Myers activated for finale vs. Braves

ATLANTA -- The Padres activated Wil Myers prior to Thursday's 6-4 win over the Braves in 11 innings, slotting the rangy outfielder in as the leadoff hitter and in center field. The game represented Myers' first action in a Major League game since May 10, when he went 0-for-3 in a loss at Arizona.

Though he went 0-for-5 with a walk, Myers scored a key run on catcher's interference in the top of the eighth to tie the game at 4 and help force extra innings.

Sidelined with tendinitis in his left wrist, Myers played three games for the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas and replaced right-handed reliever Kevin Quackenbush, who was optioned to Triple-A to make room on the roster.

"I'm excited to be back," Myers said before Thursday's game, the finale of a four-game set with the Braves and a seven-game road trip before the Padres return home to face the Dodgers in a three-game series starting on Friday.

"I felt good," Myers said of his time in El Paso. "My at-bats were really good. I saw a ton of pitches, hit the ball hard. I was able to do everything that I needed to do to prepare to be back."

Before his rehab assignment, the 24-year-old Myers was hitting .291/.340/.493 with five home runs and 19 RBIs in 32 games. The 2013 American League Rookie of the Year with the Tampa Bay Rays hit .333 with one homer in his time with El Paso. 

In his last game with the Chihuahuas, on Tuesday at Las Vegas, Myers had two singles and two stolen bases. That's when he knew he was ready to go.

"My second-to-last AB, I worked a nine-, 10-pitch at-bat," Myers said. "I battled with two strikes, and I was able to shoot the ball the other way with two strikes. That was the best at-bat I had. Not necessarily the hardest ball I hit, but it was a good at-bat. I knew right then that I felt good enough to come back."

Myers talked to reporters from the visitors' dugout at Turner Field, his left wrist taped and covered with an elastic bandage.

"I'll have this taped for the next month and a half to two months, and I'll be taping it every at-bat," Myers said. "It's more of a mental thing for me. I know when this tape's on I definitely won't feel anything. I know I can probably swing without tape and be fine, but I want to make sure that this tape is on. Mentally, it gives me the confidence to go out there."