SAN DIEGO – It was somewhat appropriate that manager Mike Shildt’s postgame press conference opened with a brief coughing fit after the San Diego Padres dropped the series finale to the Tampa Bay Rays 4-2 on Sunday afternoon at Petco Park.
After a start that’s been so hot for the Padres (17-11), they were swept for the first time this season and have scored three or fewer runs in seven of their last nine and gone 2-7 over that cold stretch.
Things started well enough, as after going 1-for-16 with runners in scoring position over the previous three games, Jose Iglesias cashed in on the Padres second opportunity. Xander Bogaerts and Oscar Gonzáles led off the second with singles, then after a Tirso Ornelas double play groundout Iglesias slapped it through the right side to score Bogaerts for an early 1-0 lead.
San Diego converted again in the third off back-to-back singles by Fernando Tatis Jr. and Gavin Sheets. Manny Machado took the first pitch out to right field for a sacrifice fly to tie the game at two.
But between that the Rays plated a pair off Randy Vásquez, started by Taylor Walls hitting his first home run of the season on a 2-2 sweeper that stayed out over the heart of the plate. Then Chandler Simpson drew a two-out walk and stole second to get into scoring position for Brandon Lowe to drive him in.
Vásquez finished with 4 2/3 innings, allowing five hits and three (earned) runs with two walks and a strike out. He got into particular trouble in the fourth after getting the first two outs, when Simpson and Lowe singled back-to-back and Vásquez threw a wild pitch on a low and away cutter that allowed Simpson to score for the 3-2 lead.
Jeremiah Estrada escaped a one-out, runners on the corner jam in the seventh inning thanks to the Platinum Glove arm of Tatis. With runners on the corner and one out, Yandy Díaz hit a liner to right that Tatis caught on the run and fired out pinch runner José Caballero at the plate.
With two on and two out in the fifth Adrian Morejon spelled Vásquez, promptly getting a groundout. Morejon has kept five of six inherited runners from scoring this season, as the Padres pen has allowed only 29% of inherited runners to score.
Yet as the bullpen continued to put up zeroes San Diego struggled to get runners on the rest of the way, only drawing a trio of walks the rest of the way and getting one to second base in the seventh on a sacrifice bunt by Iglesias. Robert Suarez allowed a run in the ninth after a leadoff double by Travis Jankowski got converted by Simpson.
Zack Littell (1-5) pitched innings, allowing five hits and two (earned) runs with a strike out and a walk, as Edwin Uceta went 1 1/3 innings for a hold and Pete Fairbanks notched his sixth save of the year.
The RBI by Iglesias was the first by a player in the bottom five of the Padres lineup after a three-game empty stretch following Elías Diaz’s two-run home run in the 2-0 win at Detroit on April 22.
In the six games since Luis Arraez was injured in the series finale at Houston seven days ago, the bottom five batters for San Diego have combined to go 14-for-92 (.163) with three runs scored, four RBIs, eight walks and 20 strikeouts.
Monday is an off day before the San Francisco Giants stop by for a brief two-game series, then the Padres are back on the road for nine straight.
San Diego has Nick Pivetta (4-1, 1.20 ERA) slated to start for the Padres against Logan Webb (3-1, 1.98 ERA) at 6:40 p.m. at Petco Park.