Padres pregame: Ryan O’Hearn batting cleanup as Friars seek series win

The Padres enter the series finale against the Red Sox a season-high 13 games over .500. They are looking to win a fourth straight series in Sunday’s 1:10 p.m. start on Padres.TV. They will do it with a new clean-up hitter.

Newcomer Ryan O’Hearn will hit fourth for the first time since arriving that trade deadline, pushing Jackson Merrill down to sixth as Padres manager Mike Shildt tinkers with just how to use his new pieces.

Sunday squad. pic.twitter.com/PKNdRlPAMF

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) August 10, 2025

O’Hearn had hit fifth once and sixth four times. He is hitting just .188 since coming over in the trade from Baltimore, but he has walked six times in 23 plate appearances for a .435 on-base percentage, with all six walks coming over the last two games (two on Friday and four on Saturday).

O’Hearn hit his 14th homer of the season on Wednesday in Arizona.

The clean-up spot is plenty familiar.

The first-time All-Star spent most of his time in Baltimore there, hitting .241/.327/.429 over 196 plate appearances. He also hit .322/.425/.467 over 106 plate appearances as a five-hole hitter this year.

Merrill has been the Padres’ most oft-used clean-up hitter, making 53 starts in that spot this year after spending most of his rookie season in the bottom third.

Merrill got off to a blazing start, too, but he’s hitting .204/.279/.322 in 40 games since returning from his concussion and is hitless over his last three games (0-for-11, BB).

The sixth spot is familiar, too, for Merrill. He has more plate appearances there (270) than anywhere else so far in his career and is a .280/.310/.548 hitter in that spot. His .858 OPS there is second only to his .883 OPS as a five-hole hitter.

O’Hearn will play first base on Sunday, giving Luis Arraez a DH day in the two-hole.

Left fielder Ramón Laureano will remain in the lineup, where he’s been so far for every game since the trade deadline, while catcher Freddy Fermin will get the day-after-night start.

The Padres (65-52) are three games behind the Dodgers in the NL West and 2½ games behind the Cubs, the NL’s top wild-card team. The Padres also have a two-game cushion on the Mets, the current No. 3 wild-card team.

Here is how the Red Sox (65-53, 2nd in AL East) will line up for the rubber match:

Series finale in San Diego. pic.twitter.com/tJB6duUny9

— Red Sox (@RedSox) August 10, 2025

Sunday’s pitching matchup

Red Sox RHP Brayan Bello (8-5, 3.03 ERA)

The 26-year-old is in the midst of his best season to date as far as ERA goes, but his strikeout rate has dropped to 6.8 per nine innings, the lowest of his career. He has allowed one run over his last two starts (13 IP), both wins. Bello has a 2.88 ERA in six starts this year away from Fenway Park. This will be Bello’s first appearance against the Padres.

Only five Padres have history with Bello:

• 1B/OF Ryan O’Hearn (3-for-12, 4 BBs, 2 Ks)
• 1B Luis Arraez (1-for-5, BB)
• C Freddy Fermin (0-for-5, BB, K)
• 1B/OF Gavin Sheets (3-for-5, HR, 4 RBIs, BB)
• INF Jose Iglesias (1-for-3, K)

Padres RHP Dylan Cease (4-10, 4.60 ERA)

He struck out nine over five shutout innings of one-hit ball in his last start after sticking with the Padres at the trade deadline. Cease has a 3.15 ERA in four starts since the All-Star break and has a 3.67 ERA at home compared to 5.52 away from Petco Park. He has a 6.85 ERA in five career starts against Boston, but hasn’t faced them since striking out 11 over seven shutout innings in 2023 while still with the White Sox.

Cease has history with five Red Sox hitters:

• 3B Alex Bregman (3-for-12, 2 2Bs, RBI, 3 Ks)
• INF Abraham Toro (1-for-8, 2 RBIs, K)
• SS Trevor Story (1-for-7, HR, 3 RBIs, BB, 5 Ks)
• INF/OF Ceddanne Rafaela (1-for-3, 2B)
• DH Masataka Yoshida (3-for-3, 2B)