ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ Wednesday's series finale here began inauspiciously for the Tampa Bay Rays, who lost leadoff man Nick Franklin after he was hit in the head by a warmup swing from teammate Kevin Kiermaier. It ended with a sweep.
Franklin drew a walk in the bottom of the first, then exited the game with a head contusion. A few minutes later, cleanup batter Brad Miller clubbed his third home run in four at-bats.
Though San Diego Padres left-hander Christian Friedrich responded, his supporting cast never did. They lost their fifth consecutive game, this by a score of 2-0, and headed for the airport, weary from a 2-7 road trip.
The diagnosis throughout the Padres' three-city trek was a listless offense. Another Rays starting pitcher, Chris Archer, navigated the visiting lineup with ease. San Diego finished with five singles in this defeat and was outscored 25-3 in the series.
Highlighting the offense's woes was its best player. Wil Myers went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts and, in his return to Tropicana Field, finished 1-for-12 with eight strikeouts.
The Padres' most memorable play Wednesday was a diving catch in left field by second baseman Ryan Schimpf, who was filling in for a banged-up Alex Dickerson. Otherwise, the Rays encountered little resistance.
The Padres certainly could use a day off but won't get one until Aug. 25. They are a little more than halfway through a stretch of 16 games in as many days, and to ease some of the workload, they have gone to a six-man rotation.
That adjustment is largely for Friedrich's benefit. The 29-year-old has jumped from 58 1/3 innings out of Colorado's bullpen last season to 94 innings this season, including 6 2/3 Wednesday.
Friedrich paid for an 89 mph meatball in the first. Miller, who homered twice in Tuesday's 15-1 drubbing, walloped a two-run homer.
The same mistake was not repeated. Friedrich retired the next eight batters and cruised into the seventh.
"We're going to continue to watch him, talk to him after the start, see how he feels," Padres manager Andy Green said before the game. "I think from last year he's over that threshold by about 40 innings right now, so we're real aware of that and we're going to make sure we put him in a position to succeed going forward.
"The six-man thing does give him more of a break, so his next start would be on extra rest. I don't know that we're going to say 100 percent he's not starting anymore after this. We told him we'd continue to communicate with him through the process and make sure to put his health at the top of the list."
