It appears there truly is no deficit the 2024 San Diego Padres cannot overcome, nor is there a cap on how many times they can come from behind late in games. At least, not as long as Jackson Merrill is in the lineup.
After falling behind 7-3 to the Marlins in Miami, Merrill hit a game-tying, 2-run home run in the 8th inning to spark a 9-8 win in 10 innings, giving the Friars a 7-game winning streak and a chance to sweep another series. The rookie outfielder's late-game exploits are quickly becoming the stuff of legend and his career is just getting started.
The Friars staked Matt Waldron to a 3-0 lead thanks to RBI knocks by Jake Cronenworth, Manny Machado, and Ha-Seong Kim. Waldron was not terribly sharp but managed to get through the first four innings without allowing a run.
The 5th inning, however, was one of the worst we've seen in a while for the Padres pitching staff. Here's a quick rundown of how things went:
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Jake Burger - BB
Jesus Sanchez - RBI 2B
Jonah Bride - HBP
(Matt Waldron replaced by Jeremiah Estrada)
Kyle Stowers - BB
Otton Lopez - 2-RBI 2B
Vidal Brujan - BB
Derek Hill - Sac Fly, RBI
Jhonny Pereda - RBI 1B
(Jeremiah Estrada replaced by Jhony Brito)
Xavier Edwards - BB
Burger - K
By the time the dust had settled Miami had a 7-3 lead. San Diego's comeback was made possible because, from there, Brito was really good. He was brought back from Triple-A El Paso to cover multiple frames out of the bullpen and did his job on Saturday, going 2.1 innings with one hit allowed and three strikeouts.
The Friars got two runs back in the 7th inning on RBI groundouts by Luis Arraez and Cronenworth, setting the table for the rookie sensation to flex again. After Xander Bogaerts drew a leadoff walk Merrill ripped a sweeper from Anthony Bender 400 feet into the right-centerfield seats to tie it 7-7. It was Merrill's 17th dinger of the year and his 4th in the last four games.
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He's also gone deep to tie a game in the 8th or 9th inning three times since WEDNESDAY. Not too shabby for a kid who was 20 years old when the season started.
David Peralta followed with a double and Arraez beat out an infield single to bring in the go-ahead run. This time, the lead did not last very long.
Adrian Morejon gave up a solo homer to Burger in the 8th inning to tie it 8-8 and, for the 3rd time in the last four games, send the game to extra innings. That's a place the Padres were terrible a year ago. This season it's like a cozy summer home.
In the 10th, the Padres got a run on a groundout by Arraez then they got to show off something that could make them extremely dangerous come playoff time: a pair of elite closers.
After Robert Suarez kept the game tied in the 9th inning Tanner Scott, a fellow All-Star who was acquired at the Trade Deadline, kept his former team off the board in the 10th with some help from Manny Machado. A sacrifice bunt moved the runner to 3rd base. Scott got Edwards to ground to 3rd base and Brujan broke for the plate.
Machado threw a dart to Kyle Higashioka, who applied the tag in time to cut down the runner and preserve the lead. Scott slammed the door by striking out Burger with a high fastball at 98 MPH. The Padres have won 16 of their last 18 games, the best 18-game stretch in franchise history, and it could very well get even better.
San Diego can sweep the series on Sunday with Dylan Cease, one of the hottest pitchers in baseball, on the mound against Marlins rookie Max Meyer.
