The Rays kept leaning on their stars early, then let the bottom of the order finish the job when the game turned frantic in the seventh.
Tampa Bay beat the Padres 7-6 on Saturday night at Tropicana Field in front of 25,621, a win that pushed the Rays to 81 victories and stretched their AL East lead over the Yankees to five games with 27 left. What looked shaky after 6 1/2 innings flipped fast, even with San Diego’s bullpen strength still waiting in the wings and Mason Miller looming.
The Rays had already survived a messy stretch by then. Starter Nick Martinez had coughed up two one-run leads, and the Padres grabbed a three-run edge in the seventh against Garrett Cleavinger and Kevin Kelly. Still, Tampa Bay found one more surge.
The first six innings belonged mostly to the top of the Rays’ lineup. Yandy Díaz opened with a double and scored on Liam Hicks’ single in the first.
Jonathan Aranda followed in the third with a Statcast-projected 453-foot solo homer that landed on top of the batter’s eye. Then Junior Caminero snapped a 15-game homerless drought with a game-tying blast in the sixth.
The real swing came after Tampa Bay fell behind 6-3. Richie Palacios started the seventh with a walk off Bradgley Rodriguez, and Cedric Mullins and Taylor Walls followed with singles to load the bases. Díaz then lined a 108.9 mph shot off the wall in center, scoring Palacios and setting off the kind of chaos the Rays have made into a specialty.
Mullins held up after rounding third, which left Walls in a scramble between second and third as Padres second baseman Luis Rengifo went after the ball. Walls froze, Rengifo chased, and then Mullins broke for the plate.
Rengifo’s off-balance throw sailed toward the backstop, and it was a costly one - Rengifo was seriously injured on the play. Mullins slid in, Walls followed, and the Rays had the tying runs.
Díaz moved to third in the confusion and was replaced by pinch-runner Jorge Mateo with one out. San Diego then chose to intentionally walk Caminero with left-hander Adrian Morejon on the mound. Ryan Vilade struck out, bringing up Chandler Simpson with two outs.
Simpson, who had already bothered the Padres with his speed and contact over the previous two days, delivered again. He punched a 99.7 mph fastball from Morejon into left field, putting Tampa Bay back in front for good.
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