SAN DIEGO — Martín Pérez pitched well Thursday night.

Robert Suarez did not.

A grand slam by Parker Meadows, the Tigers’ No. 9 hitter, with two strikes and two outs in the ninth inning, denied the Padres a series sweep and kept them from winning for the seventh time in Pérez’s seven starts.

Pérez had been a when, not an if, for the Padres.

As in, when he pitched, the Padres won.

They were a strike from doing so again Thursday when Meadows sent a 101-mph fastball on a full count the other way and just over the wall in left field.

Suarez, who was the third reliever to work in relief of Pérez, had loaded the bases on a single and a walk at the start and then another walk with one out before a strikeout got him to the brink of his 32nd save.

Instead, he had his third blown save and third loss.

Pérez did his part by throwing 6 1/3 scoreless innings at the start.

He left two men on for Jason Adam, who finished the seventh before Tanner Scott worked a scoreless eighth.

It appeared the Padres would make Jurickson Profar’s solo home run in the first inning and Xander Bogaerts’ two-run homer in the second stand up.

But Suarez, working for the fourth time in five days and a night after throwing 19 pitches in closing out a 6-5 victory, was largely off the plate from the start.

The Padres had Jackson Merrill at the plate with two outs and Xander Bogaerts on first base in the bottom of the ninth. But the rookie, who has come through in big moments late in games more than any teammate, flied out to center field to end the game.

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