DENVER — To say Jackson Merrill was unsettled as he walked up the first base line in the second inning Saturday would be an understatement. He’s fine with a hit-by-pitch giving him a free bag, but a 94 mph sinker off the same left ankle that forced him to the injured list in late August?

“Dude, what the (expletive), man?” Merrill said with a laugh. “It’s so annoying. … It could have hit me anywhere else, but it went to the same exact spot that I have been dealing with. So that was awesome.”

But he got over it. And on Sunday, Merrill got back to himself.

The 22-year-old hit his first homer since returning from the injured list and finished a triple shy of the cycle in the Padres’ 8-1 win at Coors Field. Better yet, both extra-base hits — his second-inning homer and seventh-inning double

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