Building momentum after a walk-off win wasn't difficult to do this week for the San Diego Padres. The New York Mets hope they finally will be able to say the same thing Friday. A pair of teams coming off dramatic wins are slated to begin a three-game series Friday night, when the Mets host the Padres in their first clash of the season.
Padres right-hander Matt Waldron (4-5, 3.76 ERA) is scheduled to start against Mets left-hander Sean Manaea (3-3, 4.30).
The Padres were off Thursday after earning a walk-off win for the second straight day Wednesday afternoon, when Jackson Merrill homered with one out in the ninth to lift San Diego to a 5-4 win over the Oakland Athletics and a sweep of the three-game series. The Mets won the decisive game of a three-game series against the Miami Marlins in walk-off fashion Thursday night, when J.D.
Martinez hit a one-out, two-run shot in the ninth inning to lift New York to a 3-2 victory. Merrill's homer capped a chaotic two days for the Padres, who squandered a two-run, eighth-inning lead Tuesday night before Kyle Higashioka led off the ninth with a homer to give San Diego a 4-3 victory. The Padres trailed 4-2 entering the eighth inning on Wednesday before Donovan Solano hit a two-run homer with two outs.
Ha-Seong Kim led off the ninth with a groundout before Merrill homered on the first pitch he saw from Mason Miller. Higashioka and Merrill are the first Padres players to hit walk-off homers in back-to-back games since Marvell Wynne and Bruc.