The Rays didn’t just scratch out a win Monday. They turned the seventh inning into a full-blown free-for-all and walked away with a 7-6 victory that featured momentum swings, baserunning chaos and a finish that belonged to Tampa Bay.
For much of the night, the Rays had the upper hand. They built a 2-1 lead through five innings behind an RBI single from Liam Hicks and a solo homer from Jonathan Aranda. It was only Aranda’s second home run over his last 20 games, and just his fourth extra-base hit in his last 86 plate appearances.
That edge disappeared when Ty France delivered his 100th career home run, a sneaky opposite-field shot just over the right-field cutout that pushed the Padres ahead 3-2.
Tampa Bay answered right back. Junior Caminero, who had gone 16 games without a homer and had only three extra-base hits in his last 66 plate appearances, tied the game at 3-3 with his first home run in that span and set the stage for the inning that blew the game wide open.
The top of the seventh started poorly for Garrett Cleavinger. Working in relief of Nick Martinez, he walked Luis Rengifo after getting ahead 0-2, then watched Dustin Harris single and Fernando Tatis Jr. lay down a perfect bunt to load the bases with nobody out.
Cleavinger struck out Jake Cronenworth, but the Rays went to Kevin Kelly in search of a double play. Manny Machado spoiled that plan with a single through the vacated side of the infield to bring home the first two runs, and a double steal led to the third run of the inning.
Down three heading to the bottom half, the Rays responded in kind. The 7-8-9 hitters all reached to open the inning, and then Yandy Diaz crushed a high fastball from Bradgley Rodriguez that sounded like a grand slam off the bat. Instead, the play turned into one of the strangest sequences of the game, as Rengifo’s knee gave out on him in a rundown and the throw home allowed all three runners to score while Diaz advanced to third.
Diaz later scored the go-ahead run on Chandler Simpson’s second hit of the game. Simpson’s single raised his batting average to .384 since the break, the best mark among qualified hitters.
Kelly handled the eighth cleanly, and Bryan Baker finished it off for his 39th save of the season. It was his 27th straight save since his last blown save on May 13.
The win, combined with the Yankees losing the first game of their doubleheader, moved the Rays five games ahead of New York. Tampa Bay will try to finish off the sweep Tuesday with staff ace Drew Rasmussen facing Robbie Ray.
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