The Padres entered their weekend series at Dodger Stadium in unfamiliar territory at this juncture of a season -- in first place. They had overturned a nine-game deficit and rode a five-game winning streak into Los Angeles.

The Padres were down in the first inning, but managed to claw their way back and tie the game before the Dodgers again took the lead.

A solid effort by Blake Snell coupled by several Padres mistakes allow the Dodgers to take a 6-0 win and sole possession of first place in the NL West.

It's a sigh of relief for the Padres, as at the very least, Merrill didn't suffer an injury that will keep him out for long. While the series sweep to the Dodgers stings, the Padres avoided disaster with Merrill's injury scare.

Former San Diego Padres No. 1 prospect Leo De Vries is moving up quickly in the Athletics organization, and has been promoted to Double-A after just 17 days wit

LOS ANGELES — Jackson Merrill walked gingerly through the clubhouse Sunday afternoon, clearing favoring the left ankle that he rolled on Friday night. He wrapped it and played on it Saturday and got through two at-bats Sunday — two strikeouts — before the coaching staff pulled the plug on their 22-year-old center fielder.

San Diego brought in closer Robert Suarez to handle the bottom of the eighth inning and he allowed a leadoff solo home run to Mookie Betts that gave Los Angeles a 5-4 lead en route to a win and a series sweep at Dodger Stadium, Sunday.