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Carlos Pena homered, Edwin Jackson won back-to-back starts for the first time since April and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 on Wednesday.
The Rays won for the fourth time in six road games after losing seven straight away from home earlier this month.
Jackson (7-7) gave up two runs and seven hits in five innings. He walked two and struck out three.
The right-hander had not won consecutive starts since his first two outings of the season, winning at New York on April 5 and beating Seattle on April 10.
Four Tampa Bay relievers each worked a scoreless inning to preserve the victory. J.P Howell pitched the sixth, Grant Balfour struck out a pair in the seventh, Dan Wheeler handled the eighth and Troy Percival wrapped it up in the ninth for his 23rd save in 25 opportunities.
It was the 346th save of Percival’s career, tying him with Randy Myers for eighth on the all-time list.
Making his major league debut, Blue Jays right-hander Scott Richmond (0-1) allowed three runs and seven hits in 5 1-3 innings.
After Carl Crawford put Tampa Bay in front with an RBI triple in the first, Lyle Overbay’s two-run homer in the bottom half put Toronto up 2-1. The homer was Overbay’s seventh.
Pena tied it with a leadoff homer in the fourth, his 18th. Eric Hinske followed with a double, moved up on Dioner Navarro’s single and scored when Gabe Gross hit into a 6-4-3 double play.
Overbay’s homer was the first and only hit the Blue Jays would get with runners in scoring position. They went 0-for-9 in such opportunities over the final eight innings.
Adam Lind went no further after a leadoff triple in the fourth, and Alex Rios and Overbay came up empty with men at first and second in the fifth. Matt Stairs drew a two-out walk but Lind flied out.
John McDonald and Joe Inglett had back-to-back two-out singles in the sixth, but Howell struck out Marco Scutaro to end the inning.
Scutaro started at third in place of Scott Rolen, who plans to skip some games and cut back on his batting practice while undergoing an “extensive” rehab program for his surgically repaired left shoulder. Rolen is in an 0-for-17 slump and is batting .163 (13-for-80) in July.
Xtra, xtra: Crawford’s triple was his fourth in five games. He leads the AL with nine. The Rays set a team record by winning their 21st series of the season. Tampa Bay OF Rocco Baldelli (fatigue) went 1-for-4 as the DH with Double-A Montgomery Tuesday. “He did fine, felt fine,” manager Joe Maddon said. Baldelli will DH again today and take Thursday off before playing the outfield Friday (Associated Press - Sports).
Roy Halladay has learned the hard way that the Tampa Bay Rays are no longer a pushover.
Matt Garza threw a five-hitter for his first career shutout, and the Rays beat Halladay and the Toronto Blue Jays 3-0 on Tuesday night.
Eric Hinske hit his 100th career homer and Evan Longoria added a two-run triple as the Rays beat Halladay for the third time in three games this season.
“Watching them pitch now is a lot different,” Halladay said of the first-place Rays. “They’ve always had good hitters, they’ve always made you work, but usually we got to their pitching. That’s probably the biggest difference.”
Halladay (12-8) lost 6-4 to Garza and the Rays at Tampa Bay on July 19, and dropped a 5-3 decision at Tropicana Field on April 23.
“When you face Halladay, you’re not going to beat him up ever, so you have to pitch well,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “That’s the been the mantra and we’ve got to keep doing that.”
The only other team to beat Halladay three times in a season was the Boston Red Sox, who took three of four from the right-hander in 2007.
Halladay allowed three runs and six hits in eight innings. He walked three and struck out eight.
Garza (9-6), who benefited from three double plays, struck out five and walked one.
“I was able to find a rhythm early and get a lot of quick outs,” Garza said.
The only extra-base hit against Garza was Adam Lind’s two-out double in the eighth, but Brad Wilkerson ended the inning by grounding back to the mound.
“I told (Garza) after the game how hard it is to beat Halladay at home,” Hinske said. “We only scored him one run for the first seven innings and he just kept shutting them down and shutting them down. It was huge for us.”
Garza was acquired by Tampa Bay in an offseason trade with Minnesota. He pitched parts of the last two seasons with the Twins.
Hinske led off the third with a drive that cleared the center field wall but ricocheted off the concrete facing of the lower deck and back into the outfield. Second base umpire Mike Winters signaled no catch, but neither center fielder Alex Rios nor Wilkerson in right chased after the ball.
Hinske trotted around the bases while Halladay waved his arms and yelled until second baseman Joe Inglett ran out and threw home, too late to get Hinske, who sped around third and scored standing up for his 15th homer of the season.
“I kept going because the second base umpire was ruling it safe,” Hinske said. “I thought I saw it hit the facade over the fence and Rios and Wilkerson just stopped, but I wanted to make sure so I kept running.”
The Rays got a laugh out of Hinske’s antics on the basepaths.
“That was the fastest home run trot I’ve seen,” Garza said. “I was like ‘Man, slow down!”’
The home run sprint left Hinske out of breath by the time he got back to the dugout.
“I was gassed,” he said. “I’ve never had an inside-the-park home run, I’ve never even attempted one. I got to third and (third base coach Tom) Foley was waving me, ‘Go, go,’ so I gave it whatever I had left.”
Originally scored an inside-the-park home run, the ruling was changed after the official scorer checked with the umpires and learned that first base umpire Hunter Wendelstedt had ruled the ball cleared the fence.
B.J. Upton drew a two-out walk in the eighth and went to second on Carl Crawford’s single before both runners scored when Longoria tripled off the wall in right-center.
Longoria made two great defensive plays, ranging into foul territory and throwing out Rios in the seventh and Matt Stairs in the eighth.
“He doesn’t surprise me,” Maddon said. “I think he’s going to get better. I don’t think you’ve seen anywhere near what he’s going to look like eventually.”
Xtra, xtra: Garza’s strikeouts all came in a run of six batters during the fifth and sixth innings. The Blue Jays were shut out for the fourth time this season. Tampa Bay OF Rocco Baldelli (fatigue) was scheduled to be the DH today and Wednesday at Double-A Montgomery, then take Thursday off before playing the outfield Friday. Maddon said Baldelli could return “relatively soon” if he suffers no setbacks. “He’s been responding well,” Maddon said (Associated Press - Sports).
A.J. Burnett is off the trade market, and he’s just fine with it. So are the Toronto Blue Jays, who hope Burnett can pitch them into contention.
Burnett (12-9) matched his career-high in wins, Matt Stairs hit a two-run homer and the Toronto Blue Jays won for the sixth time in seven games Monday, beating the Tampa Bay Rays 3-1.
Burnett, who also won 12 games in 2002 and 2005, allowed one unearned run and six hits in seven innings. He walked four and struck out 10. It was the 20th time Burnett has struck out 10 or more in a game, and the fourth time this season.
“He was on tonight,” Carl Crawford said of Burnett. “His slider was nice and sharp and his fastball was hard. He looked like he had his good stuff tonight.”
Asked before the game whether the Blue Jays would deal Burnett by Thursday’s trade deadline, general manager J.P. Ricciardi emphatically replied that the right-hander “is not going anywhere.”
“I don’t want to say never, but someone would really have to blow our socks off now,” Ricciardi said. “Why would we trade him? We’ve worked too hard to get to this point to break up our team in August.
“If we have a good series here we’re right back in this thing. Now we just have to go out and do it.”
Burnett was pleased to hear he’s likely staying in Toronto.
“We’ve got a good thing going here,” Burnett said. “It’s a big series for us right now. The way we’re playing, we don’t think we’re out of it. Let’s make a run at this thing.
“I’ve kind of felt that this is where I want to stay,” Burnett added. “I’ve got a good relationship with everybody here and I’ve kind of felt that I wouldn’t go anywhere. Maybe that’s a big reason I’m pitching the way I’m pitching.”
Burnett can opt out of the final two years of his five-year, $55-million contract after the season, but manager Cito Gaston is hoping he’ll stick around.
“I’d be real happy if he was in spring training with us,” Gaston said. “That’s his choice.”
Burnett has won six of eight starts for Toronto, which improved to 3-7 against Tampa Bay this season.
“I’ve always told everybody that when I’m healthy, I’m going to be good,” Burnett said. “You saw toward the end of last season, I felt really good and I was healthy and my numbers showed.”
Scott Downs worked the eighth and B.J. Ryan pitched a perfect ninth for his 20th save in 22 opportunities.
The Rays scored a single run for the second straight game, both losses. Tampa Bay is 2-9 on the road this month, but manager Joe Maddon remained upbeat.
“I really liked the way we played tonight,” Maddon said. “The way we ran, the way we played defense, little things we did or tried to do. If we keep doing what we did tonight, even though it was a loss, I believe that’s the kind of game that’s going to get us into the playoffs.
Tampa Bay right-hander James Shields lost for just the second time in his past seven starts. Shields (9-7) allowed three runs and five hits in 7 1-3 innings. He struck out five without a walk.
“I didn’t really feel too good before the game,” Shields said. “I cut my bullpen short, didn’t really feel good at all. Once I got out there I felt pretty good.”
Shields cruised through the first four innings, allowing just one hit, but stumbled in the fifth. Rod Barajas led off with a single and Stairs followed with a two-run drive to center, his 11th.
“It was down and away at the knees,” Shields said of the pitch. “He just went out and got it.”
Shields set down 10 of the next 11 batters but was knocked out in the eighth, after a diving B.J. Upton couldn’t reach Brad Wilkerson’s sinking liner. The ball rolled to the wall, putting Wilkerson at third. Joe Inglett chased Shields with a triple over Upton’s head.
Grant Balfour came on and got Marco Scutaro to pop out before Alex Rios lined out sharply to right.
Sloppy defense by the Blue Jays helped Tampa Bay open the scoring in the third. With runners at first and second, Burnett fielded Crawford’s bunt but threw high and wide to third, pulling Scott Rolen off the bag and allowing Akinori Iwamura to slide in safely. One out later, Iwamura scored when Lyle Overbay fumbled Carlos Pena’s grounder.
Burnett kept Toronto’s 2-1 lead intact in the seventh when Upton drew a one-out walk, stole second and advanced to third when Crawford reached on a wild-pitch third strike. Evan Longoria ended the inning by grounding into a 6-4-3 double play.
Xtra, xtra: The Rays designated RHP Gary Glover for assignment Monday. Glover (left calf) was placed on the 15-day DL on July 20. The Rays hope Glover, 1-2 with a 5.86 ERA in 29 games, clears waivers and can be sent to Triple-A. “I think he’s about ready to pitch well,” Maddon said (Associated Press - Sports).
Billy Butler is enjoying his torrid stretch at the plate, even if he isn’t sure why he’s in such a groove offensively.
Butler homered and drove in four runs, Kyle Davies picked up his first victory in more than a month and the Royals beat the Tampa Bay Rays 6-1 Sunday to salvage a split of their four-game series.
Butler, who was sent back to the minors for a month on May 29, is hitting .341 with four homers and 14 RBIs in nine games since the All-Star break.
“When you’re going good, you’re going to produce runs,” Butler said. “I don’t feel like I’m doing anything different, but obviously I’m swinging it better. Maybe, I’m getting more comfortable. I’m not worried about anything.
“Maybe I made some adjustments, but maybe it’s just relaxing and swinging at good pitches. That’s the key to hitting if you can swing at the right pitches.”
Butler hit an RBI double in the fourth and a three-run drive off the left-field foul pole in the seventh on a full-count pitch from Al Reyes.
“It is the first time I’ve seen the guy, so I didn’t feel comfortable going up there and swinging at the first pitch,” Butler said of facing Reyes. “After a while, I saw a lot of pitches off him and saw his timing. I just got a pitch to drive. I feel like I’m a better later count hitter. The more pitches I see, the better timing I get. At that point in the at-bat, I saw every pitch he had.”
The Rays walked David DeJesus intentionally to pitch to Butler.
“You’ve got to earn respect and maybe I did a little bit,” Butler said. “I’m a young player. They’d rather pitch to me than Dave. He’s a lefty and he’s having a good year.”
Davies (4-2) gave up one run and six hits in five-plus innings, getting his first win since June 17 at St. Louis.
Carl Crawford singled in B.J. Upton in the sixth, and Ron Mahay replaced Davies with no outs and runners on second and third. The left-hander struck out Carlos Pena, retired Willy Aybar on an infield popup and got pinch-hitter Jonny Gomes to fly out to left to end the inning.
“I already told Ron wherever he wants to go I’ll buy him food,” Davies said. “He did an incredible job of getting out of that jam. That’s not an easy part of the lineup to go through especially with runners on second and third and nobody out and a two-run game.”
Mahay has allowed just two earned runs in 24 2-3 innings over his past 20 outings.
“I lucked out against a tough team like that, a first-place club, and tough hitters to face,” Mahay said. “I was fortunate enough to get a strikeout and a couple of flyballs.”
Pena hit .419 with four home runs against the Royals this year, but couldn’t come up with a big hit in the sixth.
“We’re not scoring runs when the rally is apparent,” Pena said. “A perfect example was against Mahay. We were looking for the momentum to go our way. Mahay came in and twisted it around.”
Davies (4-2) was 0-2 in his previous six starts after going 3-0 in his first four outings of the year.
Mike Aviles homered in the first and scored on DeJesus’ two-out double in the fifth to give the Royals a 3-0 lead.
Andy Sonnanstine (10-6) allowed five runs and eight hits in 6 2-3 innings for AL East-leading Tampa Bay, which began the day with a two-game lead over Boston. Sonnanstine has lost his last three starts, yielding 14 runs and 22 hits in 19 innings.
“Sonnanstine pitched really well,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “We had chances to score and didn’t get it done. The sixth inning was huge, runners at second and third and did not score. A strikeout is not a good out in that situation.”
Xtra, xtra: Tampa Bay’s Evan Longoria leads all big league rookies with 46 extra-base hits (Associated Press - Sports).
Carl Crawford and the Rays caught a break when Royals left fielder Esteban German crashed into a wall—and Tampa Bay took advantage.
Crawford’s tiebreaking, two-run triple with two outs in the eighth inning came after German couldn’t hold onto a foul ball, and sent the Rays to a 5-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday night.
Crawford drove in Akinori Iwamura and B.J. Upton with his second triple of the game and put the Rays up 4-2. It was the seventh career two-triple game for Crawford and second of the season.
“It feels good to hit the ball hard and get the base hit,” he said. “We really needed it. It feels good to contribute. It’s a big outfield, so if you hit in gap it’s a pretty good chance to get a triple.”
Before the triple, German nearly caught Crawford’s foul ball, but it fell out of his glove when he ran into the wall.
“We got the break with B.J.,” Crawford said. “And the foul ball down the line, I thought the left fielder was going to catch the ball at first and then I was able to get the hit. It seemed like the ball just bounced our way.”
Upton’s double to shallow right eluded second baseman Mark Grudzielanek and right fielder Jose Guillen and probably should have scored Iwamura, but he didn’t run hard enough, which irked Rays manager Joe Maddon.
“I didn’t know it was going to drop, but I knew it was going to be trouble,” Upton said. “I kept running, did my job to get to second and it fell. That was definitely a big break right there. The foul ball CC (Crawford) hit down the line, probably should have been an out, but it’s a tough play with the wall right there. We just capitalized on it. That’s been us all season. You give us a second chance and we normally take advantage.”
Carlos Pena added a home run in the ninth, helping Tampa Bay extend its AL East lead to two games over Boston.
“We love to watch those balls go a long way,” Crawford said.
Al Reyes (2-2) earned the win with a scoreless seventh inning. Troy Percival, who returned from the disabled list Sunday, worked the ninth for his 22nd save in 24 opportunities. He gave up a run on Ross Gload’s leadoff triple and German’s single.
Ramirez (1-1) took the loss. He retired the first eight batters before the Royals’ defense betrayed him.
“As a pitcher my job is to pick up some guys sometimes and I wasn’t able to do that,” Ramirez said. “The pitch to Crawford wasn’t in enough. It caught too much plate.”
Pena hit his 17th homer leading off the ninth. He is batting .393 with four home runs and 11 RBIs against the Royals this season.
Rays left-hander Scott Kazmir, who is 2-4 in his past nine starts, left after five innings with the score tied at 2. He yielded two runs and seven hits, walking none and striking out five.
After a 73-minute rain delay, the Royals tied it in the fifth when Guillen’s single scored Grudzielanek, who had three doubles to match a career high. Guillen was in a 1-for-21 skid with one RBI since the All-Star break before that hit.
Gload’s two-out single in the fourth scored Billy Butler, who led off the inning with a single, with the first Kansas City run.
The Rays scored their first two runs on groundouts. Pena, who opened the second with a walk, scored on Eric Hinske’s groundout. Evan Longoria led off the fourth with a double, his 45th extra-base hit—which leads all rookies. He stopped at third on Pena’s single and scored on Willy Aybar’s groundout.
Royals rookie starter Luke Hochevar held the Rays to four hits and two runs in five innings but did not return after the rain delay.
“I thought he did a good job of mixing and matching his pitches,” Royals manager Trey Hillman said. “He fell behind in some counts, but did a good job of getting back into the count and limited the damage and gave us a chance to win.
Xtra, xtra: Rays DH Cliff Floyd was not with the club. He returned to Clearwater, Fla., where his wife, Maryanne, gave birth to a daughter, Layla. Willy Aybar started as the DH for the 10th time (Associated Press - Sports).
Road victories have been rare for Tampa Bay. Edwin Jackson and the bullpen made sure the Rays got one Friday night.
Jackson surpassed his victory total for last season and the Rays snapped a seven-game road losing streak with a 5-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals.
The Rays, who moved one game in front of Boston in the AL East, won on the road for the first time since June 29, at Pittsburgh.
“It’s so nice to get a road victory,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “If we’re going to get to the promised land, we’ve got to win on the road. We’ve got to do a better job of that. I would say the pitching pretty much got that done for us tonight. Our bullpen was fabulous tonight.”
The Rays are 20-26 on the road.
“Finally,” reliever J.P. Howell said of picking up a win away from home. “We get to kill the road streak, squash that. It started to get a little mental. We started talking about it in the clubhouse. That’s something you don’t want to do. We realize we’re going to have to win home or away. The majority of our games are on the road now, so we better get used to it.”
The Rays play 35 of their final 60 games on the road.
Jackson (6-7), who was 5-15 last season, did not yield a hit until Billy Butler homered to center with two outs in the fifth.
John Buck led off the sixth with a homer, the only other hit Jackson allowed.
Jackson allowed two runs in five-plus innings, walking two and striking out two. Jackson and four relievers held the Royals to four hits.
“I was surprised,” Jackson said of coming out after 74 pitches. “He’s the manager. My job is to do what I’m asked to do. He felt that I needed to come out of the game. Who am I to question? It’s not about to be really selfish. It’s not always about me, me, me. It’s a team game. We won and that’s the most important thing.”
Carlos Pena’s 16th homer with two outs in the ninth gave the Rays a 5-2 lead.
“It gave us a little room to work with,” Pena said of his home run. “A little breathing room is huge for our bullpen.”
It was Pena’s 14th career home run against the Royals.
“You definitely want to play well at home, but playing on the road is what is going to make the difference, I believe,” Pena said. “Wins are the road are going to be incredibly huge. I know the last time things were rough. It’s good to get that out of the way.”
Troy Percival worked the ninth for his 21st save, but gave up a homer to Ross Gload.
“Carlos’ home run gave us a boost in the ninth inning,” Jackson said. “They hit a home run, so it would have been a tie game. That was huge on his part.”
The Royals had two baserunners over the first four innings, but Jackson erased both on double-play grounders.
“We didn’t have too many quality at-bats, other than the balls hit out of the ball park,” Royals manager Trey Hillman said.
Akinori Iwamura led off the game with a single and scored on Evan Longoria’s two-out single.
The Rays made it 2-0 with an unearned run in the fifth. B.J. Upton led off the inning with a double, took third on second baseman Mark Grudzielanek’s throwing error and scored on shortstop Mike Aviles’ fielding error, when he dropped Pena’s line drive.
“It was right at me, started to knuckle and hit off the tip of my glove,” Aviles said.
The Rays made it 3-1 in the sixth when Dioner Navarro, who started the inning with a double, scored on a sacrifice fly by Upton.
Royals right-hander Brian Bannister (7-9), who is winless in five starts since a June 23 victory over Colorado, went 5 1-3 innings, allowing three runs and seven hits, walking one, hitting two batters and striking out one.
“My ball had a little more life and action to it,” Bannister said. “We were in the game all the way. I’ve incorporated some new stuff to get more ground balls.”
Howell worked out of a bases loaded jam in the seventh by retiring pinch-hitter Esteban German on a fielder’s choice grounder.
“We just kept picking each other up,” Howell said of the bullpen. “That’s what was so beautiful about it. It might have been a little ugly, but that’s the pretty part, we kept getting each other’s back. No superstars in that situation, just a win.”
Xtra, xtra: Tampa Bay’s Grant Balfour did not allow a hit in 1 2-3 innings and leads all major league relievers by holding opponents to a .114 average. Friday’s crowd of 31,535 pushed the Royals attendance to 1,019,894 for 51 home games. They were the last American League team to surpass the one million mark (Associated Press - Sports).
Gil Meche promised John Buck he’d pitch a good game if he could shave the catcher’s head.
Buck lived up to his end of the bargain. He has the shiny dome and razor burns to prove it.
Meche followed through, too, though it took a little longer.
Meche pitched seven scoreless innings after a shaky start and Buck drove in two runs after his pregame haircut, helping the Kansas City Royals hold off Tampa Bay 4-2 Thursday night to extend the AL East-leading Rays’ road losing streak to seven games.
“He was begging to do it, promised me he’d pitch good, and I’m a catcher, I’ll do anything to help a pitcher,” said Buck, who opted to keep his goatee to offset the clean pate. “He kept his promise.”
It didn’t look like he would at first.
Bothered by sweat on his arms and hands from the humidity, Meche (8-9) had a miserable first inning, needing 26 minutes and 31 pitches to get out of it. He did it without giving up a run, though, getting Carlos Pena to fly out with runners on first and third.
Meche had a few more problems in the second inning, giving up two more singles, then got into a rhythm—and his arms dry—not allowing a runner past first base the rest of the way.
The right-hander gave up five hits and walked one, beating an AL East team for the first time in seven starts this season.
He had some help, too.
Royals shortstop Mike Aviles ranged far to rob Cliff Floyd of a single, then left fielder David DeJesus took extra bases away from Dioner Navarro with a sprawling catch down the line four pitches later.
“He didn’t start off very good, obviously, way too many pitches, having trouble putting hitters away,” Royals manager Trey Hillman said. “It was really impressive to see him make up for it, getting ahead in the count and staying ahead. It took him three to get it going, but he stuck with it once he got it going.”
Kansas City appeared well on its way to ending a four-game home losing streak after taking a 4-0 lead into the eighth inning. Then it started raining and things got interesting.
Tampa Bay cut the lead to 4-1 on B.J. Upton’s RBI groundout off Ron Mahay. Evan Longoria led off the ninth by hitting Joakim Soria’s first pitch down the line in left for a double. Carlos Pena followed with a single and Floyd made it 4-2 with a sacrifice fly.
That was it for the Rays, though. Soria got Navarro to ground into fielder’s choice, then ended the game by striking out Eric Hinske for his 27th save in 29 chances.
Tampa Bay is hitting .191 with runners in scoring position its last 14 games, including 1-for-5 Thursday night.
“We were trying to get it done all at once,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “More than anything, I would just like to see us get back to our line-drive approach and it’s going to happen.”
Rays starter Matt Garza (8-6) was coming off a solid outing, allowing two hits in 7 2-3 scoreless innings against Toronto.
But he had to follow it with a game against Kansas City, a team he can’t seem to beat no matter what he does.
The right-hander entered with a respectable 3.42 ERA in four career starts against the Royals, but was 0-3. Garza’s tough luck against the Royals continued on a steamy night at Kaufman Stadium, where he allowed four runs and eight hits and walked four in five innings.
“I just kind of felt out of whack,” said Garza, who had no strikeouts for the first time in 45 career games. “It was weird that I couldn’t find a rhythm.”
Kansas City got one run off Garza in the first inning on Mark Grudzielanek’s sacrifice fly, then three in the fourth on a run-scoring single by Ross Gload and Buck’s two-run single.
That was all Meche needed to get comfortable and live up to his promise to Buck.
“I told him after the game, his head’s staying like that for a while,” Meche said. “We’re going to keep shaving that head every fifth day. It was a fun day. I think he looks pretty good like that.”
Xtra, xtra: Tampa Bay’s Jason Bartlett was 3-for-3 in his first game since missing 16 games with a right knee sprain (Associated Press - Sports).
Ben Zobrist had a feeling he was playing in his last game before being sent to the minors. With that being the case, the Tampa Bay shortstop departed in grand fashion.
Zobrist homered and drove in two runs to support a strong outing by James Shields, and the AL East-leading Rays beat the Oakland Athletics 4-3 on Wednesday.
After the game, Zobrist was optioned to Triple-A Durham to make room on the roster for starting shortstop Jason Bartlett, who is expected to be activated Thursday after missing 16 games with a strained right knee.
“I understand,” Zobrist said. “I know the way that is. I’m glad I got the chance to help the team out again today, and glad I could leave on kind of a good note going back down. Hopefully, I’ll be back up here soon.”
Zobrist, the No. 9 hitter, has hit all five of his homers this season in his last 16 games.
“He’ll be back,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “He’s really swung the bat well for us. It’s great for him. It’s great for us.”
Shields gave up three runs, six hits and struck out seven over 8 1-3 innings in improving to 5-1 in his last six starts. Shields’ bid for his fourth complete game of the season ended when Jack Cust doubled with one out in the ninth.
“It was important to get deep into the game,” Shields said. “A 12:40 game, it’s kind of hard to get up for those games. I knew our team was going to eventually score some runs.”
Troy Percival replaced Shields and got the final two outs for his 20th save in 22 chances. It’s the 10th time in his career the right-hander has recorded at least 20 saves.
Tampa Bay is 40-16 at home this year. The Rays are one victory away from the franchise record of 41 home wins in a single season, set in 2004 and matched in 2006.
The Athletics have lost seven of eight, including a 1-5 trip following the All-Star break.
“If there’s anything positive, the pitching was consistent throughout the trip,” Oakland outfielder Emil Brown said. “We haven’t gotten those guys runs, but they’ve kept us in ballgames.”
Jonny Gomes hit a two-run shot and Zobrist homered on the next pitch off Greg Smith in the fifth, giving the Rays a 3-2 lead. Gomes is just 6-for-42 over his last 24 games, but four of the hits have been homers.
“That was kind of a let down for me,” Smith said. “I throw a couple scoreless innings and it gets way from me in the fifth. It’s always disappointing to give up that lead.”
Zobrist added an RBI single in the seventh that extended the Tampa Bay lead to 4-2.
Smith (5-9) allowed four runs and five hits in six-plus innings, dropping to 1-4 over his last six starts.
Brown and Carlos Gonzalez hit consecutive solo homers in the second to put Oakland ahead 2-0. Brown added a sacrifice fly in the ninth off Percival.
“We won one. We were in the position to win two or three,” Oakland manager Bob Geren said. “We ran into some good pitching, that’s for sure.”
Xtra, xtra: Tampa Bay outfielder Rocco Baldelli, sidelined since May 2007 because of lingering hamstring problems and what doctors have told him and the Rays is a mitochondrial disorder that causes extreme fatigue, started in right field Wednesday night for Double-A Montgomery. It’s the first time Baldelli, who had been limited to DH and pinch hitting duties, has played in the field. Smith retired his first nine hitters before Akinori Iwamura singled to start the fourth. He then caught Iwamura leaning the wrong way at first for his 11th pickoff of the season. Shields is 7-1 at home this season. Brown is 2-for-11, with both hits homers, off Shields. Tampa Bay has won 13 of its past 14 series at home. Percival has 344 saves, three behind Randy Myers for eighth place all-time (Associated Press - Sports).
Dallas Braden gave Oakland another strong outing by a starting pitcher and Jack Hannahan helped it result in a win.
Braden allowed one run over five innings and Hannahan hit a three-run homer as the Athletics ended a six-game losing streak with an 8-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night.
“Everybody had a pretty good outlook today,” Oakland manager Bob Geren said. “We’re trying to keep everybody positive. We had a little meeting about that and how to lead by example. We talked about it for about a half hour. The mood, I think, was positive.”
Braden (2-0) allowed four hits, walked four and struck out one. Braden was making his first start of the season, replacing Joe Blanton, who was traded to Philadelphia last Thursday, in the rotation. The left-hander made 14 starts last year, but threw less than five innings in each of his final five starts.
“I just tried to battle and hang in there,” Braden said.
Oakland’s starting pitchers’ have the major’s best ERA at 3.48 ERA,
Hannahan put the Athletics ahead 3-1 in the fourth with his homer off Andy Sonnanstine (10-5). Hannahan is 3-for-8 with two homers against the Rays’ right-hander.
Kurt Suzuki had an RBI double and Hannahan added a run-scoring single during a four-run eighth that made it 7-1. Hannahan’s four RBIs is a career-high.
“It felt good putting up some runs on the board,” Hannahan said.
The Athletics had scored a total of nine runs during the six-game skid.
Sonnanstine gave up three runs and five hits in seven innings. He has allowed four homers in 12 1-3 innings over his last two starts.
“You can’t win them all,” Sonnanstine said. “They had some good at-bats.”
The Rays, who are in first place in the AL East, dropped to 39-16 at home this season. Tampa Bay has lost nine of 12 overall.
Tampa Bay took a 1-0 lead in the third on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by Carlos Pena. The Rays (58-41) are just 16-15 when the opposition starts a left-hander.
“The solution is that we just have to hit better against them,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “Just have to stay with it, hang with it and we’re going to get better at it.”
The Rays went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position. Over the last 12 games, they are 11-for-89 in those situations.
Oakland reliever Brad Ziegler didn’t allow a run in the seventh and eighth to extend his career-starting scoreless streak to 23 2-3 innings, surpassing the AL record of 22 innings set by Boston’s Boo Ferris in 1945, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Since 1900, George McQuillan of the Philadelphia Phillies holds the major league record of 25 innings, which he set in 1907.
“It’s exciting,” Ziegler said. “To be at the top of a league record so early in my career, it’s pretty crazy.”
Xtra, xtra: Maddon and Tampa Bay executive vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman met for around 40 minutes after the game. Among the topics was looking for outside help with non-waiver trade deadline nearing. “We talk about stuff all the time, and we talked about that,” Maddon said. “We talked about about a whole bunch of things. We’re always trying to make it better.” Rays SS Jason Bartlett (sprained right knee) could be activated from the DL as soon as Thursday. Tampa Bay RHP Gary Glover (strained left calf) threw in a simulated game (Associated Press - Sports).
Scott Kazmir is an All-Star who’s beginning to pitch like one again.
Tampa Bay’s ace won for the just the second time in his last eight starts, allowing a season-low two hits in seven innings of the Rays’ 4-0 victory over the struggling Oakland Athletics on Monday night.
“It feels great. I feel like it’s long overdue,” Kazmir (8-5) said after his first start since the All-Star break. “This is certainly something to build on, but it’s just huge that we set the tone for the series with this win.”
After going 6-0 with an 0.88 ERA from May 10 to June 6, Kazmir was 1-4 with a 4.97 ERA over seven starts leading up to last Tuesday’s All-Star game, which he won by pitching a scoreless 15th inning on one day’s rest.
“The Kaz that we saw tonight is the Kaz that everybody used to see,” All-Star catcher Dioner Navarro said. “I know he’s going to keep doing it.”
Rookie Evan Longoria homered for the third consecutive game and drove in two runs, helping the AL East leaders win for the third time in four days following a season-worst seven-game losing streak that briefly dropped them out of first place.
The A’s have lost six in a row for their longest skid since they dropped nine straight from July 6-17, 2007. They’ve been held to nine runs during the slide.
The Rays gave Kazmir an extra day to get ready for his first start since July 13, and the left-hander responded with his longest outing since he went 8 innings to beat Texas on June 6.
“This is really going to boost his confidence going into the next start,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “Oakland is the type of team that will take pitches and try to push up the pitch count, and they’re willing to accept their walks.”
The A’s were limited to Ryan Sweeney’s one-out single in the first and Jack Cust’s two-out single in the fourth, as well as four leadoff walks over Kazmir’s seven innings. The Rays ace struck out nine before relievers Grant Balfour and J.P. Howell finished the combined two-hitter before a crowd of just 12,428.
It was Tampa Bay’s club-record ninth shutout of the season. The weak-hitting A’s have been blanked nine times, second-most in the AL.
“We went to New York, we saw some pretty well-pitched games,” Oakland manager Bob Geren said. “And tonight, Kazmir had a very solid performance.”
Longoria had two hits off Dana Eveland (7-7), an RBI single in the third and his 19th homer in the fifth. Willy Aybar also hit a solo homer off the Oakland starter, who allowed four runs and seven hits in five innings.
Kazmir threw 104 pitches in six innings during his last start before the All-Star break, and the Rays had hoped he wouldn’t be called on to pitch for the AL in New York.
The 24-year-old lefty said he felt fine after throwing 14 pitches and becoming the seventh-youngest pitcher to win an All-Star game, however the team didn’t want to take any unnecessary chances and pushed his first post-break start back an additional day.
“Kazmir has great numbers, and you see why,” Eveland said. “He’s got electric stuff. He throws strikes.”
Eveland pitched a three-hitter for his first career complete game against Tampa Bay on May 21, but wasn’t nearly as effective this time. The left-hander gave up Longoria’s RBI single, Aybar’s homer and Akinori Iwamura’s run-scoring single in the fourth to fall behind 3-0.
Longoria’s homer made it 4-0. And the way Oakland has been hitting lately, that was a lot to expect the A’s to overcome.
Falling to 0-4 on a six-game road trip that began with a weekend sweep at Yankee Stadium, the A’s have now scored one or fewer runs in four of their last six games and 28 times overall—four more than their total for all of last season.
“A rough time right now. We haven’t been able to do much,” Cust said. “We’ve gone through it before. Hopefully, we can get out of it.”
Xtra, xtra: Longoria also homered in three straight games from June 25-27. Kazmir is 5-1 with a 1.68 ERA at home, but 3-4 with a 4.10 ERA on the road. The Rays are 11-for-85 with runners in scoring position over their last 11 games, including 3-for-11 Monday night. Rays SS Jason Bartlett, sidelined since July 3 with a right knee sprain, ran the bases during pregame drills, and may be activated during Tampa Bay’s upcoming road trip to Kansas City and Toronto (Associated Press - Sports).
Toronto turned key hits into a rare road victory.
Alex Rios and Marco Scutaro homered and the Blue Jays avoided a three-game sweep with a 9-4 victory over the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday.
Scutaro hit a three-run homer off Edwin Jackson (5-7) during the fifth to put the Blue Jays ahead 6-4. Rios had a two-run homer in the third and added a run-scoring double during a three-run seventh that extended Toronto’s lead to 9-4.
“It was one of those days where you could relax a little bit,” Toronto manager Cito Gaston said. “We had a couple guys get some big hits and that’s what we have to do win. Rios had a great day. Scutaro got us going.”
Reliever Shawn Camp (3-1) threw 1 2-3 scoreless innings for the win. The Blue Jays won for just the fourth time in their last 17 road games.
Evan Longoria and Carlos Pena had back-to-back homers for the Rays, who dropped to 38-15 at home this season. Tampa Bay took two of three in the weekend series, but has lost eight of 10 overall.
“Two out of three ain’t bad,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “We did not pitch like we normally do today, and that’s why they beat us.”
Carl Crawford hit an RBI grounder before Longoria and Pena launched home runs against John Parrish to give the Rays a 4-3 lead in third. Longoria, who fouled two balls off his left ankle before hitting a grand slam off Toronto ace Roy Halladay Saturday, was the designated hitter instead of at third base.
The Blue Jays went up 3-1 on Rios’ two-run homer in the top of third. Rios has two hits—both homers—in 17 at-bats against Jackson.
Rios hadn’t homered in his previous 71 at-bats, dating back to June 24. He finished 3-for-5 with two doubles.
“It’s great,” said Rios, who has five homers this season. “I don’t have a bunch, but when I get one they’re good.”
Adam Lind had a run-scoring single to give Toronto a 1-0 lead in the second, and also hit a seventh-inning sacrifice fly. He has 19 RBIs in 20 games since being recalled from Triple-A Syracuse on June 21.
Parrish allowed four runs and four hits in three innings.
“I really didn’t think he had his good stuff,” Gaston said. “Physically he’s OK. Location wasn’t there.”
Jackson went 4 1-3 innings, giving up six runs and eight hits.
“It’s a game of mistakes and today they made me pay,” Jackson said. “It was one of those days where it wasn’t my day.”
Tampa Bay activated closer Troy Percival (strained left hamstring) from the 15-day disabled list before the game, and he allowed one hit and hit a batter during a scoreless ninth.
“I didn’t feel any problems,” Percival said. “My mechanics were a little bit off. I’m still able to throw my fastball where I wanted it. I needed to see some hitters in a live situation, and now I feel confident that I can go out there and do what I need to do.”
Xtra, xtra: Tampa bay went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position. Over the last 10 games, the Rays are 8-for-74 in those situations. The Rays put reliever Gary Glover (strained left calf) on the 15-day disabled list. Longoria has 18 homers this season. The only AL rookie to have more on July 20 in the last 20 years was Angels’ slugger Tim Salmon, who had 20 in 1993 (Associated Press - Sports).
Rookie All-Star Evan Longoria paid the price for a memorable moment.
Longoria hit his first career grand slam during a five-run sixth and Matt Garza threw 7 2-3 scoreless innings to help the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays past the Toronto Blue Jays 6-4 on Saturday night.
Longoria has struggled recently, going 3-for-23 with no RBIs in his previous seven games. He broke out the slide in a big way with the bases-clearing drive off Toronto ace Roy Halladay (11-7) to put the Rays ahead 5-0.
“Definitely one of my more prouder at-bats,” said Longoria, who fouled two balls off his left ankle during a 10-pitch at-bat. “He’s a tough pitcher. He was just making pitches. It was all I could do with them until he finally threw the one over the plate I could handle.”
Longoria underwent treatment and had the ankle wrapped after the game, but he expects to play in Sunday’s game.
“Unbelieveable,” Rays first baseman Carlos Pena said of Longoria’s homer. “To keep his focus after hitting himself. I know that hurts. Then come up that huge hit, that says a lot about how good a hitter he is.”
Garza (8-5) allowed two hits—coming on singles in the third by Scott Rolen and Marco Scutaro during the seventh—and struck out six. The right-hander was coming off a start on July 12 when he gave up seven runs and 11 hits in five innings of an 8-4 loss at Cleveland.
“I was just trying to match him (Halladay) and I was able to,” Garza said.
The Rays have won two in a row following a seven-game losing streak. Tampa Bay has a 1 1-2 game lead over Boston, which lost 4-2 to the Los Angeles Angels.
Halladay allowed five runs and eight hits—including seven in the sixth— in six innings. He dropped to 8-2 in his last 13 starts.
“That’s what good teams do,” Halladay said. “They get guys on and when you make a mistake, they capitalize on it.”
Scutaro had a two-run single, Rod Barajas hit an RBI grounder and Lyle Overbay drove in a run with a double in the ninth for Toronto, which has lost seven of eight against Tampa Bay this season.
Dan Wheeler got the final two outs for his fourth save.
Ben Zobrist opened the sixth with a single that bounced over Rolen at third base and then advanced to second on Akinori Iwamura’s bunt single. The Rays loaded the bases when Carl Crawford reached on an infield single that traveled about 45 feet and stopped on the first-base line.
Carlos Pena made it 1-0 with an RBI single, a soft liner into left-center field. One out later, Longoria hit his 17th homer.
Toronto pitching coach Brad Arnsberg was ejected by plate umpire Mike DiMuro in the seventh. Arnsberg was tossed after he went to the mound to talk with reliever Jesse Carlson.
DiMuro also ejected Blue Jays pitcher Brandon League after he hit Dioner Navarro with a pitch with one out in the eighth. Navarro had reached on a bunt single in his previous at-bat, three batters after Longoria’s homer gave the Rays a five-run advantage.
“We were just trying to score runs,” Navarro said.
Rays manager Joe Maddon thinks Navarro was hit intentionally.
“I really disagree with that they did,” Maddon said. “We’ll stop trying to score runs when they stop trying. Maybe in 1922 you wouldn’t do that because nobody could hit a home run. But in the year 2008, people can hit home runs. You see how they came back. Once again in baseball, for me, there are moments when people definitely mentally move at a glacier pace and they really have to get beyond it. It stunk.”
League said the pitch was sinker that got away from him.
“I don’t know what the umpire was thinking,” League said. “It caught me off guard. It was just a weird game.”
Cliff Floyd hit a solo homer leading-off the eighth that extended the Rays’ lead to 6-0.
Xtra, xtra: Singer MC Hammer took batting practice with Tampa Bay principal owner Stuart Sternberg and hit two balls off the left-field wall. Hammer was at Tropicana Field to perform in a postgame concert. Halladay is 9-6 all-time against Tampa Bay. Rays closer Troy Percival (strained left hamstring) threw off a bullpen mound and took part in fielding drills, and could return in the next couple days. Tampa Bay SS Jason Bartlett (sprained right knee) is scheduled to run the bases Monday and Tuesday, and then may go out on a minor league rehab assignment. Upton, who hit .208 in his previous 25 games, was dropped from third to seventh in the lineup. He went 1-for-3 with a walk (Associated Press - Sports).
All the Tampa Bay Rays needed to end their losing streak was a home game.
Ben Zobrist hit a two-run homer and James Shields allowed one run over seven innings to help the Rays snap a seven-game losing skid with a 2-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night.
Zobrist hit his fourth homer of the season off A.J. Burnett (10-9) to give the Rays a 2-1 lead in the seventh. All four of the homers by the ninth-place hitter have come in his last 11 games.
“It felt great,” Zobrist said. “Burnett was pitching a great game. He was just real hard to hit. I was fortunate to get that fastball over the middle of the plate and put a good swing on it.”
Six of Tampa Bay’s losses during the losing streak came on the road. Friday’s victory improved the Rays’ home record to 37-14.
“We’ve been doing it all season here at home,” Shields said. “It’s a great one for us.”
Zobrist’s two-out shot came after third base umpire Mike Everitt ruled Eric Hinske checked his swing on a 3-2 pitch to draw a walk. It appeared on a TV replay that the call was correct.
“The umpire did a good job, he did not swing,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “That’s why we preach the good at-bat and accepting your walks when they’re there. They matter. I know Burnett did not want to do that, and it gave Zoey a chance to do what he did.”
Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston agreed the call was right.
“I think it was a checked swing,” he said. “I don’t think he swung at it.”
Shields (8-6) gave up four hits, two walks and had four strikeouts for Tampa Bay, which started Friday one-half game behind AL East-leading Boston.
Grant Balfour got the final four outs for his fourth save.
Tampa Bay has won 33 of 40 at home since April 22. The Rays are 19-25 on the road.
“There’s definitely a comfort about it,” Maddon said about playing home games. “You can’t deny that. As long as we maintain this kind of intensity and this kind of play at home I believe before the year is over we’ll become a much better road team also.”
Burnett went seven innings, giving up two runs and five hits. He won his two previous starts.
“It’s the only mistake all tonight,” Burnett said of the pitch to Zobrist. “I kept the team in it as long as I could. One pitch determined the outcome of the whole game.”
Burnett has been mentioned in trade speculation, but it appears he will remain with the Blue Jays.
“I don’t see A.J. going anywhere,” Toronto general manager J.P. Ricciardi said before the game.
Toronto has lost six of seven against Tampa Bay this season.
Adam Lind put the Blue Jays ahead 1-0 on a solo homer in the third. He has four homers and 17 RBIs in 18 games since being recalled from Triple-A Syracuse on June 21.
Tampa Bay went 5-for-53 with runners in scoring position over the previous seven games and failed to convert on five more chances during the first two innings. They didn’t have any chances with runners on after that.
Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg talked with his team before batting practice. Tampa Bay finished in last place nine times in its first 10 years.
“We have a chance for an incredible two months,” Sternberg said.
Xtra, xtra: Rays LF Carl Crawford stopped a career-long 0-for-26 slide with a single in the third. Tampa Bay activated RHP Al Reyes (shoulder) from the DL (Associated Press - Sports).
The All-Star break couldn’t come at a better time for the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Rays hope to rest, regroup, then resume baseball’s feel-good story after finishing the first half on a sour note.
Jhonny Peralta drove in three runs and the Cleveland Indians beat Scott Kazmir and Tampa Bay 5-2 Sunday, handing the Rays their season-worst seventh straight loss and dropping them out of first in the AL East.
“I hate what just happened this week, but we’re sitting in a very good spot,” Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said.
The Rays’ skid is their longest since an eight-game losing streak last July. They had won seven in a row to open a five-game lead last Monday.
“We totally massacred our seven-game winning streak,” said Maddon, adding that he’ll meet with the club Thursday before opening the second half with a six-game homestand.
The Indians entered the series having lost 10 straight, their worst streak since 1979, but outscored the Rays 31-8 to extend their home winning streak over Tampa Bay to 13. The Rays have not won in Cleveland since Sept. 29, 2005, and dropped 18 of the last 20 meetings overall.
The Rays, who fell a half-game behind Boston for the division lead, went hitless after the third inning against Indians starter Jeremy Sowers and four relievers.
“We played poorly here,” Maddon said. “We’re not swinging the bats. We pitched less. Defensively, everything was just out of our reach. They outplayed us.”
Peralta’s two-run homer off Kazmir (7-5) in the fifth gave Cleveland a 4-2 lead. Tom Mastny (1-2) pitched two perfect innings to earn the win and Masa Kobayashi, the Indians’ fifth pitcher, worked the ninth for his fifth save.
After Sowers issued a pair of one-out walks in the fourth, he struck out B.J. Upton and Carlos Pena to start a string of the final 17 Tampa Bay batters going down in order.
Tampa Bay took a 1-0 lead in the second despite not putting a ball in play. Sowers walked four, committed a balk, and struck out the side during a strange 41-pitch inning that included Indians manager Eric Wedge’s ejection by plate umpire Kerwin Danley.
After fanning All-Star Evan Longoria, Sowers walked Jonny Gomes. With an 0-2 count on Shawn Riggans, Gomes broke for second as Sowers threw to first and Danley ruled the left-hander balked. Wedge yelled from the dugout in protest.
After Gomes stole third and Riggans also walked, Wedge questioned Danley’s strike zone, too, and was tossed for the third time this season.
Sowers fanned Ben Zobrist, then walked both Gabe Gross and Akinori Iwamura to force in a run.
“The umpire had a pretty tough strike zone, but I have to do a better job earlier in the game of earning the zone,” Sowers said. “It was a pretty bizarre inning.”
Riggans’ RBI single in the third made it 2-0 but Cleveland tied it in the bottom half. Franklin Gutierrez singled off Longoria’s glove at third, took third on Jamey Carroll’s one-out single, and scored on Ben Francisco’s base hit to right. Peralta drove in Carroll with a sacrifice fly.
All-Star Grady Sizemore opened the Indians’ fifth with a walk and scored on Peralta’s two-out homer, the shortstop’s 16th of the season and fourth in seven games.
Andy Marte made it 5-2 with a leadoff homer in the sixth.
“We played some pretty good baseball the last four days against a very good team,” Wedge said.
Sowers had the oddest outing of his young career. The left-hander gave up three hits and two runs over four innings, setting career highs of seven walks and eight strikeouts. In his first 196 innings in the majors, the first-round pick in the 2004 draft had only 53 walks and 77 strikeouts.
Kazmir, one of Tampa Bay’s three All-Stars, gave up five runs and eight hits over six innings, dropping to 1-4 in his last seven starts since June 11 following a six-game winning streak.
“It’s been a great first half,” Kazmir said. “There are going to be times like this in a season. We’re going to go through a bump or a slow stage, but we have to be able to bounce back. We have to not dwell on this.”
Xtra, xtra: Tampa Bay is 36-14 and 19-25 on the road. According to Elias Sports Bureau, the Indians’ home winning streak over Tampa Bay is the longest current one of its kind in the majors. The Indians defeated the Detroit Tigers 15 straight in Cleveland from 1994 to 1997. Rays OF Carl Crawford, in the worst hitless streak of his career (0-for-25) didn’t play. Rays DH Willy Aybar went 0-for-3 and is in a 1-for-16 skid (Associated Press - Sports).
Tampa Bay’s latest loss was Matt Ginter’s first big league win in more than four years.
The good news for the Rays is they finally score some runs in Cleveland.
Ginter pitched five-hit ball for five innings, Ryan Garko got his first extra-base hit in more than a month and had five RBIs and the Indians handed Tampa Bay its season-high sixth straight loss Saturday night, 8-4.
Tampa Bay has seen its AL East lead of five games dwindle to a half game over Boston.
The Rays were scoreless for 22 innings over three games in Cleveland until Cliff Floyd delivered a two-run single with two outs in the eighth inning off reliever Juan Rincon. All-Star Dioner Navarro doubled home two more off Masa Kobayashi to make it 7-4.
“Hopefully, that (rally) breaks it open for tomorrow,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “We had the fight to come back.”
All-Star Grady Sizemore hit his AL-leading 23rd homer for Cleveland, which has dominated the Rays at home since they dropped two of three games to Tampa Bay to fall out of the 2005 AL Central race. Tampa Bay is 0-12 at Progressive Field since then.
Ginter (1-0) had not pitched in the majors since a week before that series against the then Devil Rays. The right-hander’s contract was purchased by the Indians from their Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo on Saturday. Cleveland needed a starter to take the rotation spot vacated by CC Sabathia, who was traded to Milwaukee on Monday for four prospects.
“It was just a great effort,” Indians manager Eric Wedge said of the 30-year-old, who was 6-6 with a 4.14 ERA at Buffalo. “He’s been throwing the ball very well the last month. Tonight, he used all his pitches.”
Ginter, 5-2 over his last 10 starts in the minors, did not walk a batter. He also tied a career high with five strikeouts in his first big league start since Sept. 18, 2005, for Detroit. He last won with the New York Mets on May 21, 2004, and hadn’t beaten an AL club since a win at Cleveland on July 26, 2001, for the Chicago White Sox.
“You’ve got a uniform on, you’ve got a chance,” Ginter said of his long wait to get back to the bigs. “I left 17 tickets for family and friends and it was rewarding to do well.”
Garko snapped a 9-for-61 (.148) slump with a two-run homer in the second and three-run double in the third off Matt Garza (7-5).
With two outs and David Dellucci on first after a single, Garko hit a high fastball over the center of the plate into the left-field seats for his seventh homer.
“Garza’s got a good sinker and you have to take advantage of a mistake because he doesn’t make many,” Garko said of his first extra-base hit in 82 at-bats since a three-run homer at Detroit on June 9.
Garko didn’t play in the first two games against the Rays.
“I didn’t just sit around reading magazines,” the first baseman said. “I put in a lot of work with (hitting coach) Derek Shelton. I had hit some line drives even before that, but they went right at somebody. It feels good to finally get some results.”
Franklin Gutierrez then singled for his first hit since June 15, breaking an 0-for-32 streak. He scored on Sizemore’s homer to center for a 4-0 lead.
Singles by Jhonny Peralta, Casey Blake and Dellucci loaded the bases to open the third. With one out, Garko sent a blooper to right-center that fell for a three-run double. Both Gabe Gross in center and Eric Hinske in right dived for the ball, which bounced between them as they slid along the grass, still moist from a mid-afternoon rain.
Tampa Bay must win Sunday to complete the first half with the majors’ best record at the All-Star break after having the worst record a year ago.
“Collectively, we’re not getting it done,” Floyd said. “Hopefully, this is a good learning experience for us.”
The Rays could become the fourth team to be in first place at the break a year after having the worst overall record. Philadelphia and the Chicago Cubs did it in 2001, as did the 1989 Baltimore Orioles.
“I’m not worried about the break,” Maddon said. “It would be nice to get a win before it.”
Xtra, xtra: 3B Evan Longoria was the only right-handed hitter to start for the Rays. OF B.J. Upton, in a 7-for-34 slump, was rested. “I think he’s pressing a bit,” Maddon said. Rays RHP Troy Percival (strained left hamstring) threw 26 pitches off the mound Saturday. Rays RHP Al Reyes (shoulder tendinitis) is scheduled to pitch on a minor-league rehab assignment both Sunday and Monday (Associated Press - Sports).
Cliff Lee is going to the All-Star game on another shutout streak.
Cleveland’s left-hander pitched six stellar innings in a warmup for a possible All-Star start at Yankee Stadium as the Indians defeated Tampa Bay 5-0 on Friday night to extend the Rays’ season-high losing streak to five games.
“I’m just happy to be going,” Lee (12-2) said of being selected to the AL squad for the first time. “If they choose me to start, I’d be ecstatic and honored. I’m just planning to show up and try to do all I can to help my team win.”
That’s exactly what Lee did against Tampa Bay, joining Joe Saunders of the Los Angeles Angels for the AL lead in wins while lowering his ERA to 2.31.
“He’s deserving of (an All-Star) start,” Indians manager Eric Wedge said.
Jhonny Peralta hit a two-run homer and RBI double off James Shields (7-6) as the Indians beat the Rays in Cleveland for the 11th consecutive time since Sept. 29, 2005.
The Indians entered the four-game series on a 10-game losing streak—their longest in 29 years—but have claimed consecutive wins for the first time since June 26-27.
“It’s surely messing up our seven-game winning streak,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said.
Tampa Bay had won seven a row to open a five-game lead in the AL East on July 6. A 10-inning loss Monday to Kansas City started the Rays on their current slide, in which they’ve been outscored 32-7 and had their lead trimmed to 1 1/2 games over the Boston Red Sox.
“I’m not concerned,” Maddon said. “We’ll get through this. You’re not going to be void of these moments in a season. They’re going to happen.”
Lee allowed five hits and struck out seven, improving to 5-0 with a 1.62 ERA in seven home starts. It was the sixth time in 18 starts he didn’t allow an earned run.
His only walk was to Akinori Iwamura to start the game—his second to a left-handed batter in 124 2-3 innings this season. Lee then struck out the next three batters.
Tampa Bay put its leadoff hitter on base each time through four innings.
“I seemed to pitch better out of the stretch all night,” Lee said. “I’ve had a good first half, but I also got some breaks and there’s a lot of things I could do better. Not allowing the first guy in an inning to reach all the time would be good.”
Shields, seeking to win his fourth straight start, instead gave up five runs and 10 hits over six innings.
“I felt I pitched well,” Shields said. “I can count four hits that easily could be outs. That’s going to happen. It’s part of the game. I probably made about four bad pitches.”
Ben Francisco singled with two outs in the first and was running on a 3-2 pitch to Peralta, who lined it over the head of right fielder Jonny Gomes for an RBI double.
In the third, Francisco, who had a career-high four RBIs in Cleveland’s 13-2 win Thursday, hit a two-out double. Peralta then drove a 2-0 pitch the opposite way into the Rays’ bullpen in right for his 15th homer and 3-0 lead.
Peralta is 5-for-11 with three homers and seven RBIs in his career against Shields.
“I don’t think he likes me too much,” Peralta said. “I don’t know why, but I can see the ball good against him.”
Francisco made it 4-0 in the fifth with a double high off the wall in center, scoring Jamey Carroll, who had singled.
Grady Sizemore, who will join Lee in the All-Star game on Tuesday night, doubled to lead off the seventh for his first hit in 12 career at-bats against Shields. Sizemore scored on Carroll’s single up the middle.
Tampa Bay has hit .192 (33-for-172) with 48 strikeouts during its losing streak. Iwamura and Carl Crawford, the top two hitters in the order, are a combined 5-for-50 (.100).
“When you don’t hit, the whole team looks bad,” Maddon said. “When you don’t score runs, you put a lot of pressure on your pitching staff.”
Xtra, xtra: Rays rookie 3B Evan Longoria, who has 16 homers, will participate in the Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium on Monday night. Rays manager Joe Maddon said RHP Troy Percival will test his strained left hamstring by throwing off the mound Saturday. Rays RHP Al Reyes (shoulder tendinitis) pitched one scoreless rehab inning for Class A Vero Beach on Thursday. Rays SS Jason Bartlett (sprained right knee) swung a bat and fielded grounders Friday, but his lateral movement still isn’t 100 percent, Maddon said (Associated Press - Sports).
The Indians snapped out of one of the worst losing streaks in franchise history by beating a team that is suddenly trying to find answers of its own.
Ben Francisco had a career-high four RBIs and hit one of Cleveland’s four home runs as the Indians snapped a 10-game losing streak with a 13-2 victory over Tampa Bay that extended the Rays’ skid to four on Thursday night.
“It feels pretty good—a lot better than what we had been doing. That stunk,” said Casey Blake, who along with David Dellucci also homered and had three RBIs.
Cleveland last dropped 10 in a row in 1979 and avoided its longest streak in 77 years by overcoming a 2-0 deficit. The last time the Indians lost 11 straight was 1931, on the way to a team-record 12 consecutive losses.
Francisco and David Dellucci each hit two-run homers in a five-run fifth against Andy Sonnanstine (10-4). Blake hit a solo shot in a seven-run eighth off Gary Glover.
“This was huge for all of us,” said Dellucci, adding that a rather fiery pregame talk to the team by manager Eric Wedge gave him inspiration.
“He got right to the point while showing his faith in us,” Dellucci said. “Afterwards, we felt good about ourselves even though we know where we are in the standings.”
Aaron Laffey (5-5) earned the last-place Indians’ first win since recently traded CC Sabathia beat the Cincinnati Reds 6-0 on June 27. Laffey allowed two runs and four hits over six innings, winning for the first time in five starts since June 12.
“When we fell behind, it was like it was 10-0 and you felt it through the entire stadium,” Laffey said. “But the guys came through against the best team in the big leagues.”
Tampa Bay came in with baseball’s best record (55-35), but lost for the 10th straight time in Cleveland. Tampa Bay last won at the Indians’ home on Sept. 29, 2005, when Lou Piniella was manager. The Rays’ 26-56 record overall against Cleveland is their worst against any opponent.
Kelly Shoppach got Cleveland going by poking a one-out single to right in the fifth. Dellucci, in a 7-for-47 (.149) slump, followed with his seventh homer — and first since June 4.
“David gave us a shot of energy,” Wedge said. “Then we had real good at-bats up and down the lineup.”
Andy Marte then singled, went to third on a single by Grady Sizemore and scored on a fielder’s choice grounder by Jamey Carroll to put Cleveland ahead. Francisco followed with his eighth homer.
Shin-Soo Choo led off the sixth with his third homer and Blake connected for his ninth in the eighth to make it 7-2. Francisco and Blake each had two-run singles later in the inning.
The Rays took a 2-0 lead in the third. Willy Aybar hit a leadoff single and Jonny Gomes drove his seventh homer of the season deep into the left-field bleachers. Gomes was in a 1-for-24 slump, with the only hit a pinch homer June 28 at Pittsburgh.
Sonnanstine gave up nine hits and six runs over 5 1-3 innings. He had gone 4-0 and the Rays were 7-0 in his previous seven starts since May 27.
“This one is real frustrating for a number of reasons,” said Sonnanstine, who grew up about 40 miles south of Cleveland in Wadsworth, Ohio. “We’d lost the last (three) and I look at myself as a stopper. I had a lot of family and friends in the stands. To get beat up like this in a blowout, it’s not a good feeling.”
The Rays have hit only .182 (25-for-137) during their losing streak, which ties their longest of the season. They lost four in a row April 6-9.
“We’re getting into swinging for the five-run homer instead of playing offense,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “We’re not getting enough runners on base. I believe everybody is trying to hit the ball out of the ballpark. We have to get away from that.”
Xtra, xtra: The Rays are trying to be the fourth team to be in first place at the All-Star break one year after having the majors’ worst record, joining the 1989 Orioles and 2001 Cubs and Phillies. Maddon said RHP Troy Percival (strained left hamstring) wants to throw off the mound before the All-Star break. (Associated Press - Sports).
Carlos Pena homered, Edwin Jackson won back-to-back starts for the first time since April and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 on Wednesday.
