Before we get into the games, some social news:
Also, some minor league news:
Not specified above is that it was a 10-inning no-hitter, and Figueroa threw 144 pitches. Not exactly thrilled one of my prospects got to throw that many pitches, but he does have 70 stamina. I do use the term prospect loosely as Figueroa isn't overpowering and I have my doubts about seeing him at the MLB level, although he was a 4th round pick last year.
Game 1: It was all there, a 3-run lead in the late innings, Thor on the mound, the troika behind him to close it out. And although Jose Alvarado gave up an 8th inning HR to Fernando Tatis Jr. to cut it to 5-3, the Rays got a run back in the 9th on a Keibert sac fly. Enter Will Smith, perfect thus far in save opportunities. Well you guessed it - he didn't have it tonight and blew the save. He threw 28 pitches but could only get one out as he allowed 4 hits and a walk to allow the Padres to score 3 and tie it. Nick Anderson had to come in and bail him out, and he did, getting Manny Machado on strikes and getting Tatis to pop out. So we went to the 10th and Yusniel reached second on Padre SS Allen Cordoba's error, and with men on 2nd and 3rd and a lefty on the mound, Wander was intentionally walked to bring up Austin Meadows. And for the second time in three days an opponent's intentional walk backfired as Meadows got his third hit of the day, a 2-run single to make it 8-6. Jasseel De La Cruz came on to get his first Rays save, and although he walked the leadoff man and threw a pair of wild pitches to get him to 3rd, he notched a pair of strikeouts and a pop up to the catcher to get that save. Anderson picked up win #4. Syndergaard had a fine game and deserved his 17th win, going 7 5 2 2 2 7 and the Rays got HRs from Bohm (again, #31, although he lost out on player of the week to Vlad Jr) and Yusniel Diaz, starting against the lefty Adrian Morejon. Meadows ended up with 3 hits and 3 RBI and Wander had 3 more hits and a pair of stolen bases.
Game 2: Another day, another extra-inning win, another Austin Meadows 2-run single to win it. But the similarities ended there as this was a taut, low-scoring affair in which the Rays prevailed 3-1 in 13 innings. Chris Paddack returned home to San Diego and he was matched up against Michel Baez, one of the frontrunners for the NL Cy Young coming in with a 15-4 record and an MLB-leading 2.14 ERA. He lowered that tonight, going 7 4 1 1 2 7 with his only blemish being a 6th inning HR from Wander Franco, his 29th. Paddack matched him almost pitch-for-pitch and went 6.2 5 1 1 2 8, coming out with 2 on and 2 out in the 7th. Nick Anderson got Manny Machado to fly out to end that threat, and then the two teams' bullpens took over. For the Rays, Ty Buttrey had 2 perfect innings whiffing a pair, Jasseel De La Cruz had 2 scoreless innings, Jose Alvarado struck out 2 in the 12th and picked up win #3, and surprise, surprise, Scott Barlow got the save, his 2nd as Will Smith was unavailable after throwing 28 pitches last night. Of course it wasn't without incident - Barlow gave up a hit and a walk to the first two batters but got a double play and a fly out to hang on. The Rays won the game in the 13th off veteran Arodys Vizcaino, who pitched in their minor league system last year for Durham and Montgomery. After pinch-hitter Seth Beer struck out, Brujan and Wander both singled and pulled off a double steal, and then Meadows singled them both home. In a 1-1 game there were some rough batting lines, but still every Rays starter not counting the pitcher had at least 1 hit except Nick Schnell who had his first really rough MLB game, whiffing 4 times although he did draw a walk.
Game 3: Max Fried contributed with his arm and with his bat to pace the Rays to a sweep of a very good San Diego team (72-42 coming into this series) in their own ballpark with a 7-4 win today. Fried pitched decently enough, going 7 9 4 4 1 5 and confining the damage to a pair of 2-run rallies in separate innings and giving the semi-exhausted bullpen a decent rest. But it was his bat that was key in a 3-run 2nd inning rally that gave the Rays a lead they'd never relinquish. After Ronaldo Hernandez went deep for #7 off Cal Quantrill to lead off the inning, Yusniel Diaz singled and then Fried stepped up and lined a double down the left field line to put runners at 2nd and 3rd. Vidal Brujan and Wander Franco then each beat out groundballs for infield singles to score Diaz and Fried. The Rays tacked on a run in the 3rd on a Nick Schnell RBI groundout, then the big blow came in the 5th when Triston Casas, playing for Alec Bohm today, did his usual going deep thing with a 3-run blast, #9 of the year in only 93 at-bats. That made it 7-2 and although Fried gave 2 back in the bottom of the inning, he settled down to stifle the Padres in the 6th and 7th. Two pitchers who weren't used last night finished it out: TJ McFarland had a scoreless 8th for his first Rays hold, and then Will Smith bounced back after Monday's meltdown to strike out a pair around a walk in a scoreless 9th and pick up save #26. Fried improves to 12-4, 3.60.
Team record: 89-33. Magic number: 15.