Padres Blow Three-Run Lead To Lose 7-6 To Tampa Bay

The San Diego Padres lost their second straight game to the Tampa Bay Rays in the most painful way possible, as they broke the game open to take a three-run lead, then let things get away from them as the Tampa Bay charged back to get the 7-6 win. 

This was a back-and-forth battle that featured plenty of offense, and the Padres made it clear throughout that that’s not that their forte. The Rays took a 1-0 lead off starter Walker Buehler in the first on an RBI single from Liam Hicks, who drove home Yandy Diaz after Diaz doubled. 

The Padres got the run right back in the third off Tampa starter Nick Martinez, as Dustin Harris singled and Jake Cronenworth doubled him home to make it 1-1.

After that it was long ball time. Jonathan Aranda hit a solo homer to put the Rays up 2-1, but Ty France countered with a two-run bomb in the sixth to put San Diego up 3-2. That lead lasted until the bottom of the inning, when Junior Caminero hit a blistering line-drive solo homer to center to tie it at 3-3. 

The Padres came right back in the seventh off a pair of Rays relievers, starting with a walk to Luis Rengifo, followed by a single from Harris. Fernando Tatis Jr. then laid down a perfect bunt single to load the bases, and two batters later Manny Machado drove home a pair of runs with an opposite single to make it 5-3. 

The next San Diego run came in an unlikely way, as Machado and Tatis executed a perfect double steal to make it 6-3.

That lead didn’t last either, though. Reliever Bradgley Rodriguez had a tough outing as he loaded the bases on a walk and two singles, and another single by Diaz brought home two runs, with a throwing error scoring a third as Luis Rengifo was hurt making the throw home and had to be carted off.   

That made it 6-6, and Adrian Morejon came on to try to stop the bleeding but couldn’t as another single by Chandler Simpson completed the four-run frame and give the Rays a 7-6 lead. 

The loss dropped the Padres out of the third wild-card spot, pending the results of Arizona’s late game against the San Francisco Giants, and the Philadelphia Phillies have left both the Padres and Arizona in the rear view as they’ve solidified their hold on the second wild-card spot.