The Padres 9-game East Coast road trip is over, and not a minute too soon. San Diego finished with a whimper, losing to the Rays 2-0 on Wednesday to complete a 3-game Tampa Bay sweep.
The Padres offense has suddenly gone silent. Since beating the Mets 8-6 in New York on Friday the Pads have scored six runs total in their last five games, all losses. On Wednesday, All-Star 1st baseman Wil Myers struck out four times. If you go back to his last three at-bats on Tuesday night Myers has whiffed seven straight trips to the plate.
Rays starter Chris Archer threw 7.1 innings and whiffed nine Padres hitters. Tampa Bay got all its offense in the first inning when infielder Brad Miller, who had three of Tampa’s six hits, hit his third homer in two games, a 2-run shot off San Diego starter Christian Friedrich. After that Friedrich retired eight consecutive Rays before Miller singled. Friedrich went 6.2 innings to take the loss.
The Padres start a four-game set against the Diamondbacks at Petco Park on Thursday night. Paul Clemens gets the start against Archie Bradley. Arizona is just a half game back of San Diego in last place in the National League West.
