Jackson Merrill cracked a tiebreaking two-run homer in the seventh and Fernando Tatis Jr. had three hits as the visiting San Diego Padres rallied for a 7-5 win on Friday night against the Washington Nationals.
Ty France added a game-tying solo homer in the sixth for the Padres, who snapped a four-game losing streak.
Jeremiah Estrada (2-1) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings to set the table for Mason Miller, who got four outs for his 17th save.
Merrill and France drilled their home runs off Mitchell Parker (2-2), who allowed three runs (one earned) in middle relief.
Curtis Mead and Keibert Ruiz homered for Washington, which opened a six-game homestand by falling to 10-17 at Nationals Park.
San Diego broke a 5-5 tie in the seventh. Xander Bogaerts reached on a throwing error by second baseman Nasim Nuñez and Merrill hit his first homer since May 4, a shot to right center with two outs.
Washington put runners on first and third with one out in the eighth. After Jorbit Vivas flied out, Miller came on to face James Wood. Wood walked, but Miller induced a flyout from Luis Garcia Jr.
The Padres took a 1-0 lead off Nats opener Paxton Schultz in the first. Tatis singled, went to third on a single by Gavin Sheets and scored on Bogaerts’ sacrifice fly.
Washington took the lead in the bottom of the first as Wood walked and Mead homered. Ruiz made it 3-1 with a solo homer in the second.
In the San Diego third, Sheets singled and scored when Manny Machado singled to right.
CJ Abrams walked with two outs in the bottom half. He went to second on a wild pitch by Lucas Giolito and scored on a single by Dylan Crews to make it 4-2. Giolito gave up four runs on five hits in 2 2/3 innings.
San Diego tied it in the fourth. Ramon Laureano reached on a fielder’s choice and stole second. He went to third on France’s infield single and scored when Freddy Fermin grounded out. France scored on a Tatis single.
The first two Nationals reached on a single and a hit-by-pitch in the fifth and Jacob Young’s single scored Mead to make it 5-4.
Schultz gave up one run in his lone inning and Andrew Alvarez allowed three runs over three innings.
–Field Level Media
