ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- In a 10-start stretch from May 21 to July 18, Tampa Bay Rays left-hander Drew Smyly went 0-7 with a 7.60 ERA.

Over the past five starts, however, Smyly has been unbeatable. He held the Padres to one hit in seven innings Monday, and Tampa Bay opened a 10-game homestand with an 8-2 win over San Diego at Tropicana Field.

The Rays (48-69) won their second straight, while the Padres (50-68) fell for the sixth time in eight games.

Smyly (5-11) threw his fifth consecutive quality start, his only blemish a first-inning solo home run by Alexei Ramirez. The left-hander struck out four and walked two.

"I wanted to go back out, but I understand the decision, and those (bullpen) guys can take care of it," said Smyly, who was pulled after 87 pitches after seven innings with a 3-1 lead.

Since July 23, Smyly is 3-0 with a 2.25 ERA.

"I think this game's full of streaks, hitting and pitching," Smyly said. "You have to ride out the good streaks and try to limit the bad ones. I feel good right now, throwing quality pitches, and I'm going to try to ride it out to the end of the season."

Smyly's season ERA is down from 5.64 in mid-July to 4.85. He has allowed just eight total runs in his past five outings.

Tampa Bay led just 3-1 before exploding for five runs in the eighth. Matt Duffy, making his home debut, singled, and Logan Morrison hit an RBI double. Morrison eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Logan Forsythe for a 5-1 lead.

Kevin Kiermaier followed with a three-run home run, his seventh of the year, to cap the rally against reliever Leonel Campos.

Kiermaier had three hits and two stolen bases, sparking the Rays from the No. 2 hole in the batting order. Forsythe also had three RBIs, two on a go-ahead home run in the second inning.

San Diego's Yangervis Solarte hit a solo home run in the ninth -- his 13th of the season -- off reliever Kevin Jepsen.

Ramirez belted a solo home run as the second batter of the game, his fifth homer of the season, but Smyly rolled from there.

"It was good Alexei got on the board for us in the first inning, and once we got to the bullpen, our at-bats got considerably better," Padres manager Andy Green said. "But we didn't have very good at-bats against Smyly tonight."

Padres starter Luis Perdomo (5-7) needed 29 pitches in the opening inning, giving up singles to Kiermaier and Evan Longoria before hitting Brad Miller to load the bases. With two outs, Perdomo hit Morrison -- fresh off the disabled list -- to bring in a run and tie the game at 1-1.

"The way this team handles down and in very well, it was necessary to throw more breaking balls than usual," Green said. "When he's throwing that sinker and he's on top and driving it down through the zone, which I thought he did the last three innings, it still plays against anybody who has that in their strengths."

The Rays got a leadoff double from Corey Dickerson in the second, then saw Forsythe hit a two-run home run -- his 15th of the season and fifth in 13 games -- to left field for a 3-1 lead.

Perdomo wound up allowing three runs on five hits and three walks with five strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.

NOTES: The Rays got a key bat back in their lineup before Monday's game, activating 1B Logan Morrison from the disabled list, where he had been since July 29 with a right forearm strain. To make room, the Rays optioned RHP Dylan Floro to Triple-A Durham. Floro was 0-1 with a 4.20 ERA in 12 appearances. Morrison was hitting .228 with 10 home runs and 31 RBIs before the injury; he batted sixth Monday as the designated hitter. ... The Padres also made a move, acquiring INF Luis Sardinas from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for cash considerations or a player to be named later. Sardinas was optioned to Triple-A El Paso. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Padres transferred RHP Erik Johnson to the 60-day disabled list. He'd been on the 15-day DL since July 1 with an elbow sprain. Sardinas, 23, was hitting .181 in 32 games for Seattle this season and has a .218 career average over three seasons with the Rangers, Brewers and Mariners.