Finding ways to win, Padres face another challenge in Mariners' pitching

San Diego Padres' first-year manager Craig Stammen can explain his team's five-run, ninth-inning rally Wednesday night that produced a 7-6 win over the visiting Seattle Mariners on Wednesday.

"Just a never-say-die mentality," he said. "We just battled and came away with the crazy victory."

That stretched San Diego's winning streak to seven games and gives the Padres a chance to sweep Seattle and the seven-game homestand if they can prevail Thursday night.

For 8 1/2 innings, it looked like Thursday night's game would be a rubber game. The Mariners led 6-0 after 5 1/2 innings and starter Emerson Hancock was dealing. Even after Hancock lost his shutout in the sixth on the 200th homer of Xander Bogaerts' career, Seattle and its lockdown bullpen still had a four-run lead with nine outs to get.

The first six came pretty easily. But the last three never happened as the Padres' recent offensive surge continued. They have scored 47 runs during the winning streak and have collected 66 hits as well, including at least 10 in four straight games.

"We don't give up," Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill said. "We have so much heart in that clubhouse, a lot of different personalities."

Merrill is one of those personalities who drives the clubhouse and the team. His two-run double in the ninth won the game, but his home run robbery of Julio Rodriguez in the third was one reason Merrill could be the hero at the plate later.

The dramatic comeback overshadowed more injury concerns for San Diego. Catcher Freddy Fermin left the game in the third inning after being struck in the mask by a foul ball for the second time on the night. Stammen said Fermin didn't suffer a concussion but will be re-evaluated on Thursday.

Walker Buehler (0-1, 4.97 ERA) gets the ball for the Padres after his best outing of the young season. The right-hander tossed six scoreless innings Friday night against Colorado and left with a 2-0 lead but settled for a no-decision in the team's 5-2 triumph.

Buehler is 1-1 with a 7.08 ERA in four career starts against Seattle.

Luis Castillo (0-0, 6.92) will oppose Buehler, hoping for better results than he got Saturday night during his team's 8-7 home victory over Houston. Castillo was pounded for 10 hits and seven runs over 3 1/3 innings with a walk and three strikeouts.

The right-hander is 3-3 with a 3.71 ERA in nine career starts against San Diego.

Consecutive losses aside, the Mariners have gotten good starting pitching. That unit ranks eighth in Major League Baseball in ERA at 3.42 and has put up four straight quality starts, including Hancock's six-inning outing Wednesday night.

"The potential for all of us, it's just endless," right-hander George Kirby said. "There's so much you learn from each guy going out there. It's just cool everyone's healthy and we're all doing our thing."

Seattle's team ERA of 3.24 ranks third in MLB and the Mariners' bullpen largely has done the job, save for Andres Munoz's ninth-inning implosion Wednesday night that saw him allow all five runs and bloated his ERA to 9.45.

Wasted in the loss was a stellar game by right fielder Luke Raley, who went 4-for-5 with a two-run homer and upped his average to .339.

--Field Level Media