Archer dominates as Rays earn fourth straight victory, sweep Padres
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- Chris Archer and Brad Miller did nearly all the work while the Tampa Bay Rays won their fourth straight.
Archer struck out nine in 7 1/3 innings, Miller hit his third homer in two days and Tampa Bay beat the San Diego Padres 2-0 on Wednesday to complete a three-game sweep.
"That was outstanding," Rays manager Kevin Cash said.
Archer (7-16) allowed four hits and a walk. He's at risk of becoming the majors' first 20-game loser since Detroit's Mike Maroth (21) in 2003, but also leads the AL with 186 strikeouts.
"Baseball's a game where you've got to be on top of your game no matter what the score is," Archer said.
Miller hit his 25h homer in the first inning after going deep twice in a 15-1 rout Tuesday night. He has 11 home runs since the All-Star break.
Alex Colome got the final four outs for his 28th save. He escaped a two-on, no-out jam in the ninth.
Christian Friedrich (4-9) allowed two runs and six hits for the Padres, who have lost five straight and eight of 10. The left-hander is 0-7 over his last nine starts.
Padres slugger Wil Myers struck out in all four at-bats. He also fanned in his final three plate appearances Tuesday.
"It comes down to me," Myers said. "I haven't done anything to really get the offense going. ... I've been not just bad but terrible this last two weeks."
Nick Franklin was hit in the head on deck by a teammate's bat but drew a walk and scored in the first inning before leaving the game with a head bruise.
Kevin Kiermaier smacked the back of Franklin's head with a bat when Franklin bent to grab pine tar in the on-deck circle prior to leading off the first inning. Kiermaier was stretching a few feet in front of Franklin, swinging the bat with a weight on it over his head with one arm. Franklin was wearing a helmet.
"Right when it first happened, I felt a little bit dazed," said Franklin, who passed a concussion protocol test. "Partially it was my fault. I saw him there, I thought I was out of the way and next thing you know I got whacked."
Franklin's head and vision were checked by Rays' athletic trainer Ron Porterfield. Franklin scored on Miller's two-run homer, but was taken out after the inning.
Tampa Bay became the majors' last team to reach one million in home attendance this season with an announced crowd of 10,251.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Padres: OF Jabari Blash (sore knuckle) got the day off. ... OF Alex Dickerson (general soreness) was the designated hitter for the second straight game.
Rays: SS Matt Duffy didn't play after leaving three innings into Tuesday's game due to mild left Achilles tendon soreness. Duffy returned Aug. 12 after missing two months with a strain in the same tendon. "I'm not concerned at all," he said. "Be smart about it." ... 2B Logan Forsythe (back spasms) missed his second straight game.
LONGO'S LINE
3B Evan Longoria played in his 1,236th game with the Rays to pass Carl Crawford for the most in team history. Longoria is the Rays' career leader in a number of categories including homers (232), RBIs (780), doubles (292) and extra-base hits (540).
MOVING DAY
Rays RHP Chase Whitley (Tommy John surgery) completed a 30-day rehab assignment and was optioned to Double-A Montgomery. Expected to be a September call-up, Whitley allowed two runs over 21 innings in six minor league starts.
UP NEXT
Padres: RHP Paul Clemens (2-2) will go against Arizona RHP Archie Bradley (4-8) when San Diego opens a seven-game homestand Thursday night.
Rays: RHP Matt Andriese (6-4) takes the hill Friday night against LHP Cole Hamels (12-4) and AL West-leading Texas.
