Merrill's Walk‑Off Rally

Jackson Merrill ended San Diego’s 7-6 win over Seattle on April 15 with a two-run double that finished a five-run ninth inning at Petco Park. (mlb.com) The Padres entered the bottom of the ninth trailing 6-2, then loaded the bases against Mariners closer Andrés Muñoz after Manny Machado walked, Gavin Sheets reached on a squibber, and Ty France beat out an infield hit. Fernando Tatis Jr., out of the starting lineup, pinch-hit and lifted a sacrifice fly to make it 6-3. (mlb.com) Luis Campusano followed with an RBI single, Ramón Laureano added another, and Seattle turned to left-hander José A. Ferrer. With two strikes, Merrill lined the ball down the left-field line, and Campusano and Laureano scored to end it. (mlb.com) Seattle had controlled most of the night after Dominic Canzone hit a two-run double in the first, Brendan Donovan added a two-run single in the fourth, and Luke Raley homered in the fifth for a 6-0 lead. Xander Bogaerts got San Diego on the board with his 200th career home run in the sixth. (mlb.com) Merrill also changed the game in the field before he won it at the plate. In the third inning, he reached over the wall in center field to rob Julio Rodríguez of a home run. (mlb.com) The win pushed San Diego’s streak to seven straight games, and three of those seven wins had come on walk-offs. The Padres had already won on walk-off home runs by Bogaerts and Gavin Sheets on back-to-back nights against Colorado earlier in the homestand. (mlb.com) The rally also stood out historically for San Diego. The Associated Press said the Padres had not won a game after entering the ninth inning down by four or more runs since June 14, 2019. (apnews.com) For Seattle, the loss spoiled a chance to split the first two games of the series after the Mariners handed the ninth inning to Muñoz with a four-run lead. For San Diego, the final image was Merrill standing at second base after another late comeback in a season already filling up with them. (apnews.com)