Fernando Tatis Jr.'s outfield assist helps Padres take series from Rays
The Padres continued to force the action and continued to win.
Timely hits remain elusive at times, but wins are more frequent because they are playing a kind of baseball that wins.
For going on a month, having been previously stuck in an unexpected reality where their offense was not able to consistently capitalize with big hits or in big moments, the Padres have been doing more of the little things and the right things.
They decidedly leaned into doing what it takes over the weekend, beating the Rays the past two days to win the series against the team with MLB’s best record.
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Another fruitful inning in which they didn’t have to hit the ball far for it to go a long way got the Padres started on what became a 5-4 victory on Sunday.
Fernando Tatis Jr., as he often is, was in the middle of that three-run third inning, which produced three runs on a double, a single, a double, a single, a dribbler in front of the plate that led to two errors on one play by the same player and a sacrifice fly.
And Tatis’ throw to the plate in the eighth inning helped preserve the Padres’ fourth win in the six-game homestand.
“It’s really big,” Tatis said of coming back from a 6-2 loss in Friday’s series opener to win two straight against the Rays. “This team came ... showed what (it was) capable of in game one. And as a team, we talked about it. We needed to rebound. We needed to show what we’re capable of.”
Fernando Tatis celebrates after scoring a run on Sunday. (Meg McLaughlin/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
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The Padres showed Sunday — for just the fifth time this season, versus 12 losses — that they could win a one-run game.
Down 5-2, the Rays scored twice in the eighth inning by finding holes all over the field with five singles.
Randy Arozarena’s single up the middle off second baseman Rougned Odor’s glove began the inning against Nick Martinez, who followed with a strikeout of Isaac Paredes. Josh Lowe moved Arozarena to third with a single grounded into center field and stole second base. Manuel Margot’s single scored Arozarena and moved Lowe to third, and a blooped single to right field by pinch-hitter Harold Ramirez scored Lowe and moved Margot to second.
Christian Bethancourt then grounded a single under the dive of first baseman Jake Cronenworth. As Margot rounded third base, Tatis scooped up the ball and fired a 99.5 mph throw that reached catcher Austin Nola on one hop just in time for Nola to tag out Margot.
“It was a missile,” Nola said. “I just opened my glove and the ball went in there. Tati (made) an excellent throw. He’s been putting it right on the money.”
Padres second baseman Rougned Odor (24) and right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. (23) celebrate beating the Rays at Petco Park. (Meg McLaughlin/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
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The Rays challenged both the call and that Nola had obstructed Margot. After a tense couple minutes, crew chief Alan Porter announced the out call stood, which prompted thunderous applause from the 44,404 who made up the fourth-largest crowd at Petco Park this season.
Tatis’ National League-leading seventh outfield assist provided what Padres manager Bob Melvin rightfully called “the play of the game.” But it was just part of an eventful afternoon that ended with the Padres (35-36) winning their third consecutive series and getting within a game of .500, which they have not been since they were 19-19 on May 11.
Josh Hader retired the Rays (51-24) in order for his second save in two days and 18th of the season, which is tied for second in the National League.
Steven Wilson pitched a scoreless seventh, stranding runners at first and second after a two-out single and walk. The latter of those came on what was ruled a full-count check swing by Wander Franco and led to Melvin being ejected by Jim Wolf, the third base umpire who ruled Franco had not swung.
Joe Musgrove (5-2, 4.22) got the victory after allowing two runs in his six innings.
“I felt like I did minimal work today compared to what everyone else was doing out there,” he said after throwing 85 pitches.
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Padres starting pitcher Joe Musgrove (44) walks back into the dugout after the sixth inning. (Meg McLaughlin/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
The Padres scored both of their runs in Saturday’s 2-0 victory on a pair of bunt singles, a swinging bunt single and a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning.
They scored three times in Sunday’s third inning in an even more thrillingly underwhelming manner.
Trent Grisham’s one-out double was followed by the Padres getting a hit with a runner in scoring position that didn’t score the runner, as Grisham was compelled to freeze momentarily to make sure Tatis’ line drive through the left side was not caught.
Juan Soto came to the plate with runners at first and third and dribbled a ball about five feet in front of the plate that Bethancourt, the Rays catcher, decided to throw to second base to try to get Tatis. It appeared Tatis would have beat the throw even if shortstop Wander Franco had not whiffed on it.
The ball hit off Tatis’ foot and caromed into shallow left field, sending Grisham home and Tatis to third, where he noticed Franco was still somewhat leisurely jogging to get the ball and took off for home. Franco’s throw sailed wide of the plate, and Tatis scored without a slide to put the Padres up 2-1.
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“I had momentum going home, and I knew I was going to take just a perfect throw to get me out,” Tatis said. “So I took my chances.”
Fans cheer as Padres manager Bob Melvin (3) walks over to talk to umpire Jim Wolf (28) during the seventh inning. (Meg McLaughlin/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Soto raced to third as Tatis scored, and Manny Machado’s sacrifice fly scored Soto.
The Rays, who went up 1-0 on three consecutive one-out singles in the second inning, added a run in the fourth on two infield singles, a walk and a bases-loaded sacrifice fly.
The Padres pushed the lead back to two runs when Cronenworth and Odor began the inning with doubles. They extended the lead to three runs when Grisham led off the fifth inning with a walk, stole second during Tatis’ strikeout, moved to third on Soto’s groundout and scored on a single by Machado.
The Swinging Friar holds up a sign that says “Happy Father’s Day” before the Padres’ game against the Rays. (Meg McLaughlin/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
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While the timely hits followed, Sunday followed something of a pattern.
It was the fifth time in their past 11 victories that the first inning in which the Padres scored included a sacrifice hit or sacrifice fly. They are sacrificing more, stealing more bases and striking out less over the past month.
“Putting the ball in play, trusting the guys that we have, being aggressive,” Tatis said. “I feel like that’s just a game-changer for this team, and just keep that going.”
Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune
