Jackson Merrill delivered the win Padres fans have been waiting for.
With their latest shot at a series sweep in the balance, the rookie belted a walk off homer off Oakland's star closer Mason Miller to beat the A's 5-4.
A roller coaster of an afternoon results in the club's first sweep of the season, three games that featured back-to-back walk off blasts.
On Tuesday Kyle Higashioka did the honors. Wednesday afternoon Merrill sent a no-doubter into the right field seats. It was Merrill's second homer of the afternoon.
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
Merrill hit his fourth blast of the season in the fifth inning, a convincing home run to straightaway center field. It was a good sign for the Padres rookie. Merrill had just one previous extra base hit off a left-handed pitcher this year, and started the day with a .185 average against lefties.
The Padres were in position for the win thanks to Donovan Solano. The veteran third baseman got the scoring started with his second blast of the season in the second inning. His biggest swing of the day though came in the eighth inning. With the Padres trailing 4-2 and Fernando Tatis Jr. aboard, Solano sent a two-out shot just beyond the reach of Daz Cameron in center field.
Local
Tatis' hitting streak ended at 17 games, but he still contributed to the win. The box score says 0-3 with two strikeouts and a walk. The free pass came before Solano's home run. Mike Shildt praised Tatis after the game for taking the walk rather than chasing a hit to extend his streak.
The Padres nearly squandered an impressive outing from Michael King. The righty, who came over in the Juan Soto trade, had two strikeouts in the first inning, another pair in the second, he fanned the side in the third and did so again in order in the fourth.
King exited in the sixth after allowing a pair of singles. Wandy Peralta replaced him and gave up three consecutive hits to give up the 2-0 lead he inherited. King was charged with two earned runs over five innings with 12 strikeouts.
All four batters that faced Peralta in the sixth reached base. Stephen Kolek entered a 3-2 game with the bases loaded and no outs. The righty struck out a pair, before Jose Azocar made a sliding catch in left field to end the inning without further damage.
King said after the game that Kolek escaping the jam was the biggest turning point of the afternoon, and gave the team confidence that they could scratch out the win.
