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For a guy who insists he’s still trying to regain his form, Scott Kazmir sure is pitching well.
The 2007 AL strikeout champion won his fifth straight start Saturday night, allowing three hits in seven innings to outpitch Javier Vazquez in AL East-leading Tampa Bay’s 2-0 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Saturday night.
“Kazmir was the name of the game. We needed a great pitching performance against Vazquez and we got it,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “I thought he was closer to what we saw at the end of last season today. Really a great effort on his part.”
The 24-year-old left-hander set a Rays record for wins in a month, improving to 5-1 since spending all of April on the disabled list with a left elbow strain that also sidelined him for all but a few days of spring training.
Cliff Floyd homered for the second straight game and B.J. Upton drove in another run off Javier Vazquez (5-4) with an RBI grounder, helping the surprising Rays go 12 games over .500 for the first time in franchise history at a league-best 34-22.
“I feel like I can (pitch better). We’ll take it,” Kazmir said. “It felt like at times I was falling off the mound a little bit … but it was working. I’m getting more and more comfortable every game.”
The third of four games between division leaders drew a sellout crowd of 36,048, up from 12,636 and 14,679 the previous two nights. It was the third full-house of the season, and mostly could be attributed to a post-game concert featuring country music star Trace Adkins.
“I never saw as many people out here,” said White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, who played one season with the Rays in 2000. “It’s real nice to see the fans. They should have cowboy night every night.”
Kazmir limited the White Sox to Alexei Ramirez’s first-inning double and Jermaine Dye’s fourth-inning single until Toby Hall singled with two outs in the seventh. He walked three, struck out six, and didn’t allow a runner past second base.
The Rays’ career wins and strikeouts leader lowered his ERA to 1.22 and hasn’t given up more than one run in any of his five outings since Boston scored four in four innings to beat Kazmir in his first start of the season on May 4.
“Kazmir has been throwing really well. It’s nothing new,” Guillen said. “We continue to struggle at the plate.”
Al Reyes and J.P. Howell pitched the eighth for Tampa Bay. Dan Wheeler, Trever Miller and Grant Balfour each got an out in the ninth to finish the Rays’ seventh shutout.
Balfour, called up from Triple-A Durham this week when closer Troy Percival went on the 15-day list with a hamstring strain, earned his first career save by getting Brian Anderson to fly to center with the potential tying runs on base.
“I have no problem with any of these guys coming in,” said Maddon, who intends to fill the closer’s role with several pitchers while Percival is out. “I think any of them can get the last out.”
Vazquez pitched well, but not as good as Kazmir.
The Rays only managed five hits against the right-hander in seven innings. But Upton’s RBI grounder after Carl Crawford doubled to give Tampa Bay runners at second and third made it 1-0 in the third, and Floyd hit an 0-2 pitch for his fifth homer in the fourth.
Vazquez walked two and struck out a season-high 10, the 34th time in his career he’s fanned 10 or more.
“I knew coming in that I can’t give up much,” said Vazquez, who lost for the first time since he allowed one run in 7 2-3 innings of a 1-0 loss at Toronto on May 5.
The White Sox were 3-for-20 with runners in scoring position and stranded 15 in the first two games of the series, including 1-for-9 when they lost 2-1 Friday night on Floyd’s ninth-inning, walkoff homer.
The struggles continued against Kazmir, who gave up a first-inning double to Ramirez before striking out Carlos Quentin and getting Dye to fly to center. The left-hander picked Joe Crede off second base, bailing himself out of a potential jam in the second.
The White Sox, shut out for the sixth time this season, have not scored in the past 13 innings. They were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position Saturday night.
“The positive thing you can look at on the offensive side is we’re getting guys on,” Crede said. “It’s frustrating and tough. … We might be trying to do too much up there. I think it will come around.”
Xtra, xtra: The sellout was just the 11th in the Rays’ 11 seasons. Seven of them have come since the start of last season. Tampa Bay OF Rocco Baldelli (mitochondrial disorder) went 0-for-5 in an extended spring training game. He remains of the 60-day DL, but hopes to return to the major leagues before the end of the season. White Sox DH Jim Thome, 0-for-10 lifetime against Kazmir, was not in the starting lineup. He pinch-hit against Howell in the eighth, striking out with a runner on second (Associated Press - Sports).
Cliff Floyd rounded third and headed for home plate, where the rest of the Tampa Bay Rays had already begun the celebration.
“They know I’ve been through a tough time early on this year, they know I’m here for everybody, that I just want to contribute,” the 35-year-old designated hitter said Friday night after lining a leadoff homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the AL East leaders a 2-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox.
“Before I went up there, everyone’s telling me to end the game, so I had a little more pressure than I wanted to have. To just contribute to this team, the way we’ve been winning, it makes you sleep a ton better.”
Floyd’s fourth homer of the season—second since coming off the 15-day disabled list following knee surgery—came against Scott Linebrink (2-1). It also ended a stretch in which the White Sox bullpen had not allowed an earned run in 28 innings.
“Linebrink brings the fastball,” Floyd said, “If you go up there looking for anything else, you set yourself up for failure.”
Said Linebrink: “I made my pitch. He went down and got it.”
A crowd of 14,679 saw the Rays win a matchup of division leaders and raise their league-best record to 33-22.
Floyd homered on an 0-1 pitch and enabled Tampa Bay to overcome going only 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. The AL Central-leading White Sox were even worse in clutch situations, finishing 1-for-9 with eight of the at-bats coming in the first four innings.
“This type of game happens when your offense don’t do what it’s supposed to do over the course of nine innings,” White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said.
“The bullpen has been great. We win a lot of games by one run, late in the game. It was a great baseball game. Too bad it ended like that.”
Dan Wheeler (1-3), the fourth Rays pitcher of the night, worked one scoreless inning for the victory.
Starters Jose Contreras of the White Sox and James Shields of the Rays each pitched well.
Contreras limited the Rays to one run and five hits in seven innings. Matt Thornton worked the eighth and Linebrink entered in the ninth.
The Rays took a 1-0 lead on B.J. Upton’s RBI single in the third inning.
Alexei Ramirez homered in the fifth for the White Sox. Shields allowed one run and seven hits in six innings.
Both starters were coming off eight-inning outings in which neither was involved in the decision. Contreras gave up two runs and three hits in a game Chicago eventually won against the Los Angeles Angels, while Shields allowed four runs and eight hits before the Rays scored in the ninth to beat Baltimore last Sunday.
The White Sox squandered scoring opportunities in the second, third and fourth innings before breaking through against Shields on Ramirez’s second career homer.
The Rays bailed their starter out of two jams with double plays, and Chicago wasted a leadoff double by Jermaine Dye in the fourth.
“We need the offense to pick it up and help the pitching staff,” Guillen said. “We had a lot of chances, and we didn’t make it happen.”
The home run was the fifth Shields has allowed in his last three starts. He yielded two in his first nine outings.
Xtra, xtra: With INF Ben Zobrist optioned to Triple-A Durham, the Rays plan to use rookie 3B Evan Longoria as their backup shortstop. Longoria played the position for about 20 games in college at Long Beach State, however manager Joe Maddon stressed he is the team’s third baseman (Associated Press - Sports).
While the Tampa Bay Rays have been the hottest team in baseball, the Chicago White Sox are on a roll of their own.
The AL Central leaders won the first-ever game at Tropicana Field between teams in sole possession of first place in their divisions Thursday night, cooling off the AL East-leading Rays 5-1 before of a crowd of 12,636.
“I didn’t look at it any different than any other game. But deep down you know that they’re winning a tough East and we’re winning a tough Central, and this is a series where we feel like we can really make a statement,” White Sox pitcher John Danks said.
“This team doesn’t lose very much here at home, and we feel like if we can come in here and hopefully sweep this series, we’ll be sitting pretty headed into June.”
Danks (4-4) allowed one run and six hits in six innings to beat Edwin Jackson (3-4) for the second time this season. He pitched seven scoreless innings to beat the right-hander 6-0 on April 20, a loss that left Tampa Bay in last place at 8-11.
The Rays have gone 24-11 since then and entered Thursday tied with the Chicago Cubs for the best record in the major leagues. They’ve won nine of their last 11 series, including six straight at home since the White Sox won two of three games from them here six weeks ago.
“I feel proud of them,” said White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, who played 63 games for the Rays in 2000, when Tampa Bay lost 92 games.
“They’re doing a tremendous job. They have unbelievable talent, they know what they’re doing. They’re going in the right direction.”
Joe Crede and Paul Konerko homered and Carlos Quentin, Jim Thome and Orlando Cabrera also drove in runs for the White Sox, who are making noise themselves with 12 wins in their last 15 games. Danks walked one and struck out eight to improve to 3-0 lifetime against the Rays.
“He pitched well,” Guillen said. “He got himself in trouble a couple of times … but he came out of it.”
Crede hit his ninth home run, a solo shot off Jackson, in the sixth inning. Konerko hit his first homer since April 27—a towering drive that bounced off one of the catwalks that support the roof in the domed stadium—leading off the eighth against Jason Hammel.
Ten of Chicago’s 11 hits were off Jackson, including RBI doubles by Thome and Cabrera. Quentin’s run-scoring single gave him 27 RBIs in May, 48 overall.
“It was a battle all day,” Jackson said. “They’re a good hitting team.”
Carl Crawford had an RBI single in the third for Tampa Bay, which earlier in the day learned it will be without closer Troy Percival for at least two weeks. The 38-year-old was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a left hamstring strain.
The Rays had plenty of other chances, but were 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position against Danks and relievers Matt Thornton and Octavio Dotel.
“We had opportunities to keep that game where we wanted. We just couldn’t get the run,” Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. “Danks has pitched well against us both times we’ve seen him. He’s pitching with a lot of confidence.”
Boone Logan finished up with a scoreless ninth for Chicago, extending a stretch in which the White Sox bullpen has not allowed an earned run to 27 innings over its last nine games.
Xtra, xtra: Rays OF Rocco Baldelli (mitochondrial disorder), who has only played in 127 games over the past four seasons because of an assortment of injuries, went 1-for-5 as the designated hitter in an extended spring training game—his first game action since going on the 60-day DL on March 28. The Rays activated INF Willy Aybar (left hamstring) from the DL. He went 1-for-4 as the designated hitter and scored Tampa Bay’s only run. After the game, the Rays optioned INF Ben Zobrist to Triple-A Durham and purchased the contract of RHP Grant Balfour from the minor league affiliate (Associated Press - Sports).
The Tampa Bay Rays are a hit on the field, if not in the seats.
The surprise AL East leaders won another game Wednesday, with Matt Garza striking out 10 in a career-high eight innings to beat the Texas Rangers 5-3, however sagging attendance continues to be a concern.
Despite being off to the best start in franchise history and beginning the day tied with the Chicago Cubs for the best record in the major leagues, the Rays drew an announced crowd of 10,927.
The first two games of the series drew 12,174 and 10,511, and Tampa Bay is last in the AL with an average of 17,938, third-lowest in the majors.
“I’ve always felt if we’ve built (the team) properly, they will come, and I think we’re doing that very well right now,” manager Joe Maddon said. “Every place I’ve been, whenever there’s been attendance problems, once we get the wins, people will start showing.”
Garza (4-1) allowed two runs and four hits for the AL East leaders, who won two of three from the Rangers to hand Texas its first series loss in over a month. The Rays have won nine of their last 11 series, including six straight at home.
B.J. Upton and Akinori Iwamura delivered RBI singles off Kason Gabbard (1-2), Evan Longoria had a sacrifice fly and Carlos Pena and pinch-hitter Cliff Floyd drew walks with the bases loaded for Tampa Bay, which has won 15 of 20 games.
“The fans are missing some really good baseball,” Maddon said. “Again, having fans in this place will make a difference. Turning this place into `The Pit’ will make a difference. The more they show up, I think the better we’ll play.”
Texas, which led 2-1 after Milton Bradley’s two-run single in the fourth, was 8-0-1 in its previous nine series—the longest string for the Rangers since they were 7-0-3 from March 31-April 30, 1998.
Garza walked two and didn’t allow a hit after the fifth inning. He retiring his last nine batters after walking Josh Hamilton to begin the sixth.
Rays closer Troy Percival got the first two outs of the ninth before leaving with tightness in his left hamstring. Dan Wheeler gave up a RBI single to Frank Catalanotto but finished the combined six-hitter for his first save of the season.
Percival was scheduled undergo an MRI exam and will be re-evaluated on Thursday.
“We don’t know how serious it is,” Maddon said.
Michael Young doubled in the fourth to extend his hitting streak to 14 games for Texas. One inning later, Ian Kinsler’s potential double-play grounder ricocheted off the right shin of second base umpire Chris Guccione for an infield hit that gave him a 13-game streak.
Garza set the tone for the Rays by retiring nine in a row to start the game. He began the fourth by walking Kinsler, then gave up Young’s double that bounced over the wall in left center and Bradley’s two-run single.
“I thought we had him going there for a minute,” Texas manager Ron Washington said. “But he hung in there, and when you looked up, he was in the eighth inning. That’s what good pitchers do.”
The Rays scored an unearned run in the first on Upton’s RBI single and took the lead for good in the fifth when they sent 10 batters to the plate and scored four times, twice on walks with the bases loaded.
Gabbard allowed five runs, five hits and six walks in 4 1-3 innings, including the walk to Pena that snapped a 2-2 tie. Frank Francisco replaced the Texas starter and yielded Longoria’s sacrifice fly and the walk to Floyd that made 5-2.
Rangers pitchers walked nine and yielded seven hits.
“Too many walks,” Washington said. “You know that old saying about walks haunt. They certainly haunted us today.”
Xtra, xtra: Tampa Bay OF Rocco Baldelli (mitochondrial disorder), who is eligible to come off the 60-day disabled list on Thursday, may be close to getting some at-bats in extended spring training games (Associated Press - Sports).
With one big swing, Josh Hamilton put his old team away.
The one-time Tampa Bay prospect hit a grand slam and matched his career high with five RBIs, helping Vicente Padilla and the Texas Rangers cool off the AL East-leading Rays 12-6 on Tuesday night.
Hamilton, the former No. 1 overall pick in the draft whose career with the Rays was derailed by drug addiction and injuries, had an RBI double off Andy Sonnanstine (6-3) in the first. The Rangers avoided a possible late-inning collapse when he added his second grand slam of the season in the eighth off J.P. Howell.
“It felt good … especially in that situation,” Hamilton said. “This is where I started, and it’s my first home run here.”
The five RBIs matched a career best set May 16 against Houston and boosted Hamilton’s season total to a major league-leading 58. He’s also batting .329 with 13 homers after hitting 19 with Cincinnati in 2007, his first season in the bigs.
The 27-year-old outfielder, 0-for-4 Monday in his first game against his old team, is 4-for-6 and has driven in 14 runs with the bases loaded this year.
To hear him, though, his first-pitch homer off a sinker was pure luck.
“I’ve never been more frustrated after hitting a grand slam in my life,” Hamilton said. “I was having so much trouble picking the ball up. When I made contact, I actually closed my eyes for a spilt-second because I thought (the ball) was going to run on me, that it was going to hit me.”
Padilla (7-2) allowed five runs and seven hits in six innings to win his fifth straight decision and stop Tampa Bay’s four-game winning streak. The right-hander walked four and struck out a season-high 10.
Brandon Boggs had an RBI single in the first and a two-run double in the second, when the Rangers scored five unearned runs off Sonnanstine to build a 7-0 lead that Padilla was barely able to protect.
Cliff Floyd and Eric Hinske hit two-run homers for Tampa Bay, which cut its deficit to 7-5 when Padilla got Hinske to ground into a double play in the sixth. Hamilton broke the game open after Ian Kinsler’s RBI single put Texas up 8-5 in the eighth.
“In the seventh inning, I had a good feeling,” Rays third baseman Evan Longoria said. “We hung around long enough. We were going to give ourselves a chance to win the game. Unfortunately, Hamilton comes up with a big hit like he’s been doing and kind of put us away.”
Tampa Bay began the night with the best record in the majors, leading Boston by a half-game in the AL East.
The loss was the second straight for Sonnanstine, who had won five straight decisions before struggling in an outing last week at Oakland. The Rangers were 6-for-12 with runners in scoring position in the first two innings.
The Rays had gone eight games without an error, two shy of the franchise record, before Longoria mishandled Hamilton’s grounder, allowing the first of five runs the Rangers scored with two outs in the second.
Milton Bradley and David Murphy followed with RBI singles off Sonnanstine before Boggs added his two-run double to make it 7-0.
Floyd cut into Tampa Bay’s deficit with his first homer since April 4 in the second. The Rays threatened again in the third, but stranded runners at first and second when Padilla struck out Carlos Pena after falling behind 3-0 in the count.
Sonnanstine settled after the shaky beginning to help the Rays get back into the game. The right-hander allowed two hits over his last three innings, and Tampa Bay trimmed Padilla’s lead to 7-4 in the fourth on Hinske’s 10th homer.
“I thought we had a pretty good chance when it was 7-5,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “The fight was there … the intensity was there. In the end, they got us.”
Xtra, xtra: A moment of silence was observed before the game for former Rays pitcher Geremi Gonzalez, who was struck by lightning Sunday near his home in Venezuela. He was 6-16 with a 4.66 ERA for Tampa Bay in 2003 and 2004 (Associated Press - Sports).
The Tampa Bay Rays have turned the standings upside down.
Scott Kazmir won his fourth straight start, striking out 10 in seven innings to lead the AL East-leading Rays over the Texas Rangers 7-3 Monday night.
Eric Hinske hit a three-run homer for the Rays, who have won 16 of their last 17 home games and at 31-20 have the best record in the major leagues. Tampa Bay is just the second team—joining the 1903 New York Giants—to have the best mark on Memorial Day after finishing with the worst record in the big leagues the previous season (66-96).
“That’s something that I’ve always dreamed about,” said Rays left fielder Carl Crawford, who joined the team in 2002. “We want to keep playing good and be consistent. We know that a lot of people think we’ll probably fade at the end. We just want to try to show people it’s no fluke. We want to try and keep it going.”
While Tampa Bay is 11 games over .500 for the first time, the Rays drew an announced crowd of just 12,174 for the holiday game. Tampa Bay has never won more than 70 games in a season during its first 10 years of play.
“Everything is going our way now,” Rays catcher Dioner Navarro said. “We want to keep doing it for the whole season.”
Kazmir (4-1) retired his first 10 batters, seven on strikeouts, before Michael Young singled to center with one out in the fourth. Kazmir allowed one run and three hits, striking out the side in the first and third innings. He has given up two runs over 26 innings during his winning streak.
“I guess you could say there was too much Scott Kazmir,” Texas manager Ron Washington said. “He kept us off balance with his fastball and his changeup in the zone. He worked fast and hit the strike zone.”
Kazmir missed the first month of the season with a strained left elbow. It was his first 10-strikeout game this year, and 15th overall.
“My slider finally came back,” Kazmir said. “I felt like I was trusting it a little more. Everything felt good.”
Rangers center fielder Josh Hamilton, taken by the Rays with the first overall pick in the 1999 amateur draft, went 0-for-4 in his first game at Tropicana Field. Hamilton is in his second major league season after overcoming injuries and addictions to cocaine and alcohol that kept him off the field from 2003-05.
When he was introduced, Hamilton received a standing ovation and a few boos.
“It felt good,” Hamilton said. “As far as the choices I made, they weren’t great, but I always took time with the fans when I was with the Devil Rays, so I’m glad to get the support.”
Sidney Ponson (3-1) gave up five runs and 12 hits in five innings for Texas, which is 19-11 since April 25. Ian Kinsler had three RBIs, including a two-run homer.
Run-scoring singles by Carlos Pena in the first and B.J. Upton in the fourth put the Rays ahead 2-0, and Hinske homered in the fifth.
“The worst pitch I did was the three-run homer,” Ponson said. “That put the team in a big hole early and we didn’t get out of it.”
Tampa Bay had at least two hits in each of the first six innings, and went 6-for-14 with runners in the scoring position during the stretch. Navarro hit an RBI double in the sixth, and Upton had a sacrifice fly one inning later.
Kinsler had a sixth-inning sacrifice fly and added a two-run shot in the ninth against Gary Glover.
Xtra, xtra: Pena had a ground-rule double in the third when his fly ball landed and stayed on an overhanging catwalk (Associated Press - Sports).
Evan Longoria came up big again.
The rookie third baseman drove in the winning run with a double in the ninth inning, and the Tampa Bay Rays completed a three-game sweep with a 5-4 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday.
“He’s going to keep getting better,” Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. “He’s building his confidence right now. He’s playing with a lot more confidence, especially offensively.”
Carlos Pena drew a one-out walk in the ninth off George Sherrill (1-1) and scored on Longoria’s double to center. Longoria also caused Baltimore problems on Saturday, hitting two homers and driving in six runs in Tampa Bay’s 11-4 victory.
“I love being in that situation,” Longoria said. “I’m looking forward to getting up there and at least getting a chance to win the game.”
The Orioles have lost five of six, and fell into last place in the AL East at 24-25.
Troy Percival (1-0) got the final two outs in the ninth for the win. The Rays are just the fifth team—joining the 2001 Philadelphia Phillies, 1999 Arizona Diamondbacks, ‘92 Orioles and ‘88 Cleveland Indians—to be 10 games or more above .500 to start play on Memorial Day after losing at least 95 games the previous season.
Pena hit a two-run shot during a four-run third as Tampa Bay took a 4-1 lead. Like Longoria, Pena has been a problem for the Orioles: In 11 games against Baltimore, he has five homers and 18 RBIs, and in 38 games against all other opponents he’s hit just five homers and had 11 RBIs.
“We pick each other up,” Pena said. “We’re playing together. We’re playing as a team. It’s a great chemistry, so when you win, it’s so much fun. It’s a blast coming to the ballpark every single day.”
Eric Hinske added a run-scoring single and Dioner Navarro drove in a run with a double in the third for the Rays, who have won 15 of 16 at home. Tampa Bay is 22-9 since April 22, and are 10 games over .500 (30-20) for the first time in franchise history.
“You’ve got to give the Rays a lot of credit,” Orioles manager Dave Trembley said. “They found a way to win.”
Rays starter James Shields allowed four runs and eight hits over eight innings. He struck out three and walked one.
“This team fights to the end,” he said. “I’m just trying to keep them in the game.”
Baltimore right-hander Daniel Cabrera gave up four runs, nine hits, six walks and had one strikeout in 5 2-3 innings.
“My control was not there today,” he said. “When you are behind that is what you get, they will hit the ball.”
Adam Jones drove in a run in the fifth with a double that cut the Orioles’ deficit to 4-2. Melvin Mora, who was 0-for-16 on the current trip, had an RBI single and Aubrey Huff hit a solo homer that tied it at 4 one inning later.
Huff, who started his major league career with the Rays, has three homers and seven RBIs this season against his old team.
Ramon Hernandez put the Orioles ahead 1-0 on a single in the second.
“Our outlook is, sooner or later, this thing is going to turn in our favor,” Trembley said.
The Rays loaded the bases with one out in the first, but failed to score when Longoria flew out to right and Hinske’s drive to left was caught on the warning track by Jay Payton.
Xtra, xtra: Pena is 6-for-16 with three homers and seven RBIs against Cabrera (Associated Press - Sports).
Evan Longoria is off to a strong start in his rookie season.
Longoria homered twice and had six RBIs to lead the Tampa Bay Rays past the Baltimore Orioles 11-4 on Saturday night.
It was Longoria’s first career multihomer game. The third baseman hit a three-run shot during a four-run first, and had a two-run drive in a five-run second. He also hit a fourth-inning sacrifice fly.
“This is just flashes of what he’s capable of doing,” Rays first baseman Carlos Pena said.
Longoria leads the Rays in home runs with seven since his making his major-league debut on April 12.
“I’ve been feeling good in the (batters) box whether or not I’ve been getting results,” said Longoria, who is hitting .241 with 26 RBIs in 39 games.
Pena added three RBIs for the Rays, who are 21-9 since April 22, and improved to a franchise best nine games over .500 at 29-20. Tampa Bay has won 14 of its last 15 games at home.
Edwin Jackson (3-3) allowed three runs and four hits in five innings. The right-hander struggled with his control, walking five, including four of his first six batters, and striking out two.
“It’s one of those days when you feel bad, and you look bad,” Jackson said. “Get that offensive support, it’s definitely a good feeling.”
Jackson had given up one run over 20 1-3 innings in his previous three starts, but got a no decision in each outing when the Rays’ bullpen lost the lead. Tampa Bay eventally won two of those three games.
Orioles manager Dave Trembley held a team meeting and revamped his lineup, giving second baseman Brian Roberts, right fielder Nick Markakis and catcher Ramon Hernandez a “mental day” off. The Orioles scored just one run in their previous three games. Freddie Bynum replaced Roberts as the leadoff hitter, Jay Peyton started in right and Guillermo Quiroz was the catcher.
Baltimore loaded the bases—on three walks—with one out in the first, but failed to score whne Luke Scott hit into a double play. The Orioles have lost four of five.
“We need to start scoring some runs,” Trembley said. “Our pitching, up to today, has been very good. It would be nice to end this tomorrow and build from there.”
Pena had an RBI double and Longoria hit a three-run homer off Steve Trachsel (2-5) to put the Rays ahead 4-0 in the first.
Quiroz got the Orioles within 4-1 on a second-inning RBI single. The Rays responded with five runs in the bottom of the second, coming on B.J. Upton’s two-run double, Pena’s run-scoring triple and a two-run homer by Longoria that chased Traschel.
“I’d say he was more than impressive,” Trembley said of Longoria. “He looked like he knew what was coming at every at-bat.”
Trachsel pitching for the first time since May 9, gave up nine runs and seven hits in 1 2-3 innings. He is 0-4 in six career starts against Tampa Bay.
“I might be tipping my pitches,” Trachsel said. “That’s the only thing I can come up with. If that’s not it, then we’ve got some serious things to figure out.”
Trachsel’s spot in the rotation could be in jeopardy.
“I definitely think that’s something we need to consider,” Trembley said.
Scott hit a two-run homer in the third to pull Baltimore within 9-3. It ended a 31-inning home run drought by the Orioles.
Pena had a run-scoring single and Longoria hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth that extended the Rays advantage to 11-3.
Payton drove in a run with a double in the eighth.
Xtra, xtra: Tampa Bay is 25-14 since Longoria joined the team from Triple-A Durham. Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Rays DH Cliff Floyd snapped an 0-for-16 slide with a broken-bat single to center in the fourth (Associated Press - Sports).
Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon talks all the time about trying to turn Tropicana Field into the “The Pit”—a ballpark that is a miserable place for opposing teams to play.
Well, the surprising Rays seem to be on their way to doing just that.
Matt Garza took a four-hitter into the eighth inning and Carl Crawford snapped a scoreless tie with a fifth-inning single Friday night, helping the Rays beat the Baltimore Orioles 2-0 for their 10th win in 11 home games.
Although attendance in the domed stadium continues to lag (13,635 on Friday night), the Rays improved the second-best home record in the AL to 17-8. They have won 11 of 15 games overall, and their 13 wins in May are a franchise record.
“You need a pitching performance like we got,” manager Joe Maddon said after Garza, Trever Miller and Troy Percival combined on Tampa Bay’s sixth shutout of the season, all of them at Tropicana Field.
The Orioles have been shut out two of their past three games and were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position against Garza (3-1). They’ve been outscored 12-1 during a three-game losing streak and haven’t homered in 28 1-3 innings.
Garza walked four and struck out four before being replaced by Miller with one out and a runner on first in the eighth. After Aubrey Huff’s sharp grounder up the first base line was ruled foul, the Orioles’ designated hitter grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Huff and Baltimore manager Dave Trembley both argued the call with first base umpire Ed Hickox. Trembley returned to the dugout, but was ejected by plate umpire Ed Rapuano while making a pitching change with one out in the bottom of the eighth.
“I understand Ed (Hickox) is human. He makes mistakes and obviously he made one there. You guys want to talk about replay, there’s a classic case right there. I mean it wasn’t even close,” Huff said.
“Honestly, he shouldn’t even need to overturn that. … It was clearly fair from where I was. It’s a ball I’ve hit down that line a thousands times and you think it’s an automatic double, a game changing hit because we have second and third with one out and you never know what could happen.”
Carlos Pena drove in an unearned run with an eighth-inning sacrifice fly, giving Percival a two-run lead to protect for his 14th save in 16 opportunities. The Tampa Bay closer finished the combined four-hitter with a perfect ninth.
The Rays’ sixth home shutout broke the previous team record of five in 1998. Only Cleveland (seven) has more shutouts overall.
“We had to pitch like we did,” Maddon said. “It’s been the formula—good pitching, solid defense, a timely hit now and then, and it seems to be working.”
Baltimore starter Jeremy Guthrie (2-5) was almost as good as Garza, allowing one run and four hits in 6 2-3 innings.
The right-hander limited the Rays to a pair of walks and Dioner Navarro’s third-inning single until Eric Hinske opened the fifth with a single and stole second. Crawford’s two-out RBI single made it 1-0.
Garza rebounded from allowing seven runs and 10 hits in 4 1-3 innings at St. Louis to shut down the Orioles while working out of situations with runners in scoring position in the second, fifth and sixth.
Baltimore wasted Huff’s leadoff triple in the second when he was thrown out at the plate trying to score on Ramon Hernandez’s chopper to first base. After Adam Jones walked to load the bases, Garza got out of the inning by getting Freddie Bynum to ground to second.
“We had Garza right there, had the right guys up, and it just didn’t happen for us,” Trembley said. “That’s a tough part of the game that you’re going through right now, and you’ve just got to find a way to get through it.”
Xtra, xtra: The Rays are featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated this week for the first time in franchise history. “It’s an honor … and hopefully it’s the first of several to come in the future,” Maddon said. “It just indicates to me that we’re moving this thing in the right direction.” (Associated Press - Sports)
From about the time he started driving, Dana Eveland began hearing the comparisons to David Wells.
“If you’re a chubby lefty it always gets you the comparison,” said Eveland, whose back is covered in an “EVELAND” tattoo.
The Oakland Athletics suddenly have found some power—and Eveland definitely did his part by shutting down Tampa Bay’s talented lineup.
Eveland pitched a three-hitter for his first career complete game, Jack Cust homered twice and the A’s avoided being swept at home by the Rays for the first time with a 9-1 win Wednesday.
Jack Hannahan also connected for Oakland, in a game that lasted just 2 hours, 6 minutes. But this was Eveland’s day all the way.
He outpitched Andy Sonnanstine to end a four-start winless stretch as the A’s ended a five-game losing streak in the series. It was Oakland’s third victory in 12 games and ended a three-game skid.
“This is a big win for us,” Eveland said. “We’ve got to win at home. I love seeing these guys swing the bat.”
The A’s have only two complete games this season, and when Carlos Pena popped out to end it, Eveland pumped his fist on the mound. He made sure manager Bob Geren sent him out for the ninth.
Eveland (4-3) struck out five and walked one in an efficient 95-pitch outing, winning for the first time since April 25 at Seattle.
“We couldn’t do anything against them,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “They pretty much spiked us.”
Cust played with Wells and thinks Eveland might throw harder. Eveland struck out Cust in his first at-bat in the initial intrasquad game at spring training this year.
Bobby Crosby broke a scoreless tie with a two-run double in the third and singled twice after that. Hannahan hit a solo homer in the fifth for his third of the year, Crosby then singled and Cust followed with a two-run shot. His sixth homer of the year made it 6-0.
Cust followed another Crosby single in the seventh with a second two-run drive to center, this time off Jason Hammel. Cust came up big after Frank Thomas connected three times over the previous two games.
“Home runs come and go,” Cust said. “You go through streaks when you hit them and you go through streaks when you don’t. Having a guy in your lineup who’s hit 500-plus home runs, he’s going to hit some.”
It was the third career multihomer game for Cust and first since Aug. 14 against the Chicago White Sox.
Eveland wasn’t so focused on his own outing that he couldn’t speak to Cust back in the dugout. The pitcher said, “Way to go, Custie.”
The A’s have homered in a season-high five straight games, getting 10 longballs during that stretch. Thomas hit two Monday and another Tuesday to help get things rolling.
“Frank kind of set the tone there hitting home runs,” Hannahan said.
Jonny Gomes homered leading off the eighth to spoil Eveland’s shot at the shutout, which would have been the first of 2008 for the A’s.
The Rays were trying for their first sweep of an AL opponent in the state of California. They took all three from the Padres in San Diego in 2004. Now, Tampa Bay will head back to Florida for its longest homestand of the season, 10 games at Tropicana Field.
Sonnanstine (6-2) retired the first eight A’s batters before Gregorio Petit’s two-out single in the third. After Hannahan walked, Crosby lined a two-run double down the left-field line for the lead. Emil Brown doubled in another run in the fourth one day after he lost the ball in the lights on Dioner Navarro’s three-run double that led to Tampa Bay’s 3-2 victory.
Fans were still razzing Brown about it Wednesday, though the play was changed from a three-run error to a hit after the game.
Brown doubled again to start the sixth and Kurt Suzuki doubled him home two batters later.
Sonnanstine—who has a knack for being deceptive—struck out a season-high six batters but the right-hander still saw the end to his five-game winning streak, which matched the third longest in club history. He also lost on the road for the first time this year after starting 4-0. He had been 11-3 since last Aug. 15—and only Arizona’s Brandon Webb and Chien-Ming Wang have more wins during that stretch.
“I threw good pitches and they hit them. I threw bad pitches and they hit them,” Sonnanstine said.
The A’s have lost four straight series and things don’t get any easier this weekend, when the World Series champion Boston Red Sox come to town for the second time this year. Oakland will see Jon Lester on Sunday fresh off his no-hitter against the Kansas City Royals on Monday night.
Xtra, xtra: Rays closer Troy Percival wasn’t available to pitch after experiencing some tightness in his hamstring after Tuesday’s outing. Pena, who played 40 games for Oakland in 2002, went 1-for-12 during the series. Tampa Bay LF Carl Crawford got the day off and will rest two full days because the team is off Thursday. “I know historically he’s responded well to two days off,” Maddon said. Gomes moved from designated hitter to LF in Crawford’s place. Gomes, from nearby Petaluma, started for only the third time in 15 games (Associated Press - Sports).
Scott Kazmir insists he is still finding himself after an elbow injury delayed the start of his season.
He sure looked dominant, scraping out another impressive win thanks to one clutch hit.
Left fielder Emil Brown tried to make a sliding catch on Dioner Navarro’s sinking liner in the eighth inning and lost the ball in the lights and it got past him for a three-run double, sending the Tampa Bay Rays to a 3-2 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday night.
“It’s about time the luck’s changing our way a little bit,” Kazmir said. “A lot of things feel better when you’re winning.”
Kazmir struck out a season-high eight batters in his fourth outing, holding his own in a pitcher’s duel between a pair of talented young left-handers. Kazmir has allowed only one run in his last 19 innings.
“It was as good as we’ve seen Kaz this year, and as good as he was at his best last year,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “He had great stuff and he pitched great.”
The Rays have won 10 of 13 and just their third series in 16 trips to Oakland.
Oakland lost for the ninth time in 11 games and in tough fashion for the second straight night after a 7-6 defeat in 13 innings Monday.
Brown said he tried to get low to the ground to have a better view of the ball, but that didn’t work. After speaking to the official scorer after the game to tell his side, the play was changed from an error to a hit.
“There’s nothing I can do about losing the ball in the lights,” Brown said. “The fact those guys had pitched out of the situation is why I’m more frustrated and angry. I was trying my best to get that. I wish I could have.”
Kazmir (3-1), coming off back-to-back scoreless outings, won his third straight start after dropping his season debut at Boston on May 4. He allowed one run on four hits in seven strong innings, walking only one.
“I still feel like there are still steps to take,” he said. “I’m still progressing.”
Dan Wheeler pitched the eighth and Troy Percival finished for his 13th save, leaving him with 337 career saves and five from tying Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers for ninth place.
But he did give up Frank Thomas’ solo homer on a 3-2 pitch to start the ninth, the third home run in two games and sixth this year for the Big Hurt.
A’s No. 9 hitter Rajai Davis singled in Oakland’s lone run in the fifth, and the A’s got a strong start from Greg Smith but couldn’t do enough offensively against Kazmir. Smith lost his third consecutive start and dropped his fourth decision in five starts since beating the Minnesota Twins on April 24 in the Coliseum.
“It’s an outing I can definitely build off. It gives me some confidence,” Smith said. “That’s tough to swallow and it stings a little bit, but the thing about this team is we don’t quit.”
He was through after giving up a leadoff walk to Jason Bartlett in the eighth followed by Carl Crawford’s single. Joey Devine relieved and Bartlett immediately stole third and Crawford advanced on the play on catcher Kurt Suzuki’s error. After intentionally walking Carlos Pena to load the bases, Devine struck out Evan Longoria before Brown had trouble in left.
“The guy was pitching his (tail) off. I was just trying to put the ball in play and make something happen,” Navarro said. “What goes around comes around, I guess.”
Suzuki’s leadoff double in the third was the first baserunner against Kazmir, who then struck out the side. The 24-year-old Kazmir, who began the year on the disabled list with a strained elbow, was last year’s AL strikeout leader with 239 and has 22 so far in 2008. He also was the 18th lefty starter faced by the A’s so far this season, most in the American League.
A’s second baseman Mark Ellis missed his eighth straight game with a strained left hamstring but hopes to be back in the starting lineup for Friday’s series opener against the defending champion Boston Red Sox, following the team’s day off Thursday. Ellis did some running before Tuesday’s game and said he felt better.
Xtra, xtra: Tampa Bay’s B.J. Upton stole his 11th base. Ben Zobrist got the start at 2B for the Rays and Akinori Iwamura got a day off (Associated Press - Sports).
Joe Maddon walked up to Jason Hammel before the game and gave his little-used reliever a pep talk, telling him it was only a matter of time until he contributed after not taking the mound for 11 straight days.
That time came just a few hours later when Hammel pitched three scoreless frames in extra innings to help the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Oakland Athletics 7-6 Monday night behind Evan Longoria’s two-run homer in the 13th.
“I said, ‘Listen I know it stinks but we need you to stay ready because we’re going to need you at some point and you’re going to come through for us tonight,”’ Maddon said. “I did not have that in the back of my mind when I said it to him. He pitched great. He really did.”
Hammel (3-2) said he told his manager he was “pretty near insanity” because of the long layoff, but he handled it just fine once he took the mound to start the bottom of the 10th. He allowed one baserunner in the 10th, pitched out of a first-and-second jam with one out in the 11th and ended his night with a perfect 12th.
The strong outing came at a most tense time, when Hammel knew one bad pitch could cost his team the game.
“I honestly wasn’t thinking about that. I was too excited to be in there,” he said. “I almost forgot what to do. No matter what the score is I’m just supposed to get guys out. I made some good pitches when I needed.”
Eric Hinske also hit a two-run homer for the Rays, who have won nine of 12 and bounced back after two last at-bat losses in St. Louis the previous two days.
This time they were on the positive end of a late-inning win. Carlos Pena led off the top of the 13th win a single off Chad Gaudin (3-3) and Longoria followed with a no-doubt drive that cleared the fence so easily that left fielder Emil Brown never even moved from his position.
It was the fifth homer of the season for Longoria, who is 8-for-18 his last four games following a 3-for-22 slump. Longoria also hit an RBI double in the sixth inning.
“I couldn’t help but think about the way the last two ended,” Longoria said. “It’s always nice to get an extra-inning win.”
The A’s have lost eight of 10, blowing an early 3-0 lead in their first game home after a 2-7 road trip that first baseman Mike Sweeney called “embarrassing.” Oakland rallied to tie this game in the eighth and nearly did it again in the 13th before falling short.
Daric Barton hit a two-out RBI triple that the A’s thought for a moment might have been a game-tying homer before it bounced off the wall.
“We were jumping up and down and wishing it could go out,” manager Bob Geren said.
Troy Percival recovered to get Kurt Suzuki on a foul out to end it for his 12th save in 14 chances. Percival’s 31 career saves against the A’s are his most against any team.
The Rays had lost 30 of the first 36 games they had played in Oakland before Maddon took over as manager before the 2006 season. Tampa Bay has won two of its past three series here and is off to a good start on its first trip to the Coliseum this season.
The A’s, who led 3-0 early, came back from one-run deficits to tie the game in the sixth and eighth innings. Thomas’ second homer knotted the game at 4 in the sixth and Ryan Sweeney hit an RBI single off James Shields in the eighth to make it 5-all. Shields gave up five runs and eight hits in 7 2-3 innings, allowing the two homers to Thomas and a solo shot to Brown in the second.
Thomas’ first homer came in the first inning and ended the second longest homerless drought of his career. Thomas’ two-run shot was his first since connecting against the A’s on April 8 in Toronto, when he was still a member of the Blue Jays. Thomas was released by Toronto less than two weeks later and returned to Oakland.
The stretch of 102 at-bats without a home run was the second longest of his career, following only a 114 at-bat stretch that began late in the 1992 season and ended April 25, 1993. This is about the same time of year Thomas started heating up back in 2006, when he hit 39 homers to help Oakland win the AL West.
“It’s good to see,” starter Joe Blanton said. “He was talking about it in Atlanta. I heard him say he saw some old video and saw something. That’s all it takes is that first one. Hopefully he stays locked in now.
Xtra, xtra: Shields gave up three homers after allowing just two in his first nine starts (Associated Press - Sports).
The St. Louis Cardinals honored Stan Musial in a pre-game ceremony, attaching his name to the street in front of the stadium. Then they made Stan the Man proud on the field.
“It sounds corny, but we talked about it,” manager Tony La Russa said after a 5-4 come-from-behind victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday. “We wanted to play a game that Stan would enjoy.”
Skip Schumaker’s RBI double with one out in the ninth inning over a drawn-in outfield capped a rally from three runs down, helping the Cardinals take two of three from the Rays, who entered the day leading the AL East by percentage points and have won eight of 11 despite dropping the last two in the final at-bat. Ryan Ludwick’s 10th-inning home run was the difference in a 9-8, 11-inning victory on Saturday.
The Cardinals renamed Eighth Street in front of 3-year-old Busch Stadium “Stan Musial Drive” to honor the 87-year-old Hall of Famer, hobbling yet still game while joking his legs were shot from 3,630 hits during a 22-year career, all with St. Louis.
“It was a good win on Stan’s day, that’s for sure,” Schumaker said. “It was a good win for us, too.”
Aaron Miles tied it with a two-run single in the eighth and Ludwick homered for the third time in two games for the Cardinals, who took two of three from the AL East leaders. Rays pitchers issued 10 walks, eight in the last three innings, while losing only their second series in the last eight.
Walks led to all but one of the Cardinals’ runs.
“They were just missing,” manager Joe Maddon said. “I don’t know that they were trying to be too fine, they were just missing. I can’t say we were getting squeezed at all.”
Rookie Chris Perez (1-0) retired the bottom of the Rays’ order in only five pitches in the ninth. The 22-year-old Perez has not allowed a hit in two appearances in two innings since being called up on Friday, when closer Jason Isringhausen went on the 15-day disabled list with a cut on his pitching hand.
“You can’t let things get into your head,” Perez said. “I just go out there thinking it’s any old game.”
Gary Glover (0-2) walked .132-hitting Jason LaRue to start the bottom of the ninth and Cesar Izturis reached on an infield hit with one out before Schumaker lofted a drive over the head of left fielder Carl Crawford. Glover has allowed four runs on seven hits in 2 2-3 innings in four appearances since coming off the 15-day disabled list from shoulder tendinitis.
“I haven’t felt quite as sharp yet, but that’s no excuse now,” Glover said. “By this time, I’ve got to be ready to roll. I just didn’t make pitches today, that was the bottom line.”
Crawford homered and Edwin Jackson ran a scoreless innings streak to 20 before giving up a run while striking out a season-best seven for the Rays. Tampa Bay doubled seven times, one off the franchise record, but squandered a 3-0 lead after five.
Eric Hinske and B.J. Upton drove in a run apiece and the Rays doubled seven times, one off the franchise record.
It was the second straight walk-off victory for the Cardinals. Schumaker has the deciding hit in four of the last 13 victories, including a game-winning 11th-inning homer against the Cubs on May 2.
Ludwick homered off Dan Wheeler for the second straight game, connecting on both pitches he saw from the reliever. Ludwick, who has 11 homers in 119 at-bats, hit a game-winning shot off a hanging slider on Saturday, and he lined a fastball into the visitor’s bullpen to left leading off the seventh to cut the gap to 3-2.
Crawford hit his fourth homer off Mike Parisi leading off the eighth to briefly restore the Rays’ two-run cushion. Miles’ tying hit came off Trever Miller with one out in the eighth.
The Cardinals left the bases loaded in the fifth, sixth and eighth, scoring one in the sixth and two in the eighth. Troy Glaus struck out to end the fifth and Albert Pujols tapped into a force play in the sixth. Paid attendance of 46,392 was the sixth sellout for the Cardinals, who sold out every game their first two seasons at new Busch Stadium.
St. Louis matched a season high with 16 runners left on bases, their third double-digit figure of the homestand. The Cardinals lead the major leagues by a wide margin in runners stranded.
Jackson totaled 15 scoreless innings in two previous starts, but Troy Percival blew the save each time, and this time the Rays’ bullpen coughed up the lead in the eighth. Jackson walked four of the last nine hitters he faced and left after throwing 97 pitches in 5 1-3 innings.
Kyle Lohse, who had been something of a question mark after skipping his bullpen session due to tightness in the back of his throwing shoulder, worked six solid innings for St. Louis.
Lohse allowed three runs, two earned, in his best start of a shaky May after
Xtra, xtra: Dioner Navarro is 11-for-24 in his last seven games, all singles before he doubled in the second. Miller stranded nine inherited runners this season before being charged with a run in the eighth. The Cardinals are 5-1 overall against the Rays (Associated Press - Sports).
A blustery day at Busch Stadium made the ballpark seem a whole lot smaller. In the end, the wind was blowing the St. Louis Cardinals’ way.
Ryan Ludwick got plenty of carry on his game-winning drive off Dan Wheeler in the 10th inning of the St. Louis Cardinals’ 9-8 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday.
“I’m sitting on slider, he threw it and I hit it kind of straight up in the air,” Ludwick said. “But I knew the wind was blowing out pretty good, and I got lucky.
“It got out of the ballpark and thank goodness, it’s a ‘W.”’
Center fielder B.J. Upton may have jammed his shoulder at the wall, grabbing it after coming down empty, but manager Joe Maddon said he was OK.
“It was the first question I asked him, and he said he was fine,” Maddon said.
Carlos Pena’s three-run shot in the seventh inning on a ball to center that seemed destined for the warning track helped the erase the Rays’ four-run deficit.
Ludwick also homered in the fourth and drew a bases-loaded walk and Albert Pujols homered with two RBIs a day after his 42-game streak of reaching base ended, helping the Cardinals win for only the third time in 11 games. The AL East-leading Rays lost for just the second time in 10 games.
“The ball was really carrying in all directions,” La Russa said. “The three-run homer that Pena hit, that’s not a home run here most of the time. Neither was the home run in the 10th.”
Ludwick hit the first pitch from Wheeler (0-3) with one out an estimated 402 feet and just over the wall in left-center for the second winning homer of his career. He has four career two-homer games, including two this season.
Ryan Franklin (2-1) allowed two walks in two scoreless innings.
The Rays erased a pair of four-run deficits behind 18 hits, tying the franchise record, to top their previous season best by three. Pena’s three-run homer off Randy Flores in the seventh made it a one-run game and Evan Longoria’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the eighth off Kyle McClellan tied it.
Matt Garza failed to make it out of the fifth, ending a 10-game run of brilliance for Rays starters in which they combined for a 1.03 ERA. Jason Bartlett singled four times and Crawford and Upton each had three hits.
All that offense was somewhat negated by five runners getting thrown out on the bases, including Upton twice.
“We made up for the minimal amount of mistakes that we had not been making all in one day,” Maddon said. “I’m not pleased with it. We can’t do that kind of stuff.”
Adam Wainwright endured his second straight shaky outing, allowing four runs on 12 hits in 5 2-3 innings while being aided by a pickoff and a runner caught stealing. The Cardinals’ opening-day starter gave up six earned runs in six innings in his previous outing at Milwaukee.
Evan Longoria was picked off first by catcher Yadier Molina to end the first and Crawford was caught stealing to end the second, setting the tone. Upton was caught stealing in the fifth on a nifty play at third by Glaus, who made the tag behind his back and between his legs, and Upton was an easy out trying to advance to third on Longoria’s game-tying sacrifice fly when the throw to the plate was cut off. Gabe Gross was thrown out trying to steal second on a strikeout-double play to end the ninth.
The top of the Cardinals’ order opened a four-run fifth, the biggest in the first five games of a six-game homestand, with three straight hits including an RBI single that Pujols lofted to left for a 4-3 lead. Rays pitchers faced 56 consecutive batters without a walk the first two games of the series before Glaus walked on four pitches to load the bases and Ludwick drove in a run with a five-pitch walk in consecutive at-bats and a second run scored on Molina’s infield hit when Bartlett, the shortstop, made a wild and late throw to second in a force attempt.
The Rays were 6-for-6 with two outs while taking a 3-2 lead before Gross flied out to right with two on and two out to end the third.
Xtra, xtra: Crawford snapped a 3-20 slump his previous five games. Pena has only three homers in the last 31 games after hitting six in the first 11. Garza threw a first-pitch strike to only 10 of 25 batters. Bartlett’s error was only the fourth in 23 games for the Rays (Associated Press - Sports).
Andy Sonnanstine’s strong pitching was no surprise. After carrying a shutout into the eighth inning, the right-hander has won his last five decisions for the Tampa Bay Rays.
It was Sonnanstine’s second-career two-hit game that the St. Louis Cardinals didn’t see coming.
“The guy doesn’t even probably take BP, so you’ve got to give him credit,” Cardinals starter Braden Looper said after the Rays’ 3-1 victory Friday night. “It was pretty amazing. At least I’m not the first one, anyway.”
Akinori Iwamura had three hits and an RBI for the AL East leaders, who are eight games above .500 for the first time in franchise history. Iwamura is on a 9-for-21 tear for the Rays (25-17), who have won eight of nine with two shutouts while outscoring the opposition 38-15.
“I’ll take this eight out of seven days every week,” manager Joe Maddon said.
Albert Pujols was 0-for-4 with two groundouts, an infield popup and a strikeout, ending his streak of reaching base in all 42 games to start the season. It also ended Pujols’ 14-game hitting streak, and he made his first error of the year at first base, muffing B.J. Upton’s soft liner in the seventh.
Sonnanstine said a scouting report from Rays closer Troy Percival, who played for the Cardinals last year, was a big help against Pujols.
“I sat down with Percy before the game and we went over the lineup, and our approach on him was mostly to just keep him in the yard,” Sonnanstine said. “He’s one of the best hitters in the game right now and I’m very happy with the way we went about pitching him.”
Chris Duncan homered and Troy Glaus had two hits, making him 10-for-18 the last four games, for the Cardinals. But St. Louis has lost eight of 10, including three of the first four games of a six-game homestand.
Sonnanstine (6-1) is 5-0 in his last six starts, matching last year’s win total in a 6-10 season. Duncan’s fourth homer with one out in the eighth was the only damage against the right-hander, who yielded one run and eight hits with four strikeouts and no walks.
“Having a guy on the mound that’s competitive is sometimes better than having someone with great stuff,” Percival said. “He really kept them off-balance and that’s hard to do with that kind of lineup.”
Sonnanstine allowed only three other baserunners into scoring position before Percival worked a perfect ninth for his 11th save in 13 chances. Rays starters have a 1.16 ERA in the last 10 games.
Looper, in his second year in the Cardinals’ rotation, threw a career-high 117 pitches while giving up three runs and 10 hits in six innings. The Rays stranded at least one runner in every inning, including two in the fourth.
Looper (5-3) was 0-3 with a 12.56 ERA in interleague play last year and is 6-7 with a 5.57 ERA for his career.
“I definitely wasn’t at my best,” he said. “It could have gotten out of control very fast, so I guess that would be the one positive I’d take out of it. Still, I’ve got to be better than that.”
Sonnanstine is 4-for-8 at the plate for his career after starting a two-run third with a single and also singling in the fourth. Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena had RBI singles in the third. Iwamura added an RBI single for a 3-0 lead in the fourth.
“I’m a man of many talents,” Sonnanstine joked. “I see ball, hit ball. I knew I was going to get some fastballs and I just barreled a couple up.”
Xtra, xtra: Iwamura has six multihit efforts in the last seven games. Rays SS Jason Bartlett was 2-for-4 after missing Thursday’s game because his wife had a complication with her pregnancy (Associated Press - Sports).
Music blared in the Tampa Bay clubhouse and four large, flat-screen televisions mounted around a column in the middle of the room were tuned to the same in-house channel displaying the AL East standings.
The surprising Rays are on top, and the sputtering Yankees are on the bottom. No one was gloating, though.
“I want us to celebrate hard for 30 minutes postgame and then move on. I want us to dwell on a loss for no more than 30 minutes,” manager Joe Maddon said after Thursday’s 5-2 victory dumped New York into the cellar.
“Sometimes I get away from my own rule on the negative side. But I think the guys are handling this very well. It’s the confidence that’s been gained. It’s the momentum that you create. … It’s a feeling that did not exist before, so first of all, you have to nurture it and grow it, and then once you got it, you have to do everything you can to hold on to it because it can go away.”
Scott Kazmir shined in his first start since agreeing to a $28.5 million contract extension, and Akinori Iwamura and Shawn Riggans homered off Ian Kennedy to help Tampa Bay win for the seventh time in eight games.
Kazmir (2-1) allowed three singles in six scoreless innings, even though he’s still trying to regain his form after spending April on the disabled list with a left elbow strain sustained in spring training.
“I’ll take it,” said Kazmir, who also gave up three hits in six scoreless innings in his previous start against the Los Angeles Angels.
“I feel like I’m fighting myself just a little bit. The velocity is not where I want it right now. … It feels like I’m just on the verge. The next start or two, it feels like everything is going to come together.”
Tampa Bay (24-17), which started play in 1998, has been alone atop the division standings for three consecutive days for the first time. The Rays won three of four from New York and have captured six of seven series in building the best record in the AL.
The Yankees (20-22) have lost six of nine and got another shaky performance from Kennedy (0-3), recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre for his sixth start of the season.
Things don’t get any easier this weekend. The Yankees head home to face Johan Santana and the crosstown rival Mets in the opener of the Subway Series on Friday night.
“You face a lot of good pitchers all year long,” manager Joe Girardi said. “He’s one of the best in baseball. That doesn’t mean that you can’t score runs. You’ve got to take advantage of your opportunities.”
New York, struggling with Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada on the DL, was shut out until seventh-inning RBI singles by Derek Jeter and Melky Cabrera off Gary Glover. The Yankees scored six runs in the series, only two off Rays starters.
“We’re much better than this. We can’t start blaming injuries. It’s part of the game,” outfielder Johnny Damon said. “We just have to deal with it, and we haven’t dealt with it the right way.”
Kazmir agreed Wednesday to a three-year extension through 2011, a deal with a club option that could raise the contract’s value to $39.5 million over four seasons. He walked three and struck out three in his third start since returning on May 4.
The 2007 AL strikeout champion threw 100 pitches—59 strikes—and worked out of situations with runners in scoring position in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.
“He threw what, 50 fastballs in a row? And we get one hit. That’s not good,” Girardi said. “We’re a better hitting club than that. They did the things to win three out of four. We did not.” Iwamura hit the third leadoff homer of his career in the first inning, and Riggans added a two-run shot off Kennedy that made it 4-0 in the fourth. Carl Crawford and B.J. Upton also drove in runs for the Rays with sacrifice flies.
Troy Percival pitched a perfect ninth for his 10th save in 12 opportunities.
Kennedy was sent to the minors after going 0-2 with an 8.37 ERA in six appearances, including five starts. The demotion May 4 turned out to be a short one when the right-hander didn’t allow a run in eight innings at Triple-A.
He had given up just two homers in 42 2-3 major league innings before Iwamura hit his fourth pitch of the game into the right-field seats. Riggans hit his third of the season, one pitch after Eric Hinske doubled to right.
Kennedy allowed five runs and five hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out three.
“He was OK, but he needs to do better,” Girardi said. “This is not the Ian Kennedy we all saw last year. We need to find a way to get him back there.”
Xtra, xtra: Rays SS Jason Bartlett was scratched from the lineup to attend to a family matter. He was replaced by Ben Zobrist (Associated Press - Sports).
Hank Steinbrenner vented. Joe Girardi held a pregame team meeting. The struggling New York Yankees responded with a win.
Mike Mussina has seen it all before.
“It helps being here eight years, and knowing this stuff happens a lot,” he said after Wednesday night’s 2-1 victory stopped Tampa Bay’s six-game winning streak and lifted New York (20-21) back within one game of .500.
“There’s huge expectations here, and we have our own huge expectations,” Mussina added. “We haven’t played anywhere close to them. Sometimes you just have to get together and talk, that’s all.”
Robinson Cano went 4-for-4, raising his batting average over .200 for the first time since the season opener, and Mussina (6-3) allowed one run and five hits over 6 1-3 innings to win his fifth consecutive start.
The right-hander improved to 18-7 in 31 starts against Tampa Bay, which held on to its slender lead in the AL East.
Girardi held a 35-minute team meeting before the game, however the manager said it had nothing to do with Steinbrenner’s comments earlier in the day—the co-chairman said the team needs to play harder and smarter.
“Nobody is thinking about any words the owner says while you’re playing. We need to win games,” Yankees captain Derek Jeter said. “Whether or not he said anything, or we didn’t have a meeting, we need to win. Everybody realizes that.”
Cano, who’s batting .205, tied a career high with four hits, including a RBI single in the fourth. Bobby Abreu drove in New York’s other run off James Shields (4-3) with a two-out double in the fifth.
Joba Chamberlain struck out the side in the eighth—and didn’t pump his fist. Mariano Rivera bounced back from allowing the winning run in an 11-inning loss the previous night with a perfect ninth for his 11th save in 11 opportunities.
“We have to go out there and fight. Just don’t give it up,” Rivera said. “If you’re going to beat us, you’re going to earn it.”
Tampa Bay’s loss snapped a franchise-best 11-game home winning streak. But the first-place Rays retained a half-game lead over Boston in the division, thanks to Baltimore beating the Red Sox 6-3.
“It’s one game. Expectations are high. I like it. I like that everybody’s upset tonight,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “We played well. We lost. They beat us, but we have a chance to take the series (Thursday), so we’ve got to be ready to go at that point.”
Girardi declined to offer details about the Yankees meeting except to say it came from his “heart.”
“The effort of the club has been good,” he said. “When you don’t score runs, you don’t look good. We bring energy every day, but the bottom line is it has to translate into wins.”
The Yankees entered Wednesday night losers of five of seven and had only scored two runs in dropping the first two games of the series to the surprising Rays.
Shields is one of Tampa Bay’s top young pitchers and big part of the team’s climb to the top of the standings. He was coming off a one-hit shutout of the Los Angeles Angels, but has struggled throughout his against the Yankees.
Cano’s RBI single broke a scoreless tie, and Abreu’s pop fly down the left-field line dropped for a run-scoring double that made it 2-0. That was all the support Mussina needed to get his 109th win as a Yankee.
Carlos Pena had two of Tampa Bay’s five hits off the Yankees starter, who walked one and struck out four before being replaced by Ross Ohlendorf with a runner on first and one out in the seventh.
The first two batters the reliever faced, Cliff Floyd and Dioner Navarro, singled to break up the shutout. Ohlendorf avoided further damage when Gabe Gross’ hard liner headed for left center was snagged by Jeter, and Floyd was doubled off second base to end the inning.
Shields fell to 0-6 in seven career starts against the Yankees, who also beat him 2-0 in New York on April 6.
“It doesn’t frustrate me. Losses are losses, wins are wins. I’m going to beat them one day,” Shields said. “I think I’ll be here for a little bit, I’m sure I’ll get my share of wins.”
Xtra, xtra: Hall of Fame boxing trainer Angelo Dundee addressed the Rays in the clubhouse before the game. Rays RHP Al Reyes (right shoulder impingement) was activated from the 15-day DL. RHP Scott Dohmann was designated for assignment (Associated Press - Sports).
For a guy who insists he’s still trying to regain his form, Scott Kazmir sure is pitching well.
