Diamondbacks walk off Padres with 5 run 9th inning

Ketel Marte scores the tying run in the 9th inning for the Diamondbacks

All five ninth inning runs were charged to Padres reliever Robert Suarez as San Diego suddenly couldn’t buy an out. Geraldo Perdomo had the big hit in the inning. The Diamondbacks shortstop came up big with the bases loaded, smacking a three-run triple to right field and tying the game at 7-7.

Then, with Perdomo at third and Adrian Morejon replacing Suarez on the mound, Naylor stepped up. He hit a swinging bunt to first but Perdomo was running on contact and he beat the throw home to score the winning run.

While the Padres didn’t see the outburst coming, Arizona fans might have. With the five runs in Saturday’s game, the Diamondbacks have scored a major league-high 39 runs in the ninth inning this season, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.

The Diamondbacks have now won five straight games and nine of their last 12 to improve to 36-34 on the season. Arizona is now 5.5 games behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers in the highly competitive NL West.

Despite the sudden surge from Arizona, the team is still fourth in the division behind the Dodgers, Giants and Padres. San Diego fell to three games back in the division after pulling within one game of the Dodgers a week ago. The Padres have now lost three straight but the team suffered a more concerning loss on Saturday.

All-Star center fielder Jackson Merrill left the game after the seventh inning with an apparent head injury. Merrill was caught stealing to end the inning but he was hit on the head with the tag by second baseman Ketel Marte – who was visibly upset after the accidental hard contact. Merrill would eventually walk off on his own but did not return. San Diego has yet to decide if he’ll be placed in the concussion protocol.