This story was originally published by Dead Spin
On paper, Jackson Merrill might be a rookie but at the plate, he’s got the clutch bat of a veteran.
On Wednesday, the 21-year-old delivered the game-tying home run in the ninth inning of the San Diego Padres’ 9-8 extra-innings win against the Pittsburgh Pirates. It’s the third time this season he’s notched a game-tying or game-winning shot in the ninth, most in the majors.
He and the Padres will look for that to continue when they go for the sweep of the host Pirates on Thursday.
“He embraces it,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “He loves it, thrives on it. … He’s got that ‘it’ factor.”
Merrill’s tying blast was his second homer of the game, in which he finished 4-for-6. The center fielder’s .288 batting average leads all qualified rookies, and he ranks second among them in slugging percentage (.467) and third in on-base-plus-slugging percentage (.785). He’s been especially impressive on the road, hitting .337 and slugging .520 with a .877 OPS compared to a .237/.411/.688 output at home.
And, like his team, he’s been on a roll since the All-Star break, connecting at a .344 clip with an eye-popping .997 OPS.
He’s not alone in helping the Padres to 13 wins in 16 games since the schedule resumed. Second baseman Xander Bogaerts is hitting .409 since the break.
Randy Vasquez (3-6, 4.62 ERA) will toe the rubber for San Diego. He allowed two hits in 1 1/3 innings in a no-decision in his lone previous appearance against Pittsburgh in 2023.
The Pirates, meanwhile, are trying to overcome what has become a trend on this six-game homestand, with several blown leads.
On Wednesday, Pittsburgh led 6-5 in the top of the ninth before closer David Bednar gave up Merrill’s solo shot. Reliever Colin Holderman came in for the 10th inning and was tagged for the loss for the fourth time in the past eight days.
“We’re in every game,” manager Derek Shelton said. “We’re battling. We’re battling back. We just haven’t been able to finish games, and we got to do that. To continue to do what we’ve done through the first 110 games, 120 games, whatever it is, we have to just continue to finish games. Unfortunately on this homestand so far, we have not. We’ve had leads in three of the losses in the seventh or later.”
The Pirates pulled within one in their half of the 10th and had the winning run on base with one out.
“We kept battling. I think that’s the thing,” 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.”
Pittsburgh has lost three in a row and five of its past six. It remains four games out of the final wild-card spot in the National League, held by the Atlanta Braves, with three other teams between them.
The Pirates will turn to Luis Ortiz (5-2, 3.21) as they look to avoid the sweep. He’s faced the Padres once in his career, with a 7.71 ERA, allowing four runs on six hits in a no-decision in 2023.
–Field Level Media
