Late game drama at Petco Park on Wednesday as the Padres Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a walk-off single in the 10th inning that scored Jackson Merrill giving the Padres a 6-5 win.
Yu Darvish last pitched for the Padres on May 29th before going on the restricted list due to a personal matter. The return of the veteran right-hander is expected to the give the Padres rotation a boost as the team heads into the final stretch of the regular season and possibly the post season.
In the 1st inning, Darvish was one strike away from a one, two, three inning, when Detroit's Matt Vierling turned around a pitch for a 361 foot liner that went over the wall in left for 1-0 Tigers lead.
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The Tigers added another run in the 2nd inning on an RBI ground out by Dillon Dingler.
Then in the 3rd inning, the Tigers increased the lead to 3-0 on an RBI single by Colt Keith and that was it for Darvish. His final stat line 2.2 innings pitches, 63 pitches, 3 earned runs and 4 strikeouts.
Yuki Matsui relieved Darvish and in the 4th inning, he offered an off-speed pitch that Trey Sweeney hit 371 feet into the seats in rightfield for a 5-0 Tigers lead.
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The Padres jumped right back in the game in the bottom of the 4th when N.L. Rookie of the Month Jackson Merrill jacked a 3-run homer to left-center. It was 22nd homer of the season and upped his RBI total to 82. Merrill's 82 RBI set a Padre franchise record for most RBI as a rookie. Benito Santiago held the previous record with 79.
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Next inning, the Padres evened the score at 5 when Manny Machado hit a single to left that plated 2 runs.
The Tigers and Padres wrap up their 3-game series Thursday at Petco Park first pitch at 5:40pm.
