Jackson Merrill plays hero in Padres' walk-off win over Mariners

Jeff Sanders, The San Diego Union-Tribune on Apr 16, 2026

Published in Baseball

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Randy Vásquez stumbled Wednesday night. The Padres picked him up anyway.

Jackson Merrill robbed his second homer of the season in the third inning and capped a five-run rally in the ninth inning with a walk-off double in a 7-6 win over the Mariners, extending the team’s win streak to seven games.

The game-winning rally saw pinch-hitter Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded and singles from Luis Campusano and Ramón Laureano chase Mariners closer Andres Muñoz from the game. The Mariners brought in left-hander Jose A. Ferrer and Merrill greeted him with a two-out double to the left-field corner to clear the bases in front of the remnants of a sellout crowd of 46,095 at Petco Park.

The come-from-behind win might make it easier for the Padres to stomach a potential loss, as catcher Freddy Fermin exited after taking a foul ball off his mask in the third inning.

Fermin was still in his crouch after the ball off his mask when Padres manager Craig Stammen and head athletic trainer Mark Rogow joined him behind the plate. Fermin exited shortly after, forcing Campusano into the game.

Fermin and Campusano are the lone catchers on the 40-man roster, but Rodolfo Duran hit three home runs in spring training and hit his third homer of the season on Wednesday night for Triple-A El Paso before he was pulled in the ninth inning of a 14-1 win — after Fermin’s exit in San Diego.

Fermin is hitting .161/.270/.226 to start his first full year with the Padres.

Duran paired 16 homers with an .847 OPS while sharing catching duties with Campusano last year in El Paso. The 28-year-old journeyman would be making his major league debut if the Padres indeed select his contract.

Vásquez struck out six batters, but he lasted just four innings while throwing just 45 of his 85 pitches for strikes. He walked four, allowed five hits and surrendered a season-high four runs.

Vásquez opened the season with back-to-back quality starts and was an out shy of a third in his previous start.

On Wednesday, he retired the first four batters he faced before Randy Arozarena walked with one out in the second inning. Luke Raley followed with a single and Dominic Canzone pulled a 114-mph liner off the base of the right-field foul pole.

The carom kicked past Nick Castellanos — in right field as Tatis had his first day off this season — as both runners scored.

Vásquez allowed two more runs in the fourth inning on a single from Brendan Donovan before giving way to the bullpen. His night, however, would have been worse had Merrill not reached over the wall in straight-away center in the third inning to pull back a blast from Julio Rodriguez with a runner on second.

Merrill also spared Michael King from a home run in the second game of the season at Petco Park.

Raley’s home run off Ron Marinaccio in the sixth inning extended the Mariners’ lead to 6-0. Marinaccio completed two innings, Wandy Peralta turned in a scoreless frame and Alek Jacob pitched the final two without giving up a run.

At the plate, the Padres had little going before Bogaerts hit his 200th career home run in the bottom of the sixth to cut the Padres’ deficit to 6-2. The Padres had just two hits until Merrill singled with one out and Bogaerts pulled a ball over the wall in left at 104 mph for his third homer of the season.

Manny Machado singled and Gavin Sheets doubled to start the ninth inning off Mariners closer Andres Muñoz and Ty France’s infield single with one out loaded the bases for Tatis as a pinch-hitter.

After Tatis’ sac fly and singles from Campusano and Laureano, the Mariners lifted Muñoz for Ferrer, who served up Merrill’s game-winning hit.