Manny Machado drove in three runs against Justin Verlander and the San Diego Padres beat the San Francisco Giants 8-4 on Thursday in a sloppy game. The Padres took three of four from the Giants and have won three straight going into a second straight weekend showdown against the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

Manny Machado drove in three runs against Justin Verlander and the San Diego Padres beat the San Francisco Giants 8-4 in a sloppy game.

A disastrous fifth inning doomed the Giants in San Francisco's 8-4 loss to the San Diego Padres on Thursday afternoon at Petco Park.

Through three innings, the Giants positioned themselves to at least salvage a series split. Verlander retired the first nine batters he faced, and rare shoddy defense from right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. paved the way for San Francisco to take a 2-0 lead.

The San Diego Padres (71-56) and San Francisco Giants (61-66) will meet on Thursday at PETCO Park, with first pitch at 4:10 p.m. ET. The Padres are the home favorite (-139) versus the Giants (+118). The Padres will start Dylan Cease (5-11) against the Giants and Justin Verlander (1-9).

The Rockies as of last Friday ranked 21st among MLB clubs in total payroll, per Spotrac.com. The Dodgers were first. The Padres were fourth. The D-backs were 13th; the Giants, 14th.

Gavin Sheets hit two of San Diego’s four home runs and drove in four runs, and Fernando Tatis Jr. robbed San Francisco’s Rafael Devers of a homer as the Padres beat the Giants 8-1.

The San Diego Padres took the series over the San Francisco Giants on Thursday, winning three of four games despite playing the entire set without star centerfielder Jackson Merrill. The 22-year-old exited Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers early with a bone bruise in his left ankle, after initially tweaking it a couple of games prior.