The San Diego Padres were three outs from stealing a series finale in Tampa. Then everything fell apart in the space of a single play.
The Padres led the Rays 3-1 in the bottom of the ninth on Sunday. Mason Miller, their All-Star closer, was on the mound. He got the first two outs. Then Yandy Diaz launched one to deep left field.
Samad Taylor tracked it. He crashed into the low wall with his glove above the fence. He had the ball. He also had the wall, and the wall won. The ball popped out of his glove and dropped over the fence for a two-run, game-tying home run.
The catch was a full extension effort. The result was a soul-crushing gut punch. The Rays went on to win 5-4 in 11 innings after Jorge Mateo’s bloop single dropped in front of Taylor with the bases loaded.
Tampa Bay swept the three-game series. San Diego walked out of the Trop looking like a wild card team that just gave up any margin for error in the standings.
The Padres are chasing a National League playoff spot in a division where the Dodgers have already run away with things. They are competing with the Cubs, Phillies, and Diamondbacks for the last two wild card spots. Every game matters. This was the type of game they had to have.
Miller’s blown save was not really his fault. The pitch was elevated. Diaz got a good swing. The ball was gone into a small ballpark. What Miller does not want on his ledger is another late-game loss, and he now has one.
Taylor took the loss the hardest. The video of him with his back against the wall in the dugout said everything. Baseball is cruel that way. He made the effort. He almost made the play. He will replay it for the next 48 hours.
The Padres are 74-64 and hanging onto the third National League wild card. The Reds are within a game. The Diamondbacks are within two. Any losing streak now is potentially season-ending.
Manager Mike Shildt has a full lineup to run out over the next month. Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, and Xander Bogaerts have to be the offense. Yu Darvish, Michael King, and Randy Vasquez have to eat innings. Miller has to slam the door in the ninth.
The Trop plays small. That is not going away. The Rays are always going to win a share of games where a fly ball becomes a home run because of the dimensions. What the Padres can control is the missed catch. They have to make that one next time.
September starts Monday. The Padres open a homestand against the Rockies. Get right. Get healthy. Get back to winning series. The wild card is still there. It will not be there for long if they play another game like Sunday.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
