SAN DIEGO (AP) — Blake Snell struck out 12 over six dominant innings in his best outing of the season to lead the San Diego Padres past the Tampa Bay Rays 2-0 on Saturday.
Juan Soto hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth and Manny Machado drove in a run with an infield single after the Padres opened the inning with three consecutive bunts.
Snell (3-6) also fanned 12 in his previous start, a no-decision against Colorado. He mixed his pitches masterfully versus the major league-leading Rays, getting four strikeouts on fastballs, four on sliders, three on curveballs and one on a changeup.
The left-hander gave up just two hits, walked three and worked out of jams with multiple runners on base in the fourth and fifth. He struck out six of his first eight batters.
Steven Wilson and Nick Martinez each pitched a perfect inning before Josh Hader worked the ninth for his 17th save. Hader gave up an infield single to Taylor Walls with two outs, then whiffed Manuel Margot to finish the three-hitter.
Tampa Bay struck out 17 times.
San Diego played small ball against starter Zack Eflin (8-3) in the fifth. Ha-Seong Kim and Trent Grisham opened the inning with successive bunt singles. Fernando Tatis Jr. laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance both runners. Soto followed with a sacrifice fly to center field, and Machado hit an infield single that made it 2-0.
It was the second consecutive loss for Eflin, who gave up three hits and struck out five in six innings. Last time out in Oakland, he permitted four runs in 4 2/3 innings.
With the loss, the Rays dropped to 15-8 in interleague play.
ATTENDANCE RECORDS
The crowd of 43,180 was a Petco Park record for the Padres. It was their 27th sellout of the season, breaking their previous mark of 26 set last year. Entering the day, the Padres were averaging 40,467 fans per home game — second in the majors behind the Los Angles Dodgers (47,800).
UP NEXT
Padres RHP Joe Musgrove (4-2, 4.37 ERA) starts Sunday in the finale of the three-game series. Tampa Bay had not announced a starter.
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