Padres survived Rafael Devers’ final power surge before injury ended Giants star’s season

Rafael Devers spent his final two games of 2026 trying to wreck the Padres’ weekend. And he nearly pulled it off twice. The Friars escaped with wins in both games anyway. When Sunday came around, Devers was officially shelved. The Padres finished the sweep with a 6-4 victory and left Oracle Park riding a seven-game winning streak.

Some would call it light work when you glance at San Francisco’s 62-88 record. The games told a much different story. Devers was scorching hot, the Giants kept dragging themselves back into striking distance and the Padres had to protect narrow leads every game. But a win in a win, style points aren’t necessary this late in the game. 

Rafael Devers made the Padres earn every win

Friday should have been a comfortable win. San Diego scored seven runs over the first three innings and gave Robbie Ray a 7-1 lead. Devers erased most of that with one swing, golfing an 0-1 knuckle curve for a grand slam in the fifth.

The Padres suddenly needed to lean on their bullpen. Devers came up again with two outs in the ninth and walked to load the bases against Mason Miller. The tying run stood 90 feet away until Miller froze Bryce Eldridge with a 102.8 mph fastball.

One night later, Devers went after Michael King immediately. He hit a 389-foot, two-run homer in the first inning that ended King’s scoreless streak at 21 2/3 innings and put the Giants out in front 2-0.

Dustin Harris tied the game with a two-run single the following half inning, Jackson Merrill later hit his 25th homer and Fernando Tatis Jr. added a 421-foot blast. The Padres kept scoring until they had enough room to survive another Giants rally, winning 7-6.

That home run off King was Devers’ 37th and his 11th in 18 games. The guy has gone scorched earth in September. That homer was also his last of the season. 

The Giants placed Devers on the 60-day IL Sunday because of a core muscle injury he had reportedly managed for much of the year. Somehow, he had spent the past six weeks hitting through it better than everybody else. Since August 1, Devers had slashed .291/.398/.674 with 15 homers and an MLB-best 187 wRC+ among qualified hitters.

The Padres caught an eliminated team. But they also caught the most dangerous hitter in baseball at exactly the wrong time.

Padres converted the scare into Wild Card breathing room

There were red flags exposed throughout this sweep. Ray turned a six-run advantage into a night that required every important bullpen arm. Bradgley Rodriguez surrendered three eighth-inning runs Saturday before Adrian Morejon had to come in to stop the damage.

The offense kept supplying those chances which says a lot. San Diego left the Bay Area at 81-68, riding seven consecutive wins and holding a 2 1/2 game advantage over Arizona for the final NL Wild Card spot. The Padres also pulled within 1 1/2 games of both Chicago and Philadelphia in the Wild Card standings.

They have moved beyond desperately clinging to the final chair. A better seed is available if this run has another gear.

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