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SEOUL, South Korea — Jackson Merrill, a 20-year-old center fielder who had never played above Double-A, made his major league debut for San Diego in the Padres' opening 5-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Slotted ninth in the batting order, Merrill went 0 for 3 with a flyout, popout and groundout. Merrill batted .351 (13 for 37) with three doubles, two homers, six RBIs and two stolen bases in 13 spring training games. He became the fourth player under 21 to make an opening-day start in center field since 1969 after Atlanta's Andruw Jones, Seattle's Ken Griffey Jr. and Montreal's Don Hahn.
