Padres lose game to Rays, Luis Rengifo to knee injury

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A loss after coming back to take a lead and then losing a lead and then regaining the lead. That hurts.

Any loss inside a month left in the season for a playoff contender. That hurts.

Saturday hurt more than both those things put together.

“(Expletive) sucks,” Manny Machado said.

“We lost,” Jake Cronenworth said. “But I mean, one of our guys got hurt tonight. So …”

A 7-6 defeat to the Rays was as multi-layered in its devastation as any loss could conceivably be because of all that happened, most of all that the Padres played the final two innings after Luis Rengifo was carted off the field with what appeared to be a serious knee injury.

The Padres announced Rengifo’s injury as a right knee sprain. He was scheduled to return to San Diego for evaluation.

“Obviously, doesn’t look good,” manager Craig Stammen said. “Non-contact injury.”

The loss, which guaranteed the Padres would end the day no better than tied for the final wild-card spot, came after a dizzying sequence of events in the seventh inning of a game that swung wildly.

The Padres took a 3-2 lead in the top of the sixth inning on Ty France’s two-run homer, lost that lead when Junior Caminero hit a solo homer off Walker Buehler in the bottom of the sixth and went up 6-3 in the seventh.

Just as quickly as they had reclaimed the lead and given the three-run lead to the back end of their bullpen, they trailed and were without a teammate who had in a short time had ingrained himself in their quest.

Rengifo was batting .291 with a .794 OPS and had numerous big hits in his 38 games with the Padres.

“He’s been huge,” Xander Bogaerts said. “To be where we are right now, he has a lot to do with that for sure.”

As happened in a five-run fourth inning in Friday’s 9-4 loss to the Rays, an error played a gigantic role in the Rays’ big seventh inning. This error hit differently, as it was charged to Rengifo on the fateful play that almost certainly ended his season.

Padres reliever Bradgley Rodriguez entered at the start of the seventh with a 12-inning scoreless streak and the Padres up by three.

He walked Richie Palacios before yielding singles to Cedric Mullins and Taylor Walls that loaded the bases.

Facing his last batter before he would be pulled, Rodriguez then left a fastball up and over the plate that Yandy Diaz drove to center field.

Jackson Merrill deftly played the ball off the wall and fired it into Rengifo near second base. Mullins had stopped to see if Merrill would catch the ball, and the quick throw to the infield caused Rays third base coach Brady Williams to hold up Mullins at third as Walls continued charging there and had to stop midway.

Rengifo ran toward Walls with the ball as Mullins took off for home. After slowing down and turning slightly toward the plate, Rengifo planted to throw home. As he did, his right knee buckled under him and he fell to the ground. The ball sailed wide and to the wall behind home plate as Walls ran home to tie the game and Diaz advanced to third on what was ruled a single.

Two athletic trainers and Stammen ran  onto the field. Almost as soon as they arrived, athletic trainer Ricky Huerta signaled for a cart.

After about 10 minutes, with his somber-looking teammates gathered nearby, Rengifo was helped into the cart and driven away, as he laid down with a towel held over his face.

Adrian Morejón took over on the mound and was an out away from escaping when Chandler Simpson swatted a single through the left side to bring in Jorge Mateo, who had pinch-run for Diaz.

Rengifo played a role in getting the Padres back on top in the seventh.

He began the inning by turning an 0-2 count into a seven-pitch walk against left-hander Garrett Cleavinger. Dustin Harris then squared twice but failed to get a bunt down before sort of swatting his third single of the game into right field. Fernando Tatis Jr. then laid down a perfect bunt dribbled between the mound and the plate to the left side to load the bases.

After Cronenworth struck out, Machado grounded a single through the left side that drove in two runners. And on the first pitch to France, Machado took off for second base, drawing a throw. Second baseman Richie Palacios stepped up to get the throw but slipped as he fired home, and Tatis slid across the plate well before Palacio’s errant throw got there.

The last of the three runs Buehler allowed was Caminero’s homer leading off the sixth. Kyle Hart took over for him and retired the next three batters.

So after the Padres took the 6-3 lead, they were set up with their back end bullpen trio rested and ready.

“That’s just a blip on the radar for Bradlgey,” Stammen said. “That was one game that hopefully we can forget about quickly and get him back out there, and he can be himself again.”

This loss could end up being recalled as crucial. There are 26 games for that to play out. But Rodriguez’s rough day turned out to be the least of the Padres’ concerns in the immediate sense.

“I think the toughest thing is the emotional part about it when you lose a guy that’s meant so much for our team here lately,” Stammen said. “… You feel for a teammate, you feel for a brother.”