Jackson Merrill’s second homer of the game came with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning Wednesday and lifted the San Diego Padres to a 5-4 win over the visiting Oakland Athletics.
Merrill got a first-pitch slider down and in from Oakland closer Mason Miller (1-1) and cracked it into the seats in right field. It was his fifth homer of the year.
Robert Suarez (4-0) got the win after pitching a scoreless ninth inning, his second victory in less than 24 hours. The result marked the first time this year that the Padres swept a series in six attempts.
Donovan Solano also belted two homers for San Diego, wiping out the A’s 4-2 lead in the bottom of the eighth when he drilled a two-run shot to center off Lucas Erceg. It was Solano’s third homer of the year and scored Fernando Tatis Jr., who drew a one-out walk.
Tatis went 0-for-3, ending his career-high hitting streak at 17 games.
Neither starter was part of the decision. Oakland’s Hogan Harris pitched five innings, yielding four hits and two runs with a walk and five strikeouts. San Diego’s Michael King worked five-plus innings, and was charged with two runs off four hits and two walks while whiffing 12.
The Padres initiated scoring in the second when Solano drilled a solo homer off the facing of the second deck in left-center field. Merrill made it 2-0 in the fifth with a solo blast to center field.
But the A’s erased that lead in the sixth with three runs against King and reliever Wandy Peralta. Tyler Soderstrom bounced an RBI single into left to score JJ Bleday, followed by Shea Langeliers’ run-scoring single to left that plated Miguel Andujar. Seth Brown bunted for a single that scored Soderstrom from second when Peralta tried to flag the ball down between third and the mound, and missed.
Zack Gelof made it 4-2 in the eighth by lacing an RBI double to left-center that chased home Brown from first.
–Field Level Media