Rookie sensation Jackson Merrill delivered again for the San Diego Padres on Monday. This time he did it with his glove.
With two outs and one man on in the top of the ninth inning and the Padres leading the Pirates 2-1, Pittsburgh’s Bryan Reynolds hit a line drive to right-center field off Padres closer Robert Suarez. The ball looked destined to drop for extra bases to score Ji Hwan Bae from first base.
Merrill had other ideas. The Padres center fielder ran the ball down and laid out for a diving catch that secured the third out of the inning and the Padres win.
The Padres improved to 67-53 to remain four games ahead of the final wild-card spot in the National League. The win was the 17th in 21 games since the All-Star break, with Merrill playing a big role in securing many of them.
On Saturday, Merrill hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning against the Miami Marlins to tie the game at 7-7.
The Padres went on to a 9-8 win in extra innings.
Per MLB researcher Sarah Langs, it was the fifth time this season that Merrill hit a game-tying or go-ahead home run in the eighth inning or later. He hit four of them in an 11-day span culminating with his Saturday home run against Miami. He hit three of them in four games from Wednesday through Saturday, all of them Padres wins.
On Monday, he saved his game-saving heroics for the field.
In 116 games this season, Merrill is slashing .289/.321/.479 with 17 home runs, 64 RBI and 13 stolen bases.
Pirates ace Paul Skenes is the runaway favorite in the the NL Rookie of the Year race thanks to a historic season on the mound for Pittsburgh. The Padres will have to settle for one of the most exciting young sluggers in baseball who continues to deliver in the clutch in the midst of a heated playoff race.
