.

Tatis took Bailey Ober deep to left in the third, 396 feet, for a 1-0 lead. Brooks Lee answered with a two-out homer to right-center in the fifth, 401 feet, his 20th of the year and the only real dent in Buehler's night. 1-1.

The sixth decided the series tone. San Diego loaded the bases with one out against Minnesota's bullpen. Luis Rengifo doubled to right, scoring Luis Campusano and Austin Hays for a 3-1 lead. Tatis followed with a two-run single to center. 5-1. That is how a tie becomes a chase in four batters.

Jackson Merrill homered to right in the seventh. Xander Bogaerts doubled Hays home. Tatis led off the eighth with another solo shot to left-center. Eight runs. Nine hits. Sweep math that does not need a ninth-inning argument.

Buehler kept the Twins to one mistake

Buehler (8-6) went six innings, four hits, one earned run, four strikeouts, no walks. Lee's fifth-inning homer was the only run against him. That is the version of Buehler San Diego bought for nights like this: length, zeroes, and enough margin for the middle of the order to finish it.

Ober lasted into the middle innings and watched the bullpen absorb the four-run sixth. Minnesota managed six hits as a club and never put a second runner across after Lee.

AthX Engine crowned Tatis on the hitter board

AthX Engine put Tatis at 18 hitting fantasy points, clear of every other bat on the slate. Buehler scored 18 pitching fantasy points on the six-inning outing. San Diego finished with 18 team fantasy points. Fantasy points measure production under platform scoring. Share price is what the market will pay next.

What's next

The Padres stay home against Arizona with Merrill Kelly on the other side of a wild-card gap that shrank to two games for the Diamondbacks after their own Sunday win. Minnesota opens a road set against the Athletics. A sweep does not lock August. It does make Tatis the name everyone still has to answer when the wild-card board refreshes.

Marketplace

*Sources: ESPN recap, ESPN box score, MLB schedule, AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*