Watch: Trent Grisham’s walk-off home run salvages Padres’ weekend

At the last minute, the San Diego Padres were able to salvage a series win against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

After carrying a risky 2-0 lead into the eighth inning, Nabil Crismatt was charged with a blown save and nearly spoiled MacKenzie Gore’s flawless shutout start when he immediately allowed the Pirates to tie it.

The two teams carried that tie through a scoreless ninth inning and into extras, before Trent Grisham stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the 10th, and sent a ball caroming off the right-field foul pole to end things on the Padres’ terms.

The Padres needed this win and so did Grisham, who came into Sunday’s game with a meager .161/.264/.252 line and .516 OPS. These numbers are well below his career average for his first three seasons, a modest but respectable .243/.334/.424 and .758 OPS from 2019-21. Grisham homered 15 times in 132 games last year but came into Sunday with just one home run in 168 plate appearances this season.

With nearly two months of baseball under their belts, the Padres have walked it off four times, and been walked off three times. Their offense ranks below league average in most metrics, due in large part to Fernando Tatis Jr.’s absence, but also general underperforming from pretty much everyone not named Manny Machado. Even manager Bob Melvin hasn’t minced words; after a walk-off win earlier this month, he told reporters that his team needs power.

This walk-off was just what the doctor ordered.