SAN DIEGO (AP) — Rookie Francisco Mejia is quickly giving the downtrodden San Diego Padres a hopeful glimpse of the future.The 22-year-old hit his first grand slam with two outs in the ninth inning and the rebuilding Padres rallied to beat the Texas Rangers 7-3 Sunday to avoid a three-game sweep in a matchup of last-place teams.It was the first walkoff for Mejia Hyun-Jin Ryu Jersey , who was promoted from Triple-A on Sept. 4. The prized catching prospect has hit three homers since then.Mejia was obtained from Cleveland for closer Brad Hand and reliever Adam Cimber on July 19. He is part of the third wave of young talent that has come up since late in the 2016 season, when the Padres turned from a failed win-now approach to rebuilding via the farm system.“It’s a really special moment,” Mejia said through a translator. “Especially for my career. It’s great.”The switch-hitter, batting right-handed, turned on the first pitch he saw from reliever Jeffrey Springs and drove it to left field.He said he was “looking for a pitch up in the zone, especially with the shadows out there. I wanted to look for a good pitch there and get a good swing on it.”Mejia was doused with a cooler of ice water at the plate and the celebration extended into the clubhouse.Asked what he’ll remember most about the homer, he said it would be “the energy, the moment coming into the clubhouse and having everyone waiting for me there.”Manager Andy Green said Mejia “seems at home with this group of guys. He showed up and everybody welcomed him and brought him into the family, and everybody has enjoyed him. When you’re new to a club you want to come through quick because it makes you feel like a part of it. Clearly he did that in a big way for us today.”Green watched the winning shot from his office after being ejected in the top of the ninth.“I do feel comfortable,” Mejia said. “I think the home runs, those are always going to come. That’s just part of the game. But I do feel comfortable being here and being a part of this team.”Ownership expected the Padres to be better this year than their finish of 71-91 last year, but the Padres are one loss away from matching last year’s win total. They’ve lost at least 90 games for the third straight season and the fourth time in eight years.The Rangers were two outs away from a 3-2 win and a three-game sweep before rookie Franmil Reyes hit a bloop single to right off rookie reliever Jeffrey Springs (0-1) and made way for pinch-runner Travis Jankowski. Freddy Galvis then doubled to left to bring in Jankowski with the tying run.Pinch-hitter A.J. Ellis walked as Galvis took third on a ball four-wild pitch. Cory Spangenberg walked to load the bases and bring up Mejia, who homered to left on the first pitch he saw.“Things unraveled a little bit just with the walks, but I’ve got to hand it to him Jose Fernandez Jersey ,” Banister said about Springs. “The guy’s never been in that situation before. I put him in that situation and I thought he showed a grit throughout the course of an inning.”Green was ejected in the top of the ninth after Robinson Chirinos appeared to hit the ball off the knob of his bat into fair territory. Padres reliever Trey Wingenter fielded the ball and threw to first. After the umps huddled and then went to a video review that lasted four minutes, 50 seconds, Green was ejected for arguing and Chirinos was awarded first on a hit-by-pitch.“I was pretty adamant telling them it’s not a reviewable call, it’s on the field,” Green said. “You have to fix the call on the field. It has to be a fair ball or a hit batter. It can’t be a foul ball. I’m not quite sure how we arrived where we arrived.”The Rangers loaded the bases but failed to score.Kirby Yates (5-3) got the last two outs of the ninth for the win.The Padres had runners on first and third with no outs in the eighth and failed to score.Rangers starter Mike Minor allowed two runs and four hits, struck out seven and walked one. He also doubled. Minor’s only big mistake was allowing Hunter Renfroe’s homer with two outs in the first, his 23rd.Willie Calhoun homered with one out in the second, his second, and Jurickson Profar hit a leadoff shot in the third, his 18th. Both were off Padres rookie Jacob Nix, who also allowed Robinson Chirinos’ RBI single in the sixth.Nix allowed three runs and seven hits in six innings, struck out three and walked one.UP NEXTRangers: RHP Adrian Sampson (0-1, 5.06) is scheduled to make his second start with Texas when it opens a three-game home series against Tampa Bay on Monday night. The Rays will counter with RHP Tyler Glasnow (1-6, 4.48).Padres: RHP Bryan Mitchell (1-3 http://www.marlinsfanproshop.com/authentic-martin-prado-jersey , 6.07) is scheduled to go in the opener of a three-game home series against San Francisco on Monday night, his third start since returning from 1 ½ months on the disabled list. He’s 1-0 with a 1.64 ERA in 11 innings since being reinstated. The Giants will counter with LHP Andrew Suarez (6-11, 4.33). MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Twins manager Paul Molitor is taking full advantage of expanded September rosters.Eddie Rosario homered, Ehire Adrianza had three hits and three RBIs, and Minnesota used six relievers to overcome a short start and beat the Kansas City Royals 10-6, snapping a five-game skid Friday night.Trevor May (4-1) picked up the win with two shutout innings in relief of Stephen Gonsalves, who lasted just 2 1/3 innings in his fourth major league start. With a day off Thursday and a 13-man bullpen, Molitor pulled Gonsalves after he’d thrown just 52 pitches.“Thank God for September,” Molitor said. “We’ve got a lot of fresh people coming off the off day and the amount of people that we have, that helps make your decisions a little easier to go ahead and turn it over a little bit more quickly than you might another time in the season.”After the Twins took the lead with three runs in the fifth, May, Matt Magill, Taylor Rogers and Trevor Hildenberger each kept the Royals off the board the rest of the way.“The guys we brought in all did a nice job putting up the zeroes the last half of the ballgame,” Molitor said.Salvador Perez homered and Jorge Bonifacio had three hits for the Royals Andre Dawson Jersey , who have lost three straight after winning eight of nine.“We just couldn’t find a way to get the ball hit at somebody,” said Royals manager Ned Yost, whose pitchers allowed 12 hits and walked seven batters in eight innings.Minnesota broke a 6-6 tie with a three-run fifth. Max Kepler and Adrianza had RBI singles against Glenn Sparkman (0-3). Rosario tacked on his team-leading 23rd home run leading off the eighth.GONSALVES STRUGGLES AGAINThe Twins gave Gonsalves an early lead on Adrianza’s two-run single in the second, but the Royals knocked him out with a six-run outburst in the third. Gonsalves, one of Minnesota’s top pitching prospects, got through the first two innings without much trouble, but the second time through the order was a different story.After No. 9 hitter Cam Gallagher flew out to start the third, the next five batters reached base against Gonsalves. Alex Gordon’s two-run double tied the score at 2-2, and two batters later Bonifacio singled home Gordon to end the left-hander’s night.Gonsalves is now 0-2 with an 11.68 ERA in four starts since being called up Aug. 20. He walked three batters Friday, giving him 13 walks in 12 1/3 innings. He said it’s been hard to concentrate on getting batters out while also trying to make progress with the mechanical work he’s been doing with Twins pitching coach Garvin Alston.“I’ve been working with Garvin on something new every week,” Gonsalves said, “and I think my mind’s on that — mechanics, instead of competing.”Molitor thinks some of Gonsalves’ issues are a product of better competition.“He’s had some stretches earlier this year in particular (in Triple-A) where he was able to pitch around some of the command issues that he had,” Molitor said. “But up here Wei-Yin Chen Jersey , the margin for error is a little different. You’ve got guys who are going to battle when they’ve got two strikes and they’re not going to expand as much as maybe down there. Some of those small differences play out differently up here.”FILLMYER FLOPSThe Twins dealt Royals starter Heath Fillmyer a fate similar to Gonsalves’ in the bottom of the third, knocking him out as five of the first six batters reached base. Jake Cave hit an RBI double and scored on a wild pitch to tie it at 6.“I didn’t work ahead of anybody. I didn’t execute as well as I should have,” Fillmyer said. “Some of those things end up happening when you don’t execute as fine as you want.”ALMOST A HAT TRICKPerez greeted reliever Alan Busenitz with a three-run homer into the bullpens in left-center. His 24th home run of the season gave the Royals a 6-2 lead in the third inning. Perez also hit two high fly balls that backed Twins left fielder Rosario to the wall before they came up just short of the fence.Perez now has 17 career home runs at Target Field, the most of any Twins opponent.TRAINER’S ROOMRoyals: OF Brett Phillips is day-to-day with a shoulder contusion he suffered running into the wall in Cleveland on Tuesday.Twins: Rosario returned to the lineup after missing six games with sore quadriceps, but 3B Miguel Sano remained sidelined with a lower left leg bruise suffered on Tuesday in Houston.UP NEXTRoyals: In the second game of the series Saturday evening, RHP Jorge Lopez (1-4, 2.24 ERA) makes his fifth start for the Royals since being acquired from Milwaukee in the Mike Moustakas deal. His last time out he held the Orioles to one run over seven innings while striking out eight in a 9-1 victory.Twins: RHP Jose Berrios (11-10, 3.92), the Twins’ lone 2018 All-Star, will try to turn it around against the Royals. In his last seven starts he’s 1-3 with a 5.67 ERA.