After giving up 13 runs to San Diego in a lopsided series-opening loss, Tampa Bay returned the favor with an 11-4 win over the visiting Padres on Saturday afternoon.
San Diego appeared to be following up on Friday’s win early on, taking a first-inning lead on Jake Cronenworth’s two-run home run.
The Rays responded by scoring nine runs over the first five innings, highlighted by a four-run outburst in the second inning and a three-run tally in the fourth.
The Rays recorded 13 hits as Junior Caminero hit a three-run home run, Jose Caballero went 2-for-5 with four RBIs, Brandon Lowe went 3-for-5 with an RBI and Josh Lowe went 2-for-4 with an RBI triple.
Caballero scored Caminero on an RBI ground ball in the first, then Lowe kickstarted the scoring in the second with an RBI on a liner to center. Caminero followed up with his three-run home run, his third long ball of the season.
In the fourth, Caballero lined a single to left to score Brandon Lowe and Christopher Morel. Rortvedt then singled to right to score Josh Lowe, making it 8-2.
The Rays were 6-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
Tampa Bay’s Shane Baz (2-2) got the win on the mound. After the two-run first inning, he settled down and didn’t allow any runs. Baz gave up two runs on two hits and three walks, with five strikeouts over five innings.
San Diego’s Randy Vasquez (4-7) was credited with the loss. He gave up nine earned runs on 11 hits and four walks over 4 1/3 innings.
The Padres had 10 hits. Luis Arraez and Mason McCoy each went 2-for-3 with an RBI.
San Diego started to gain some offensive traction late in the game, scoring two more runs in the top of the seventh inning and loading the bases in the ninth inning. Manny Machado initially appeared to drive home a run during the Padres’ effort to keep the game going, but the call was overturned by video review for the final out of the game.
–Field Level Media
