Padres come back late again, beat Marlins for 16th win in 18 games

MIAMI — Jackson Merrill struck an inning early this time.

And the San Diego Padres needed to do a little extra work.

But they did it. They keep doing it.

A 9-8 victory over the Miami Marlins on Saturday was the Padres’ 16th victory in 18 games, the first time any Padres team has won that many games in that short a span.

“Since the beginning of the season, we’ve been building this,” Jurickson Profar said. “This is who we are.”

Two innings after Merrill tied the game with a two-run homer in the eighth, the Padres scored a run on Luis Arraez’s third RBI of the game in the 10th. Tanner Scott then navigated the bottom of the inning to secure his first save with the Padres.

The Padres matched their season high with their seventh straight victory. Another one Sunday would complete a 6-0 road trip, which would be the longest undefeated trip in Padres history.

The first two games in this series have been decided in 10 innings, and the Padres achieved one of their three victories in Pittsburgh in the 10th.

Saturday was the Padres’ 30th comeback victory, which is tied for fourth most in the majors. It was the fifth time they won a game in which they trailed by at least four runs, which is tied with the Nationals for the most comebacks that large.

They aren’t going to refund any of their four consecutive comeback victories. But they would like to maybe wrap up a win without so much drama.

“It gets exhausting,” Profar said. “… Don’t get me wrong. Winning is winning, but I think we can get a little better.”

The latest installment in their exhausting and exhilarating run came together in a familiar manner.

Every player in the starting lineup reached base at least once. Eight of the 12 players who played scored at least once. The RBIs came from five different players.

“Every single guy who was in the lineup and who came out of the bullpen, Waldron, contributed in some way,” Jake Cronenworth said. “… I think that’s something that has come throughout the season.”

The Padres scored in the first on Cronenworth’s RBI double, in the second on Manny Machado’s RBI single and in the fourth on Ha-Seong Kim’s RBI single.

Victor Bruján homered off Matt Waldron in the fourth, and the Marlins scored six runs off Matt Waldron and Jeremiah Estrada in the fifth inning to take a 7-3 lead.

The Padres scored twice in the seventh on four singles, a hit batter and an RBI on a fielder’s choice.

Then the recurring hero struck.

Merrill, who on Friday night became the first player in MLB history to hit three game-tying homers in an 11-day span, sent a two-run homer over the wall in right field to tie Saturday’s game 7-7 in the eighth.

“Same (stuff),” Merrill said. “Trying to do something to get us going.”

The Padres manufactured a go-ahead run later in the inning when David Peralta hustled to a double, Ha-Seong Kim laid down a sacrifice bunt and Arraez beat out an infield single with two outs.

But Jake Burger tied the game 8-8 in the bottom of the eighth with a two-out homer off Adrián Morejón.

Robert Suarez retired all three batters he faced in the ninth.

With Tyler Wade on second base as the automatic runner, Ha-Seong Kim led off the 10th with a walk before Kyle Higashioka surprised the Marlins with a bunt that moved the runners up.

Arraez then sent a chopper to the right side that first baseman Jonah Bride had no choice but to field and tag out Arraez as Wade ran home.

Derek Hill led off the bottom of the 10th with a perfect bunt single that moved Bruján to third.

But Cristian Pache’s bunt attempt stayed in the air and was caught by Scott for the first out, freezing the runners. The next batter, Xavier Edwards, sent a grounder to third baseman Manny Machado, who threw home to get Bruján.

And with runners at first and second, Scott struck out Burger to finish off the game against the team that traded him to the Padres on July 30.

“I’m glad I got an out on that play, and then Manny — that guy is unreal,” Scott said. “… We’re never out of it, even if we’re down a few runs. Everyone battles and does their job. It’s fun.”

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