PHOENIX_Wil Myers homered twice, something the Padres first baseman had not done in more than a year, and it was not nearly the most notable statistic in an 8-7, come-from-behind victory Saturday at Chase Field.
Myers' ninth-inning swat, his second two-run homer of the night, started the unlikeliest rally of San Diego's season. Down 6-0 at one point, the visitors strung together a one-out walk and four consecutive hits against former Padres closer Fernando Rodney. The last, a single by Carlos Asuaje, drove in a run. Another scored as left fielder David Peralta misplayed the ball, giving the Padres the winning run against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Dbacks, whose franchise-record winning streak was ended by San Diego a night earlier, had appeared on their way to starting a new streak. Zack Godley thoroughly outpitched Jhoulys Chacin, who wore down beneath an elevated pitch count. The Dbacks compiled five singles in the fifth, taking a 4-0 lead. They scored twice more against Miguel Diaz in the sixth, and it was 6-0.
Then Myers struck in the seventh, after Yangervis Solarte doubled with two outs. The first baseman walloped a 1-0 pitch from Godley, putting the Padres on the board with a 461-foot drive to left.
After the Dbacks scored an insurance run in the seventh, Myers went to bat again in the ninth, following a leadoff single by Solarte. This time, he lined a shot inside the left-field foul pole.
The 351-foot shot cut the lead to 7-4 and gave Myers his fifth career multi-homer performance. He'd last launched two home runs in a game on June 8, 2016, in the midst of a torrid month that propelled him to last year's All-Star Game.
Myers has struggled since that exhibition, though he has shown positive signs of late. After seeing his average sink to a season-low .231 on Sept. 1, he has since gone 14-for-31 with five extra-base hits.
Facing Rodney, the Padres continued to rally. Jabari Blash drew a one-out walk. Austin Hedges doubled, and Erick Aybar singled, pulling the Padres to within one run. Manuel Margot singled. Then Asuaje singled and Peralta faltered in left, enabling the Padres to complete their comeback from a six-run deficit.
Before they could celebrate, they endured a tense half-inning. Brad Hand yielded a leadoff walk and a one-out single before getting A.J. Pollock to fly out. After clipping Adam Rosales to load the bases, Hand struck out Ketel Marte, capping a stunner in the desert.
