And on Sunday, as Dodgers fans hurled objects in the vicinity of fellow Padres outfielders Tatis and Jurickson Profar, Merrill was a picture of calm. During a 10-minute delay before the bottom of the seventh, he played rock, paper, scissors with a young fan on the other side of the outfield wall.

Following a multi-hit performance in his most recent game (2-for-4 with a double, a triple and two RBI), Jackson Merrill is trying for more success on Saturday. The San Diego Padres take on the Los Angeles Dodgers, and will see starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto, at 8:38 PM ET on Fox Sports 1. The teams will meet to begin the NLDS.

The San Diego Padres extended their lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers after Jackson Merrill and Xander Bogaerts crushed back-to-back home runs.

With tensions rising in Dodger Stadium, it was easy to overlook the marvelous effort that standout rookie Jackson Merrill put together in Sunday’s 10-2 win over the Dodgers. His rapid ascent is notably continuing in the MLB playoffs,