Smyly continues hot stretch with 1-hit outing

ST. PETERSBURG — Drew Smyly is trending in the right direction.

Monday night, the left-hander tossed a tidy seven innings to earn his fifth win of the season and notch his fifth consecutive quality start in the Rays’ 8-2 win over the Padres at Tropicana Field.

Smyly allowed one run on one hit in seven innings, which came on a first-inning home run surrendered to Alexei Ramirez. After that, he silenced the Padres, allowing two walks while striking out four. Of the 87 pitches he threw, 57 were strikes.

“Drew was outstanding, to say the least. Just really efficient,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “Kept his pitch count down, got a lot of early outs. Made them put the ball in play. Just another strong outing for him.

“It’s nice to see the turnaround that he’s had, along with some of the other guys in the rotation. Just really pleased with his performance and, obviously, he should be, also.”

Smyly’s last five starts have seen him pitch six innings or …

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