Myers stays hot, slams game-winner in 16th

PHOENIX -- It's hard to blame Wil Myers for losing track of the count on Sunday afternoon in Arizona. Things were getting awfully weird at Chase Field.
When Myers strode to the plate, there were two outs in the 16th inning. Jeff Mathis (yes, longtime catcher Jeff Mathis) was on the mound for the D-backs. After ball three, Myers flipped his bat and trotted toward first base before realizing his mistake.
He's probably pretty pleased he didn't walk.
Three pitches later, Myers demolished a monster home run over the right-center-field batter's eye. He flipped his bat emphatically this time, celebrating a game-winning dinger in a 4-3 San Diego victory. It was the longest Padres game this season at 5 hours and 31 minutes. It tied the longest game, in innings, in D-backs history.
"It's just a sigh of relief," Myers said afterward.
On Saturday night, Myers became the eighth player in Padres history to homer three times in a game. That was a mere footnote in an ugly 15-run loss. Sunday's heroics were much more meaningful -- even if they came against a 14-year veteran catcher.
"I'll tell you what: Mathis is probably the best position-player pitcher I've seen," Myers said. "After those first couple pitches, I was like, 'Man, I have to lock it in right here.' This guy's actually pitching. Credit to him for being OK."
Eight Padres relievers combined for 11 scoreless innings, punctuated by two frames from newly minted All-Star Brad Hand. He allowed a leadoff double in the bottom of the 16th, but escaped the threat with a grounder to second that stranded the tying run at third base.

The Padres managed to keep the burden exclusively on their deep bullpen. The D-backs, meanwhile, veered off course in their pitching plans. After long-man T.J. McFarland ate four innings, Zack Godley -- who started on Friday night -- pitched the 15th. He escaped a two-on, two-out jam, paving the way for Mathis.

"It was a grind," said Padres manager Andy Green. "It was a war of attrition out there, and we had more arms in the tank than they did."
In part, that's because the Padres managed to chase Arizona ace Zack Greinke after 4 1/3 innings and 94 pitches.
"I liked the way the team grinded against Greinke," Green said. "You're talking about a Cy Young Award winner that you're getting out before five innings. That's going to lead to winning baseball."
Padres starter Clayton Richard wasn't all that sharp either, but he limited the D-backs to three runs in five innings. His streak of 11 straight six-inning starts came to an end when he was lifted for pinch-hitter Jose Pirela in the sixth.
Pirela swatted a game-tying single up the middle, and that would be the only offense for either side until the 16th. Two of the National League's best bullpens squared off, and they didn't disappoint.

"That's a ton of innings to ask out of your guys," Green said. "They rose up. They did what they needed to do."
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Diaz delivers:Miguel Diaz, who was recalled prior to Sunday's game, made quite the statement upon his return to the big leagues. The 23-year-old right-hander became the second Padre in history to record a four-strikeout frame in the bottom of the 11th. Diaz whiffed Chris Owings with the winning run on second base, but the ball got away, and Owings reached on the wild pitch. No matter. Diaz blew a 98-mph fastball past Jon Jay to end the threat. He joined Luke Gregerson (Oct. 4, 2009) as the only Padres to accomplish the feat.

Mashin' Manny:Manuel Margot entered play Sunday hitting .229. A career-high five hits later, that marked had jumped by 14 points. Margot, whose previous best was three hits, went 5-for-6 with a walk, and he became the 12th player in franchise history to reach base six times in a game. Margot's biggest contribution was his sixth-inning double. He'd come around to score two batters later on Pirela's pinch-hit single.

PERDOMO IN A PINCH?
The Padres' relief corps was forced to eat six innings on Saturday after Tyson Ross' shortest start in three years. It threw 11 innings on Sunday. But, hey, that's better than 12.
Had Myers not gone deep in the 16th, Luis Perdomo -- who is slated to start on Monday against the Dodgers -- would've been called upon.
"We were going to win this baseball game with everybody if we had to," Green said. "I'm not sure who we would have started [on Monday]."
Perdomo did throw a few warm-up pitches in the right-field bullpen. Green said afterward he didn't think they were taxing enough to move Perdomo from his start. Still, it's probably likely that the Padres re-shuffle their bullpen with a roster move or two.
"We're going to have to get some reinforcements to make sure we're in good shape," Green said. "... We've got a lot to figure out in the next 24 hours."
SOUND SMART
Diaz is the third pitcher in recorded history to strike out four hitters in an extra inning. The last two were both Blue Jays. Mike Bolsinger did so last July 18 against the Red Sox, and Steve Delabar fanned four White Sox on Aug. 13, 2012.
HE SAID IT
"What's funny about baseball is my first five at-bats, I was 0-for-5, and I felt as good as I did yesterday. That's the thing about baseball. You never know what's going to happen. You can feel great, play bad. You can feel bad, play great. You can never predict it. You just go out there and keep grinding." -- Myers
UP NEXT
Perdomo presumably gets the ball opposite Clayton Kershaw as the Padres open a four-game series against the Dodgers at Petco Park at 7:10 p.m. PT. Perdomo will be looking to build on his best start of the season Wednesday in Oakland. After 2 1/2 months in the Minors, Perdomo allowed two runs on four hits over 5 2/3 innings. He showcased a vastly improved changeup and used it to work out of quite a few jams.