Padres rally, edge Mets on Jackson Merrill's walk-off HR

Jackson Merrill cracked a solo homer in the bottom of the ninth inning Sunday, lifting the San Diego Padres to a 3-2 comeback win over the visiting New York Mets and a split of the teams' four-game series.

Merrill got a 2-0 count against reliever Edwin Diaz (5-2) and lined a hanging slider an estimated 379 feet into the right field seats for his 19th homer. It was the All-Star rookie's second career walk-off blast and marked the sixth time he's homered to tie or give San Diego the lead in the eighth inning or later.

Robert Suarez (8-1) pitched a clean ninth for the win as the Padres ended their seven-game homestand at 4-3 and stayed 1 1/2 games behind Arizona for the National League's first wild-card spot. New York missed a chance to close within 2 1/2 games of Atlanta for the last NL wild-card position.

The Mets were in position to win the series, leading 2-0 in the bottom of the eighth. But Jose Butto walked rookie Mason McCoy with one out and then fed Jurickson Profar a 2-2 sinker over the outer half of the plate that Profar ripped an estimated 390 feet to right field, tying the score with his career-high 21st homer.

That swing no-decisioned Jose Quintana, who entered the game with an 8.27 ERA in August but found his form over 6 1/3 scoreless innings. He allowed just four hits and two walks, striking out none.

New York initiated scoring in the fourth via J.D. Martinez, who smashed a Martin Perez fastball over the 396-foot mark in center field for his 15th homer of the year. Perez later walked the bases loaded but Bryan Hoeing bailed him out by fanning Francisco Lindor for the inning's third out.

Mark Vientos made it 2-0 in the seventh, drilling his 21st homer of the year an estimated 432 feet to right-center field.

Perez lasted 3 2/3 innings, yielding four hits and a run with three walks and a strikeout.

--Field Level Media