5 ruminations on the Padres' wild night

This story was excerpted from AJ Cassavell's Padres Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

SAN DIEGO -- Wild one last night. Here are five quick thoughts after another five-run Padres comeback:

1) Tatis looks like a different player than he did in June
The walk-off single was cool. So was the 111.1 mph double during the game-tying rally. But I thought the most important moments from Fernando Tatis Jr. on Wednesday came elsewhere.

He sprinted from second to home on Manny Machado's game-tying single at full throttle. He ranged deep into the right-center-field gap to track down Kerry Carpenter's fly ball.

They were quintessential Tatis plays. And yet, when Tatis' right leg was bothering him in May and June, those types of plays were noticeably absent -- or at least came with a noticeable limp from Tatis.

"Today,” said Padres manager Mike Shildt, “was explosive. It looked like him."

If San Diego is getting the fully healthy version of Tatis for the stretch run… look out.

2) More Merrill madness
How good -- and how clutch -- has Jackson Merrill been? When he popped out to end the ninth inning, sending the game to extras, I was actually surprised. It feels like all he does is hit homers in those spots.

So I looked it up. Before that flyout, Merrill had homered five times in his previous six at-bats with the Padres tied or trailing by a run in the ninth inning. That is an astounding stat.

In any case, Merrill homered earlier in the game, sparking San Diego’s five-run comeback. His three-run blast moved him past Benito Santiago for the franchise rookie RBI record. Merrill has 82.

He was asked about the possibility that record might stand for several decades, like Santiago’s, and his response was classic Merrill.

“I hope somebody next year comes up and breaks that record,” Merrill said. “We’ll take all the help we can get. We’ve got good young guys in our Minors system. [Ethan] Salas and [Leodalis] De Vries -- I trust they can do the same thing.”

3) Everyone knows how good this bullpen is… and it’s still underrated
What a luxury. The Padres had expended practically their entire bullpen on Wednesday after getting just 2 2/3 innings from Yu Darvish in his return. And yet, when they reached extras, they still had a weapon like Jeremiah Estrada to cover the 10th.

“I can’t say enough for the bullpen,” Merrill said. “They seem to bring it every single day. Especially Estrada coming in and doing that in the 10th -- that’s big time.”

Since they landed Tanner Scott, Jason Adam and Bryan Hoeing at the Trade Deadline, San Diego’s 2.97 bullpen ERA is the second-best mark in the National League, behind only Milwaukee's 2.87. A night like Wednesday showed why.

Shildt mixed and matched, flipping the righty Adam and the lefty Scott from their usual innings, so he could get better matchups. He used Adrian Morejon in the sixth and closer Robert Suarez in the ninth. And despite using four high-leverage relievers, he had a fifth available. Given Estrada’s swing-and-miss stuff, he was a perfect option for stranding the automatic runner in the 10th.

4) The benefits of a three-catcher roster
The Padres have carried three catchers since they promoted Elias Díaz when rosters expanded. On Wednesday, Shildt put that depth to full use. David Peralta batted for Luis Campusano in the sixth and worked a walk. Donovan Solano batted for Kyle Higashioka in the seventh and also worked a walk. San Diego still had Díaz available.

(A quick note on Shildt’s decision to hit for Higashioka with men on second and third and one out. After the game, Shildt admitted that, “It wasn’t a clear-cut decision.” He just as easily could’ve used Solano to bat for Mason McCoy, the team’s No. 9 hitter. But Shildt said he wanted the contact-happy Solano taking his at-bat with one out. As it turned out, Solano walked, and the run didn’t score.)

In any case, the point is that Shildt had options. The Padres’ bench has two very valuable pinch-hitters in Solano and Peralta. I’d expect Shildt to continue pulling those levers -- and with three catchers on the roster, he has extra room to do so.

5) Welcome back, Yu
Probably not worth reading too deeply into Darvish’s results in his first game back. (He allowed three runs and needed 63 pitches to get eight outs.) Only two weeks ago, Darvish was still on the restricted list.

His return to San Diego happened quickly. He pitched three simulated innings at Petco Park last homestand and four at the team’s complex in Peoria, Ariz., on Friday. Then, just like that, he was back on a big league mound.

“He just knocked a little bit of the proverbial rust off,” Shildt said.

It still seems possible Darvish will emerge as the No. 3 starter behind Dylan Cease and Joe Musgrove in a potential playoff rotation. He has four starts remaining to reach that level. (And if he struggles, well, Michael King is a pretty good option, too.)

The Padres can worry about that another day. Wednesday was about Darvish being back -- and he was greeted warmly on multiple occasions by the Petco Park crowd.

“These are the best fans," Darvish said through interpreter Shingo Horie. “Just to be able to put on a Padres uniform and go out there, pitch on that mound, that's a blessing in itself. I can say, it's just great being a Padre.”