Rays 4, Padres 5: Happy Fathers, Happy Padres, Unhappy Rays

It was Yonny Chirinos vs. Joe Musgrove on a Sunday afternoon in the San Diego sun, while folks were taking their dads to the ballpark. It didn’t go great for the Rays, though, so if you want to stay in a good mood I’d stop reading now.

Musgrove kicked off the first inning with a 1-2-3, but things didn’t get going so nicely for Chirinos who really struggled from the get-go today. First he hit Tatis Jr with a pitch, and Tatis then stole second. Soto drew a walk. He got the next two outs, then Tatis was picked off at third to end the inning.

Musgrove had a rough outing of his own in the top of the second, as Arozarena reached on an infield single, followed by a Paredes single, and then Josh Lowe singled to score Arozarena. As Margot grounded into a double play and Walls popped out, the scoring risk quickly ended. But at least the Rays were first on the board. Chirinos settled down and had a 1-2-3 inning of his own.

Bethancourt singled to start off the third, but a Diaz double play erased the baserunner, and Musgrove quickly ended the inning. Chirinos went on to have a very rough bottom of the third. With one out, Grisham doubled, then Tatis Jr singled. Soto grounded into a fielder’s choice, but a Franco error allowed both Grisham and Tatis Jr to score and left Soto on third. A Machado sac hit scored Soto and with that the Padres were up 3-1.

In an unusual move, Raley reached on a bunt single to open the fourth inning, which had me scratching my head but, hey I guess it worked. Raley then advanced to second on a throwing error from Musgrove. Arozarena singled, then Paredes drew a walk. A Margot sac fly scored Raley, but the Rays would need to settle for one. In the bottom of the inning Cronenworth doubled, and a VERY unbuttoned Odor doubled to score Cronenworth. No additional runs scored after that, but the score was 4-2 Padres.

Musgrove had a clean top of the fifth, and Chirinos was back out for the Rays. Grisham walked, then stole second. A Soto groundout got Grisham to third, and then a Machado single brought him home. Bogaerts singled, and that was it for Chirinos for the day as Kevin Kelly came on to get the last out of the inning.

In the sixth Musgrove struggled a little, as Arozarena and Paredes were hit with back-to-back HBPs, but once again the Rays failed to take advantage of the baserunners. In the bottom of the inning Kelly allowed a single runner with a two-out single for Nola, but the Padres failed to expand their lead.

Musgrove was done after the sixth, giving way to Wilson. Diaz reached in an infield single and was able to advance to second on a passed ball, but no runs scored. Stephenson was up next for the Rays and had a nice 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh.

On the Rays half of the eighth, things perked up a bit. Arozarena singled, then Josh Lowe singled to advance Randy to third, before Lowe stole second. Margot singled, scoring Arozarena. Harold Ramirez came on to pinch-hit for Walls. Ramirez singled on a blooper totally missed by Odor, scoring Lowe. Bethancourt singled, but got to second, Brujan to third, and Margot was tagged out at home, but the play was challenged as Nola appeared to be blocking home plate. The tag was definitely on time, but Nola was absolutely blocking the plate. The call was confirmed, though. The Padres ended the inning and the Rays would have to settle for two runs, taking the score to 5-4.

Bottom of the eighth and Diekman was on the mound. Bogaerts walked to start things off. With two outs, Nelson Cruz was off the bench and walked intentionally. Then it was Gary Sanchez who... I guess plays in San Diego now? Sanchez struck out to end the threat and the Rays got out of a possibly nasty inning.

Josh Hader was up next for the Padres hoping for the save. Two quick outs left it up to Arozarena, but it was not meant to be.

Final: Padres 5, Rays 4