Rays' Smyly dominates Padres
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Drew Smyly held the Padres to one hit in seven innings, and the Tampa Bay Rays opened a 10-game homestand with an 8-2 win over San Diego on Monday night at Tropicana Field.
Smyly (5-11) threw his fifth consecutive quality start, his only blemish a first-inning solo home run by Alexei Ramirez. The left-hander struck out four and walked two.
The Rays (48-69) won their second straight, while the Padres (50-68) fell for the sixth time in eight games.
Tampa Bay led just 3-1 before exploding for five runs in the eighth. Matt Duffy, making his home debut, singled, and Logan Morrison hit an RBI double. Morrison eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Logan Forsythe for a 5-1 lead.
Kevin Kiermaier followed with a three-run home run, his seventh of the year, to cap the rally against reliever Leonel Campos.
Kiermaier had three hits and two stolen bases, sparking the Rays from the No. 2 hole in the batting order. Forsythe also had three RBIs, two on a go-ahead home run in the second inning.
Smyly now has three wins in his last four starts, lowering his season ERA from 5.64 to 4.85 by allowing eight total earned runs in his last five outings.
San Diego's Yangervis Solarte hit a solo home run in the ninth -- his 13th of the season -- off reliever Kevin Jepsen.
Ramirez hit a solo home run as the second batter of the game, his fifth homer of the season, but Smyly rolled from there and the Rays had support behind him.
Padres starter Luis Perdomo (5-7) needed 29 pitches in the opening inning, giving up singles to Kiermaier and Evan Longoria before hitting Brad Miller to load the bases. With two outs, Perdomo hit Morrison -- fresh off the disabled list -- to bring in a run and tie the game at 1-1.
The Rays got a leadoff double from Corey Dickerson in the second, then saw Forsythe hit a two-run home run -- his 15th of the season and fifth in 13 games -- to left field for a 3-1 lead.
NOTES: The Rays got a key bat back in their lineup before Monday's game, activating 1B Logan Morrison from the disabled list, where he had been since July 29 with a right forearm strain. To make room, the Rays optioned RHP Dylan Floro to Triple-A Durham. Floro was 0-1 with a 4.20 ERA in 12 appearances. Morrison was hitting .228 with 10 home runs and 31 RBIs before the injury; he batted sixth Monday as the designated hitter. ... The Padres also made a move, acquiring INF Luis Sardinas from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for cash considerations or a player to be named later. Sardinas was optioned to Triple-A El Paso. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Padres transferred RHP Erik Johnson to the 60-day disabled list. He'd been on the 15-day DL since July 1 with an elbow sprain. Sardinas, 23, was hitting .181 in 32 games for Seattle this season and has a .218 career average over three seasons with the Rangers, Brewers and Mariners.