Rea, Myers lead Padres past Yankees
SAN DIEGO -- Colin Rea allowed two runs over six innings Friday night as the San Diego Padres turned back a four-run, ninth-inning rally to defeat the New York Yankees 7-6 in the opener of a three-game series at Petco Park.
Wil Myers paced the Padres with a two-run homer -- his 12th in his last 27 games -- while Yangervis Solarte reached base in all four plate appearances and rookie Ryan Schimpf added a solo homer.
Rea (5-3) picked up the win while Brandon Maurer earned his first save after the Padres traded closer Fernando Rodney to the Miami Marlins on Thursday, but not without plenty of drama.
Left-hander Matt Thornton started the ninth for the Padres and issued a walk, hit a batter and gave up a run-scoring single to pinch-hitter Alex Rodriguez.
Maurer entered the game and gave up a run-scoring double to Didi Gregorius before Aaron Hick drove in a run with a ground out for the first run of the inning. After Gregorious scored on a wild pitch to bring the Yankees to within a run, pinch-hitter Carlos Beltran doubled to put the tying run at second.
Maurer retired Jacoby Ellsbury and Brett Gardner on grounders to end the game.
The Padres jumped on Yankees starter Nathan Eovaldi (6-6) for six runs on seven hits, including two home runs, in 4 1/3 innings.
San Diego scored three in the first, then got Schimpf's home run in the second and a two-run blast by Myers in the fifth.
Eovaldi walked Myers with one out in the first to trigger the three-run inning. Solarte, who came to the Padres from the Yankees as part of a trade for Chase Headley on July 22, 2014, singled Myers to second.
Melvin Upton Jr. singled home Myers for the first run, and Derek Norris doubled into the left-field corner to score Solarte and Upton to make it 3-0.
After getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the first by retiring Headley on an inning-ending grounder to second, Rea gave up an unearned run in the top of the second. Gregorius singled to lead off the inning, reached second on a passed ball by Norris and scored on a two-out single to right by Ellsbury.
The Padres got their three-run lead back in the bottom of the inning when Schimpf, who was hitless in his previous 13 at-bats to drop his average to .103, pulled a 408-foot drive into the right-field stands for his first major league home run.
Myers followed a leadoff single by Travis Jankowski in the fifth with his 12th homer since June 1 and his 19th of the season -- the opposite-field drive carrying 411 feet.
Rea retired nine straight Yankees before Brian McCann hit his 13th homer, a 412-foot drive, to narrow the Yankees' deficit to four runs at 6-2 in the sixth.
NOTES: Yankees OF Carlos Beltran did not start because of a hamstring injury. Petco Park is the only ballpark in which Beltran has not homered. ... The Yankees opened a 10-game road trip Friday night in San Diego with the next two stops being Chicago (three against the White Sox) and Cleveland. ... The Padres placed RHP Erik Johnson on the 15-day disabled list with an elbow sprain. San Diego recalled RHP Jose Dominguez from Triple-A El Paso and added RHP Paul Clemens, who was claimed off waivers Wednesday. ... Padres manager Andy Green said Brandon Maurer would get "first crack" at the closer role after Padres traded Fernando Rodney to Marlins on Thursday. ... The Padres opened their Hall of Fame structure Friday night and enshrined San Diego native Ted Williams. Williams went straight from high school to the outfield of the Pacific Coast League Padres in 1936.