Tampa Bay may be best known for their speed and leading the majors in stolen bases. The Rays can hit the long ball, too.Carlos Pena hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs, and Dioner Navarro homered and had three RBIs as the Rays beat the Los Angeles Angels 11-1 on Thursday night.
"The combination of speed and power, I really believe we are that," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said.
Tampa Bay stole three bases and have 96 this season. The Rays have 22 homers over the past 12 games.
Navarro homered to lead off the eighth and Pena followed with his 19th homer of the season off Rich Thompson to make it 11-1. Pena also had a third-inning sacrifice fly.
Mired in a 3-for-34 slide, Navarro gave Tampa Bay a 4-0 lead on a two-run double during the fourth.
Evan Longoria and Carl Crawford both hit solo homers for Tampa Bay, which reached the .500 mark (31-31) by winning the final two games of the three-game series.
Ervin Santana (1-3) allowed six runs and eight hits over 4 2-3 innings.
"None of us are happy about how we went after it tonight," said Angels manager Mike Scioscia, who held a postgame team meeting. "That's a bad game. We need to play with consistency. If the guys in that room are not going to do it, then we're going to have to look for some changes."
The defending AL West champion Angels (29-29) are also playing .500 ball.
"We're failing miserably in many areas, and it's something we've looked at," Scioscia said. "When there are options that come up that are better we will make moves."
Rays starter David Price left with one out in the fourth because of a high pitch count (105). The first overall pick in the 2007 amateur draft gave up one run, two hits, six walks and had six strikeouts.
"It's frustrating," Price said. "It's a tough pill to swallow."
Price earned national acclaim when he pitched out of the bullpen during the playoffs last season, winning Game 2 and saving the AL pennant clinching Game 7 against Boston. This was his fifth career start, including four this season.
"It's going to happen. I have no question," Maddon said. "It's just a matter of when. He's got great stuff, and he knows it. He knows what he has to do, and he's going to do it."
Gabe Gross put the Rays up 1-0 on a run-scoring single in the second. He had another RBI single during a two-run fifth.
Torii Hunter's run-scoring single off Grant Balfour (3-1) got the Angels within 4-1 in the top of the fifth. The inning ended when Bobby Abreu was doubled off second on Vladimir Guerrero's liner to short.
Longoria hit his 14th homer of the season to stop an 0-for-19 slide in the fifth, and Crawford went deep one inning later.
Tropicana Field (30 games) and the new Yankee Stadium (29 games) are the only major league stadiums to have at least one homer hit in every game this season.
Los Angeles loaded the bases with two outs in the first, but failed to score when Price struck out Robb Quinlan.
Price threw 32 pitches, including 17 balls, in the first.
"Sometimes we have opportunities and we don't come through on both sides of the ball," Los Angeles third baseman Chone Figgins said. "I think that's frustrating for all of us."
Xtra, xtra: Maddon said the team plans to have Price throw no more than 175-180 innings in the regular season this year. Hunter, slowed the past couple weeks by a groin strain, was back in the lineup after being rested Wednesday. Price has walked 18 batters in 19 innings this season. Tampa Bay reinstated DH Pat Burrell (neck strain) and optioned OF Matt Joyce to Triple-A Durham after the game (Associated Press - Sports).
