PITTSBURGH—Rookie Jackson Merrill hit two home runs, including a tying shot in the ninth inning, Xander Bogaerts singled in the go-ahead run in a three-run 10th, and the San Diego Padres held on for a wild 9–8 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night.
Bogaerts led off the 10th with a line drive to left field off Colin Holderman (3–5), scoring automatic runner Luis Arraez from second base. The Padres tacked on two more runs on a sacrifice fly by Manny Machado and an error on Pittsburgh catcher Yasmani Grandal.
The Pirates cut into the San Diego lead with a bases-loaded walk by Tanner Scott (7–5) and a wild pitch by Adrian Morejon, who came in with two runners on and no outs to earn his first career save.
“Just like I’ve said all season, I’m ready for whatever situation they put me in,” Morejon, a six-year veteran, said through a translator. “That situation was a little different than most of the situations I’ve been in, but I just tried to stay calm and get hitters out.”
San Diego is 13–3 since the All-Star break and entered the night four games behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West.
The Pirates have lost three in a row for the first time since May 7–10 as they fell under .500 at 56–57.
Merrill went 4 for 6 with three RBIs, including a one-out solo homer in the ninth that tied the score 6–6. That homer ended Pirates closer David Bednar’s string of 19 consecutive saves.
“It was a good baseball game, and that’s where I kind of stand on this game,” said Merrill, a center fielder. “I know everybody wants to win games in blowouts, but both teams really wanted this game really bad. I appreciate a game like this, both from our standpoint and [Pittsburgh’s] standpoint.”
With the Pirates clinging to a one-run lead in the eighth inning and runners on second and third, Aroldis Chapman ended the San Diego threat with a 104.7 mph third strike to Machado.
Chapman and Machado then stared each other down.
“Just something he told me. And then when he said it, I started laughing,” Chapman said with a smile, declining to elaborate on the conversation.
Machado, Donovan Solano, and Kyle Higashioka—who hit a three-run home run in the fourth—had two hits each for the Padres.
“No game is perfect, and this game wasn’t perfect,” said Higashioka, who had two passed balls. “We really didn’t help ourselves out. But I think it’s a credit to everybody that we kept grinding things out and never ended up losing hope.”
Andrew McCutchen had two hits, including a solo homer in the fourth, and three RBIs for the Pirates. Bryan Reynolds added two hits and two RBIs, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ke’Bryan Hayes had two hits apiece.
Padres starter Michael King gave up four runs—three earned—and struck out seven over five innings after skipping his previous start because of a sore left calf.
Pirates starter Marco Gonzales allowed five runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings.
“We kept battling. I think that’s the thing,” Pittsburgh Manager Derek Shelton said. “We ended the game with the winning run on base. It’s a challenge when you get down three runs in an extra-inning game. We continued to have really good at-bats and gave ourselves a chance to win. Just didn’t get a hit to win it.”
