PADRES, READING THE JUS BLOG IS NOW REQUIRED
JUS BLOG — AUGUST 26, 2026
PADRES, READING THE JUS BLOG IS NOW REQUIRED
By Kurtis Rintala
Someone needs to tell the Padres that reading the JUS Blog every morning is required.
Put it in their contracts.
I’m serious.
Because if Jackson Merrill had read yesterday’s blog, the Padres might have won last night.
Yesterday’s headline was literally:
MERRILL, THEY’RE GOING TO THROW YOU A HIGH, OUT-OF-THE-ZONE FASTBALL!
I explained the whole thing.
High fastball.
Slider in the dirt.
Stop swinging at them.
Apparently Jackson was busy yesterday morning.
Because last night, with two outs in the ninth and the Padres down 1-0, Merrill came to the plate representing San Diego’s final chance.
And struck out.
Game over.
Pirates 1. Padres 0.
Jackson.
Buddy.
READ THE BLOG.
WE LOVE YOU, JACKSON
Everything is going to be OK.
We love Jackson Merrill here at JUS.
But please.
Please.
STOP SWINGING AT FASTBALLS NINE FEET ABOVE THE STRIKE ZONE AND SLIDERS IN THE DIRT.
You should be able to see some of these sliders coming from the bench.
And when they DO make a mistake and throw one right down the pipe?
Crush it.
That’s what you do.
Stop looking at the good ones and swinging at the ones in the other batter’s box.
Now, I know.
Hitting Major League pitching is one of the hardest things to do in all of sports.
I couldn’t do it.
Most human beings couldn’t do it.
But dude, you got paid like 100 billion dollars for the next seven years, so basically…
You gotta hit the ball.
THIS ISN’T JUST MERRILL
I’m picking on Merrill because I just wrote an entire blog yesterday telling him what pitches not to swing at and apparently he didn’t read it.
But this isn’t a Jackson Merrill problem.
This is a Padres offense problem.
They had three hits last night.
Zero runs.
Michael King pitched seven scoreless innings, allowed only three hits and struck out seven.
That’s a game you have to win.
Instead, Oneil Cruz hit a home run off Mason Miller in the ninth and that was it.
1-0.
Done.
This offense absolutely cannot fold every time the pressure goes up.
Are the Dodgers folding when the pressure is on?
No.
Is Arizona?
Definitely not.
They were down 4-0 to the Cubs last night, scored three in the eighth and then Ryan Waldschmidt hit a two-run walk-off homer in the ninth.
Arizona won 5-4.
That’s stepping up.
That’s what the Padres need to start doing.
Come on.
MEANWHILE, MY GIANTS HAVE WON TWO STRAIGHT
Look who’s hot.
The San Francisco Giants.
Two straight wins!
They beat Cincinnati 3-1 last night after beating them 5-0 the night before.
Are they still 26 games back?
Yes.
Does that matter?
Also yes.
But two straight!
And Rafael Devers even put one into McCovey Cove last night.
SPLASH HIT.
See?
This is exactly what I’ve been talking about.
Just hit the ball into the water.
Baseball isn’t that complicated.
AROUND SPORTS
Football is almost here, and apparently college football is trying to figure out whether guys who already went to the NFL can come back and play college football again.
The Big Ten and SEC have now adopted rules blocking players with prior professional experience from coming back to play at their schools after a court ruling opened the door for some former NFL players to regain college eligibility.
Yeah, we’re going to have to keep an eye on that one.
And the US Open is underway. Serena Williams came out of retirement at 44 and teamed up with Carlos Alcaraz in mixed doubles yesterday. They won their first match before losing in the quarterfinals.
SERENA PLAYING PROFESSIONAL TENNIS AGAIN AT 44: VERY UNJACKED.
PADRES, IT’S TIME
I’ve been counting on the Padres to finally knock the Dodgers off the top of the NL West.
That’s looking increasingly difficult.
So I’m adjusting the mission.
KNOCK THEM OUT OF THE PLAYOFFS.
That’s the job now.
But you’re not doing that with three hits and zero runs.
You’re not doing it swinging at pitches over your head.
You’re not doing it taking hittable pitches and fouling off mistakes.
And you’re definitely not doing it if the offense folds every time a game gets tight.
At some point you have to decide what kind of team you are.
The Dodgers have stepped up.
Arizona is stepping up.
Time for the Padres to do the same.
STEP.
IT.
UP.
And Jackson…
Tomorrow morning:
Coffee.
Breakfast.
JackedUpSportz.com.
Required reading.
PADRES OFFENSE: JACKED UP.
MICHAEL KING THROWING SEVEN SCORELESS AND GETTING ZERO RUNS: EXTREMELY JACKED UP.
DODGERS FINALLY LOSING: VERY UNJACKED.
ARIZONA COMING BACK FROM 4-0 DOWN: VERY UNJACKED.
GIANTS WINNING TWO STRAIGHT: UNJACKED, EVEN IF THEY’RE STILL 26 GAMES BACK.
JACKSON MERRILL READING THE JUS BLOG TOMORROW MORNING: REQUIRED.
If it’s sports and it’s Jacked Up, we cover it.
