Myers’ 4th home run in 2 days is a winner
Batting for the eighth time in the game — and facing a catcher he later called the best position player he’s ever seen pitch — Wil Myers got something he liked and hammered it.
Myers homered for the fourth time in two days, connecting in the 16th inning off Arizona’s Jeff Mathis, who’s normally a catcher, to send the Padres to a 4-3 victory in Phoenix on Sunday.
Myers, who hit three home runs Saturday, clubbed a 3-2 pitch from Mathis over the fence in right-center with two outs. Mathis was making his first pitching appearance since 2012 and the third of his career. He moved to the mound after catching 15 innings.
“After the first couple of pitches, I was like, ‘I have to lock it in right here because this guy is actually pitching,’ ” Myers said. “What is funny about baseball is my first five at-bats, I was 0-for-5 and felt as good as I did” Saturday.
Mathis threw fastballs and changeups. When the Diamondbacks ran out of relievers and available starters, he was chosen because of his familiarity with the distance between the mound and home plate.
“I’d have liked to get the third out right there,” Mathis said. “Just didn’t get the ball down. Honestly, I was just worried about trying to get it over the plate.”
Manuel Margot had a career-high five hits for the Padres and added a stolen base. All-Star closer Brad Hand (2-4) worked two innings in a game that lasted 5 hours, 31 minutes.
“It’s a long way to go to not win a game,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “When you ask your bullpen to throw 10-plus innings as effectively as they did, you think you’re going to win the game. Unfortunately, we didn’t.”