Houston Astros at San Diego Padres

The Padres mashed their way to a 7-2 victory over the Astros on Sunday night, getting home runs from Jackson Merrill, Fernando Tatis Jr., Gavin Sheets and newcomer Austin Hays. In the process, San Diego kept pace with Arizona and Philadelphia and remained one game back of both in the National League Wild Card race. Here’s some instant reaction from Petco Park, where the Padres played one of their most complete games of the season: **Stars hitting like stars again** The solution to the Padres' early-season offensive struggles was always a simple one: Their stars needed to hit like stars again. There were no guarantees it would happen. Certainly, Tatis, Merrill and Manny Machado wouldn’t spend the entire season struggling like they did through early June. But could they be counted upon to be serious difference-makers? All three of them? Yes, as it turns out. That trio is mashing again, and the Padres have been a top-five offense over the past two months as a result. On Sunday, Tatis’ three-run homer put the Padres on top for good in the fourth inning. It was the 163rd home run of his career, moving him into a tie with Nate Colbert for second on the Padres’ all-time leaderboard, behind only Machado (217). “It takes our team to another level, when he can kind of put us on his back and be like, ‘Hey, I got you guys,’” said manager Craig Stammen. “I’ve just seen it in his eye here lately that he’s got that feeling that he can do it.” It took Merrill a little longer to get going than Tatis and Machado. But he’s been red-hot through the entire second half. And he homered for the second straight night on Sunday, a solo shot in the second which opened the scoring for the Padres. “It’s huge,” Tatis said of the Padres’ slugging superstars. “When we’re going, it’s just special. Everybody, it just gets contagious. So we better keep it up, especially at this time of the year.”