The Padres had every reason to feel good walking into this one. They'd won the series opener a night earlier on a walk-off blast and were clinging to the final NL wild-card spot, a one-game cushion that made every game in this set feel outsized.
New York Yankees at San Diego Padres
Sat Sep 54:15 PM PT
By JR·1 min read
TLDR: One night after a walk-off gut-punch in San Diego, the Yankees needed exactly one big inning to flip the script.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 NYY | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 1 |
 SD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
New York Yankees
- 80-61, well clear of Padres in the standings
- Took 2 of 3 from the Angels before this set
- Blitzed Boston 16-1 during that recent stretch
- Aaron Judge still not activated off the 60-day IL
- Grisham hit the IL with a hamstring strain same day
- Lost the series opener here on a walk-off homer
San Diego Padres
- Won the series opener on a walk-off blast
- Sit one game up in the NL wild-card race
- Ray carries a winning record on the year
- Bullpen taxed by extra innings in that walk-off win
- Musgrove, Pivetta and Giolito all still out of the rotation
- Ray's command has wavered in recent outings
Carlos Rodón and Robbie Ray had traded places in the standings all year — Rodón scuffling with control since coming back from injury, Ray a trade-deadline addition trying to hold down a wild-card race — and Saturday's 4:15 PM PT first pitch was supposed to be a step toward stabilizing both.
Carlos Rodón
(6-3)·2.95 ERA
Aug 29 vs Red Sox
L
4.2IP
2ER
5K
1BB
88P
09/05 Lineup
Robbie Ray
(13-8)·3.60 ERA
Aug 30 @ Rays
ND
6.0IP
1ER
4K
3BB
93P
09/05 Lineup
Instead it turned into Ray's rockiest outing in weeks. He didn't make it out of the third, and the state of San Diego's rotation behind him — with Joe Musgrove, Nick Pivetta and Lucas Giolito all still on the shelf — meant there was no easy fix once the Yankees got rolling.