LOS ANGELES — Two weeks into the season, the Padres are proving no deficit is simply too large for his or her offense to beat.
Jackson Merrill hit the go-ahead RBI single within the prime of the eleventh inning because the Padres rallied from a four-run deficit to storm again and beat the Dodgers, 8-7, on Friday night time at Dodger Stadium.
“We’re a extremely good offensive crew,” Tatis mentioned. “We have now ballplayers. We have now guys that know how you can play the sport of baseball and which can be gonna do what the sport is asking for in the course of the conditions of the sport. That is gonna carry us for the long term.”
Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Max Muncy and Teoscar Hernández all homered within the first three innings off Padres starter Michael King to assist the Dodgers race out to an early 7-3 lead, however the Padres chipped away.
Cronenworth bought the comeback began with a solo house run within the sixth inning. Merrill drew a one-out stroll and scored on a Xander Bogaerts groundout within the seventh to chop the deficit to 7-5. Tatis stepped up one batter later and launched a dramatic game-tying, two-run homer that traveled a Statcast-projected 413 ft into the left-center-field bleachers.
“He’s a killer,” Padres supervisor Mike Shildt mentioned of Tatis. “He’s a stone-cold killer.”
The Padres’ bullpen held the Dodgers in examine, stranding the go-ahead run on base within the seventh, eighth and tenth innings to purchase the offense time. Merrill broke the stalemate with a two-out single by means of the open left facet of the infield to attain computerized runner José Azocar from second, and Robert Suarez retired the facet within the backside of the eleventh to safe the victory.
The comeback got here simply 4 days after the Padres erased an 8-0 deficit to beat the Cubs, 9-8, on Monday at Petco Park.
“That is sort of the id of our offense,” Cronenworth mentioned. “It doesn’t matter what the rating is, we’re not giving at-bats away. Guys are going up there with the identical intent it doesn’t matter what the rating is, and I feel that holds quite a lot of weight.”
For Merrill — San Diego’s No. 2 prospect and No. 12 total, per MLB Pipeline — the game-winning hit capped his newest standout recreation in his debut season. The 20-year-old rookie additionally made a diving catch to rob Shohei Ohtani of additional bases within the second inning. He kick-started the seventh-inning rally that tied it along with his one-out stroll, and his profitable hit got here off veteran lefty Alex Vesia on an 0-2 rely.
“He is a celebrity within the making,” mentioned Machado, who additionally made his Main League debut at 20. “Little by little, you see it each single day. I imply, he got here up with a giant hit off a troublesome lefty there in a giant state of affairs. He is bought it.”
Whereas Merrill supplied the profitable hit, it wouldn’t have been doable if not for the work of the Padres’ pitching workers. After King surrendered seven runs within the first three innings, the 5 relievers held the Dodgers scoreless over the ultimate six frames to offer the offense time to chip away and rally again.
“Winners discover options,” Shildt mentioned. “It is a mindset. Guys competing in any and each state of affairs. And so they’re taking part in the sport the appropriate manner, no matter whether or not they’re up, down. They’re taking part in it to compete and win. It is an awesome mindset that I am pleased with the blokes to have. It is good to have firstly of the season and it is solely gonna get higher.”
