Jackson Merrill plays hero - twice - in Padres' walk-off win

Jackson Merrill reached over the wall in the third inning Wednesday night and pulled back a home run. Six innings later, the 22-year-old center fielder made that robbery really count.

Merrill capped a five-run ninth with a walk-off double, sending the Padres to a 7-6 win over the Seattle Mariners to extend their winning streak to seven games.

"That’s what a good team does," Merrill said after the team's third walk-off win during this run. "They don’t give up ’til the very last out. We were in a lot of two-strike counts too right there at the end. So just a lot of good guys in here who want it."

Randy Vásquez stumbled for the first time, Freddy Fermin exited the game in the third after taking a foul ball off his mask and the Padres were down 6-0 before Xander Bogaerts' two-run homer off Emerson Hancock in the sixth inning - the 200th of his career - showed the team’s first signs of life.

The Padres were still down to their last three outs in the ninth when Mariners closer Andres Muñoz was brought on in a non-save situation.

Manny Machado worked a leadoff walk to crack the door open. Then Gavin Sheets cued a 56 mph double down the third-base line and Ty France's one-out single over the mound loaded the bases for pinch-hitter Fernando Tatis Jr.

His ensuing sacrifice fly to right pushed the first run across. Then Luis Campusano and Ramón Laureano chased Muñoz from the game with singles that shaved the Mariners' lead to a single run and Mariners manager Dan Wilson called on left-hander Jose A. Ferrer to face the left-handed-hitting Merrill with runners on first and second.

Ferrer fell behind before evening the count with a pair of sinkers that Merrill fouled off. Ferrer then went back to the sinker, placed the 98 mph pitch on the outside edge of the plate and Merrill stroked it to left, clearing the bases for a walk-off win in front the remnants of a sellout crowd of 46,095.

"Just a never say die mentality," Padres manager Craig Stammen said. "Manny took a great at-bat to lead it off. That’s kind of how those kind of innings start, usually with like a walk and against a tough pitcher - really good pitcher. Took a walk, got it started, got us at least believing that it might happen. And then Gavin squibbed one in there, down the third-base line. And then after that, we had some more really good at-bats and finish it off with Jackson and that double."

Vásquez's short night (4 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 BBs, 6 Ks) would have dug the Padres into an even bigger hole had Merrill not reached over the fence in the third inning and pulled back a would-be homer from Julio Rodriguez with a runner on base.

Merrill also spared Michael King of a home run here during the second game of the season, but Stammen believed this one trumped it.

His center fielder agreed.

"Yeah, 100%; that’s the best catch I’ve ever made," Merrill said. "If it was a foot to the left, I couldn’t have gotten it. I kind of brought it back. It was just beyond the fence. I hope (Rodriguez) gets going, though. He’s a good player. Good guy too. Sorry about that one."

Sorry not sorry, of course, because that robbery, combined with five solid innings from the bullpen and the Padres' ninth-inning rally upped the team's win total to 12, tied for the second most in the majors behind the Dodgers (14).

Afterward, the Padres were even hopeful that they dodged a bullet on Fermin, who remained in a crouch after taking a foul ball off his mask. Stammen and head athletic trainer Mark Rogow joined Fermin behind the plate before he ultimately exited, forcing Campusano into the game.

Fermin and Campusano are the lone catchers on the 40-man roster. Rodolfo Duran hit his third homer on Wednesday night for Triple-A El Paso - and was pulled from that game after Fermin's exit in San Diego - but Stammen said late Wednesday night that immediate tests did not reveal a concussion.

"Head injuries can change pretty quickly and even overnight," Stammen said. "So we’ll have to see how he feels the rest of the night, what he feels when he wakes up, what kind of sleep he gets, and then re-evaluate him tomorrow. See if he’s still feeling good or if there’s some other symptoms that we’ve got to handle. So as far as the way we stand right now, he’s OK to probably get in there tomorrow if we need him."

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This story was originally published April 15, 2026 at 10:22 PM.