Petco Park – San Diego

In the series opener against Miami, a fierce chess match between managers produced an 11-inning thriller ending on a walk-off wild pitch. However, anyone who thought the contest defined the term “wild” was quickly proven otherwise.

The roller coaster of a game script began with the Marlins batting around against starter Stephen Kolek. Miami’s below-average offense came up with a whopping six batted balls with an exit velocity north of 100 MPH.  Throw in a walk to Eric Wagaman, and Kolek found himself 38 pitches deep into a six-run outing.

Victor Mesa Jr. YOU have your first big league hit ? pic.twitter.com/MEwElhGXmw

— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) May 28, 2025

In what looked like a potential laugher, Fernando Tatis Jr. quickly flipped the narrative, both personally and of the game. He snuck a slider from Max Meyer just inside the foul pole on the home run porch. Although hit just 97.8 MPH, it was Tatis Jr’s team-leading 13th of the season. Luis Arraez ambushed the next pitch for a double, but Meyer found his footing and was able to retire Manny Machado, Jackson Merrill, and Gavin Sheets in order.

Following the nightmare of a first inning, Kolek was able to get back on track. He was far more proficient, retiring 12 of his next 14 hitters. He escaped the fourth inning in order by inducing a slick double play, and racked up two strikeouts in the fifth. Considering he’d already seen the entire lineup after the first, Kolek turned in a solid showing for San Diego.

The madness all began in the second inning, when Marlins’ second baseman Ronny Simon allowed Jake Cronenworth to score on a ground ball that he kicked all the way into foul ground. Two runs scored on the play. San Diego was back at it in the third, where a four-pitch walk and single put runners on. However, a lineout from Gavin Sheets put the Marlins in a manageable spot with Xander Bogaerts coming up. Meyer got a patented grounder from Bogaerts, but lucky placement with Merrill in motion led to another error from Simon. His second miscue allowed the third, and theoretically fourth, Padres run to come in.

The fourth inning saw even more craziness from the second base position. Tyler Wade bounced another grounder to second, which, once again, kicked to the right off of Simon’s glove. Before anyone could get a grasp of the reality that he had committed three errors already, Tatis Jr. gave him a chance at redemption. Attempting to turn a twin-killer, Simon airmailed the toss to second, and it wasn’t particularly close. Simon exited the contest in the next inning, after his fourth miscue of the game.

With runners now at the corners, San Diego cashed in on a single from Luis Arraez that tied the game. After nearly breaking through in the fourth, San Diego’s offense came alive in the fifth. Jake Cronenworth got things started with a single, followed by another from Tatis Jr. with two outs. In a clutch spot, Luis Arraez came through once more to take the lead on his third hit of the night.

Playing the hits. pic.twitter.com/bkCOIWWWWP

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) May 28, 2025

Covering for Kolek’s lengthy pitch count, Sean Reynolds delivered a scoreless inning and a third in relief. Yuki Matsui followed him by stranding a double from Otto Lopez. Insurance for San Diego came in the form of another “porcher”, as Jackson Merrill took a pitch down and in to the pull side to make it 8-6 in San Diego’s favor.

That’ll play ?‍? pic.twitter.com/vidhZmThnN

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) May 28, 2025

Jeremiah Estrada came on for the final out of the eighth and turned it into a four-out save. With Robert Suarez seeing action on both Sunday and Monday, Estrada collected a pair of strikeouts to successfully give Suarez a day off. Estrada’s stuff was sharp, with his velocity up 0.9 MPH from his season average.

With two comeback wins against the Fish, San Diego will look to take care of business in the finale tomorrow. Kyle Hart will make his first start since being optioned to Triple-A in April. For Miami, the struggling former Cy Young winner, Sandy Alcantara, will look to avoid the sweep.

Willy Warren

A 17-year-old San Diego native, Willy Warren is a baseball fan at heart who created High Leverage Baseball, a combination of around-the-league statistical analysis and breakdowns on X, and daily newsletters on the TikTok platform. Willy passionately studies Journalism at San Dieguito Academy, and is working to become billingual in Spanish to assist in communicating with Latin-born players and coaches.