Padres Rookie Loves 'Fight' From Team This Season

The San Diego Padres have continued to show their grit this season, especially during their three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers this past weekend. The Padres won two of three games against the Dodgers, with both of these wins requiring a comeback.

During the Padres' 8-7 win over the Dodgers on Friday, San Diego was trailing 7-3 after two innings. They recorded four more runs in the sixth and seventh inning, and a final game-winning run in extra innings, while preventing the Dodgers from scoring.

The Padres got their second win of the weekend against the Dodgers on Sunday. The Padres trailed 3-1 after the fourth inning, but went on to score five more runs during the sixth and seventh innings.

Padres rookie outfielder Jackson Merrill came up big for the Padres in these two comeback efforts. He hit the game-winning run on Friday in the 11th inning, and notched another three hits on Sunday.

Merrill credited the team's "fight" for its impressive comeback wins.

“We keep saying it,” Merrill said on 97.3-FM after the game. “We keep saying we have the heart and we’ve got the fight, we’ve got everything we need to come back and win games. We’ve done it multiple times this year. It’s a good feeling when you can go down again and still come back and provide.”

This fight has come in handy multiple times for the Padres already this season. Besides their comebacks against the Dodgers, they had an impressive 9-8 comeback win over the Chicago Cubs the week before.

These comebacks help the Padres feel like they are in every game, which will help in other situations with in-game adversity, and allow the team to feel like they are never out of a game.

It's a stark turnaround from last season, when the Padres did not eke out a win in extra innings until the season's final month.