Padres stun with walk‑off rally
The San Diego Padres erased a four-run deficit and scored five in the bottom of the ninth to win on Jackson Merrill’s walk-off hit, extending their streak to seven straight wins. (x.com) Social highlights from the game emphasize the late-inning swing and the crowd reaction to Merrill’s decisive play. (x.com)
San Diego trailed by four with two outs in the ninth on April 15, then beat Seattle 7-6 on Jackson Merrill’s walk-off double at Petco Park. (mlb.com) The Padres were down 6-0 after five innings and still trailed 6-2 entering the bottom of the ninth before scoring five runs against Mariners relievers Andrés Muñoz and José A. Ferrer. (mlb.com) Merrill’s hit came with two outs and drove in two runs, capping San Diego’s seventh straight win and pushing the club to 10 wins in its last 11 games. (espn.com) The comeback was rare even by late-inning baseball standards: the Padres had not won a game after entering the ninth inning trailing by four or more runs since June 14, 2019. (nbcsandiego.com) It also fit the shape of San Diego’s first two weeks. Three of the Padres’ seven straight wins have ended as walk-offs, and this one came in a National League West race where they are trying to keep pace with Los Angeles. (mlb.com; si.com) Merrill was central long before the final swing. In the third inning, the 22-year-old center fielder reached over the wall to rob Julio Rodríguez of a home run, saving at least one run in a game San Diego eventually won by one. (mlb.com) The setting added another layer: every player wore No. 42 on Jackie Robinson Day, and the rally unfolded in front of a sellout-style Petco Park crowd that had watched San Diego get held down for eight innings. (sports.yahoo.com; mlb.com) By the time Merrill lined the ball down the left-field line, the Padres had turned a flat night into another walk-off celebration — and a seven-game streak that now includes one of their wildest wins in years. (espn.com)
