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B.J. Upton responded to a benching exactly the way Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon hoped he would.
Upton homered and drove in three runs, Scott Kazmir allowed two runs in six innings and the Rays added a game to their AL East lead with a 7-4 victory over the Texas Rangers on Sunday night.
Maddon pulled Upton during Friday night’s game against the Rangers for failing to run hard on a double-play grounder. Maddon kept Upton in the dugout for all of Saturday night’s 3-0 loss to Texas before deciding to return his center fielder to the lineup.
“I thought he was pretty darned good,” Maddon said. “He was swinging the bat well. I saw him raise the level of his play. He was getting the bat head out in front of the ball. Before the game I was saying what a catalyst he can be for us.”
Upton had three hits and Carlos Pena homered for the Rays, who took two of three from the Rangers and have won seven of nine overall.
Upton said he didn’t change anything about his preparation for the game.
“I used the same approach as every day,” Upton said. “I just happened to swing the bat a little better.”
Texas challenged in the ninth, but Maddon employed an unusual bit of strategy with his closer Troy Percival sidelined.
After Brandon Boggs’ RBI groundout off Grant Balfour in the ninth made it 7-3, Michael Young walked to reload the bases. With Josh Hamilton coming to bat as the potential tying run, Maddon had the major league RBI leader walked to force in a run.
“I don’t think I’ve ever done that, even in the minors,” Maddon said. “But I told (pitching coach) Jimmy (Hickey), if we walk Young to load the bases, we’re going to walk Hamilton. I just thought that was prudent. With the kind of year (Hamilton) has been having—I wouldn’t say it’s spectacular, it’s beyond that—he very easily could have hit a grand slam there.”
Maddon brought in Dan Wheeler, subbing for Percival. Wheeler struck out Marlon Byrd swinging for his fifth save in six chances.
“That just shows the respect (Maddon) has for Hamilton,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said. “I was hoping that Hamilton would get the chance to swing the bat but Joe didn’t let that happen. I still felt good with Marlon up there. He had a couple pitches that he could have done something with, he just didn’t do it.”
The victory coupled with Toronto’s 15-4 win over Boston gave the Rays a 4 1/2 game pad over the second-place Red Sox.
Kazmir (9-6) earned his first win since July 21, giving up four hits with seven strikeouts and four walks to help the Rays improve to 20-9 since the All-Star break.
Kazmir won six straight starts in May and June, but has scuffled lately. Entering Sunday, he had lost three of four decisions and failed to pitch into the sixth inning in any of his previous four outings.
“I felt a whole lot better,” Kazmir said. “Being able to go out in that sixth inning was huge. I was relaxed, my slider was working. I got a lot of called strikes and a couple of swinging strikes with it.”
Travis Metcalf homered for the Rangers, who’ve lost nine of 11.
Tampa Bay scored four runs in the third inning against Texas starter Dustin Nippert (1-3), highlighted by Upton’s RBI double and Pena’s three-run homer, his 25th.
The Rays stretched their lead to 7-1 in the fourth on Jason Bartlett’s run-scoring double and Upton’s two-run homer, his eighth.
Vicente Padilla, who’s won a team-high 12 games, was originally scheduled to start Sunday night, but Padilla’s ongoing neck problems forced the Rangers to bring Nippert out of the bullpen for his first start of the season and sixth of his career.
Nippert allowed seven runs and eight hits in four innings.
“I left some pitches up and they capitalized,” Nippert said.
Xtra, xtra: Percival, on the DL with cartilage damage in his right knee, played catch on Sunday. “I felt good. There was nothing debilitating,” he said. Percival will visit the Rays’ team doctor at home on Monday, with arthroscopic surgery an option (Associated Press - Sports).
The Texas Rangers were looking from a good outing from anyone in its rotation.
Rookie Matt Harrison provided a huge boost to the Rangers’ staff by throwing eight shutout innings, sending Texas past the Tampa Bay Rays 3-0 Saturday night.
The Rangers, who came in with baseball’s worst team ERA at 5.45, had allowed 69 runs over the past seven games. Texas’ starters were even worse in that span with a 15.36 ERA in 25 innings.
“It’s always important to get a well-pitched job from your starter,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said. “We’ve been searching to get one and Matt Harrison stepped up. He showed what his upside can be.”
Harrison (5-2) dominated the AL East-leading Rays in his eighth career start. The lefty gave up just three singles, struck out eight without a walk, and retired the final 18 batters.
Harrison entered the game with a 7.07 ERA and a total of seven strikeouts in 35 2-3 innings. He was pulled after 109 pitches.
All-Star Josh Hamilton preserved the shutout in the sixth with a leaping catch at the wall to take away a home run from Ben Zobrist. Zobrist played in place of B.J. Upton, who was benched for the second time in less than two weeks for failing to hustle.
“To go out and shut them down was an awesome feeling,” Harrison said. “Josh making that spectacular catch at the wall, that could have been the turning point of the game.”
Ian Kinsler homered on the first pitch he saw from Rays starter Edwin Jackson (9-8), who lost for the first time in five starts.
The Rangers had been shut out their last two games. Kinsler quickly ended that scoring slump when he lined Jackson’s first-pitch fastball over the left-field wall for his fourth home run in six games.
That was the only run Jackson allowed in six innings. He struck out the last batter he saw, Chris Davis, on a 97 mph fastball
“It’s hard to say it was a mistake,” Jackson said. “It was the first pitch of the game. He jumped on a good pitch and took advantage.”
The Rays had won three in row. Texas stopped its four-game losing streak.
Eddie Guardado pitched the ninth for his fourth save in four chances. It was Texas’ sixth shutout of the season.
“Sometimes when we pitch well, we don’t score runs and vice versa,” Hamilton said. “We need to find more consistency as a team. Tampa Bay is in first place and it’s nice to take a win out of their category.”
The Rangers, who had lost eight of nine, added two runs in the seventh off reliever J.P. Howell. Michael Young hit an RBI single and Brandon Boggs drew a bases-loaded walk.
Harrison had hardly been a strikeout pitcher in his seven starts as a major leaguer this season. But he had a run where he recorded six in a 10-batter span against the first-place Rays.
The hardest hit ball Harrison allowed was Zobrist’s drive in the second that ended up in Hamilton’s glove.
“The ball started carrying, and I got excited,” Zobrist said. “He quickly took that away. He made it look so easy.”
After Jason Bartlett singled in the third, Tampa Bay did not have a baserunner until Akinori Iwamura walked leading off the ninth. The Rays were blanked for the fifth time this season.
Xtra, xtra: Rays manager Joe Maddon also benched Upton Aug. 6 for not hustling. Tampa Bay is 19-9 since the All-Star break. Rays 1B Carlos Pena, who had homered in three straight games, was 0-of-4 with two strikeouts (Associated Press - Sports).
Matt Garza slammed the rosin bag to the ground and kicked the dirt on the mound.
The Tampa Bay right-hander was angry at himself—not the scorekeeper— after Garza’s bid for the first no-hitter in Rays history ended on a debatable call after his two-strike pitch with two outs in the sixth inning of a 7-0 victory over the slumping Texas Rangers.
“I was upset I hung that slider,” Garza said. “It’s a hit.”
Ian Kinsler knocked a looping flyball into short center that ricocheted off the glove of charging outfielder Justin Ruggiano. The play was almost immediately ruled a hit.
“I just thought it was an inappropriate call. I called upstairs and I never do,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said.
But any questions about that costing Garza (10-7) a no-hitter were erased when Josh Hamilton led off the seventh with a solid single up the middle.
Still, it was a dominating performance by the 24-year-old Garza, who threw a two-hitter for his second career shutout—both in the last four games. It was also his third complete game.
“It was fun. I had a blast,” Garza said. “I kept attacking, kept going after people.”
A Tampa Bay lineup missing injured stars Evan Longoria and Carl Crawford hit four home runs in 4 2-3 innings to build a 5-0 lead against Kevin Millwood (6-7), who was reinstated from the 15-day disabled list to start.
Garza struck out nine and walked two while throwing 78 of 119 pitches for strikes. None of the Rangers’ four base runners got past first.
“You can have the best offense in the league, which we do, but when a guy is throwing like that you’re not going to hit the ball,” right fielder Marlon Byrd said. “It’s as simple as that.”
In his two previous starts since a five-hitter to shut out Toronto on July 29, Garza had allowed nine runs in 10 2-3 innings.
But after Hamilton walked with two outs in the first, Garza retired 15 straight batters before Kinsler’s hit.
“That was pretty dominant. Facing that lineup, their numbers are particularly outstanding at home. They’re good, real good, not just OK,” Maddon said. “He was throwing his fastball down at that velocity, plus command of the breaking ball and the changeup, pounding the strike zone.”
Ruggiano, who had replaced B.J. Upton in the field to start the sixth, ran a long way and got his glove on Kinsler’s ball but couldn’t hold on to it. Maddon made the change after Upton failed to run hard on his double-play grounder that ended the top of the inning.
“He wanted to make a move,” said Upton, who had been pulled from a previous game for the same reason. “I guess I’m the only one not running ‘em out.”
The Rays (74-47) have a 3 1/2 -game division lead over Boston, which was rained out at home against Toronto on Friday night.
Texas (61-62) was shut out for the second game in a row and the fourth time in eight games—after being held scoreless only once the first 115 games. The Rangers dropped below .500 for the first time since June 20.
The Rangers lost 10-0 Thursday night at Boston, ending a three-game sweep by the Red Sox, who had 10-run and nine-run innings the first two games.
“Tonight, everyone was just dead. We just didn’t do our jobs,” Kinsler said. “We’re definitely not playing good right now.”
Willy Aybar homered on the first pitch of the fourth, his ball into the right-field corner barely clearing the wall.
Carlos Pena made it 2-0 in the fifth when he hit his 24th homer, and Millwood was gone after Eric Hinske and Gabe Gross hit back-to-back shots. Hinske hit a two-run shot before Gross hit a ball that skimmed the top of the left-center wall.
Millwood, the Rangers’ No. 1 pitcher coming off his second DL stint because of a strained right groin, allowed five runs and 10 hits with seven strikeouts and one walk in 4 2-3 innings.
“It seemed like every time I missed, they hit the ball hard,” Millwood said.
Xtra, xtra: Garza joined Andy Sonnanstine and James Shields as 10-game winners for Tampa Bay (Associated Press - Sports).
Tampa Bay ended Oakland reliever Brad Ziegler’s record scoreless streak. Then the Rays ended the Athletics’ hopes of winning their first series in more than a month.
Ziegler’s shutout streak was stopped by B.J. Upton in the ninth inning, and Carlos Pena homered leading off the 12th to give Tampa Bay a 7-6 win over Oakland on Thursday.
Ziegler started his career by not allowing a run in 39 consecutive shutout innings—including the eighth Thursday—to tie a 59-year-old major league record for relievers. Upton hit an RBI double that scored Akinori Iwamura, who walked, to give the Rays a 5-4 lead in the ninth.
“I didn’t think about the streak until I started walking back on the mound,” Ziegler said. “The first thought that popped in my head was, ‘I can’t believe that just happened with a runner on first,’ but I guess the good thing it wasn’t a cheap one. A whole bunch of things fell at once and so that way there’s no pressure from this point on.”
Ziegler, Oakland’s rookie reliever who began the season in the minors, has been one of the few highlights for Oakland in the second half, setting numerous records including the most shutout innings by any pitcher to start a career. The right-hander extended that mark to tie the major league single-season record for consecutive scoreless innings by a reliever set by Cleveland’s Al Benton in 1949.
“It’s almost been like a no-hitter type streak or something,” A’s manager Bob Geren said. “Unbelievable what he’s done, but I’ll get him right back out and try to start another one. He’s been tremendous.”
Pena hit his 23rd homer of the season off Santiago Casilla (2-1) and Dioner Navarro added an RBI single as Tampa Bay moved to 26 games over .500 for the first time in franchise history.
“There were many, many moments where momentum shifted and we were able to stay focused, stay poised and come out of some tough situations,” Pena said. “Eventually we were able to put some runs on the board, but the key was being able to stay in the present and not letting that shift of momentum affect our approach at the plate and on the mound. It’s a great win for us because it was quite difficult.”
Jason Hammel (4-3) pitched 2 2-3 innings to earn the win for Tampa Bay, which lost closer Troy Percival to a sprained right knee in the ninth. Percival hurt himself while fielding a sacrifice by Mark Ellis and had to leave the game after limping back to the mound.
Hammel allowed an unearned run in the 12th before giving way to Trever Miller. Miller the eighth Tampa Bay pitcher, hit Daric Barton before getting pinch-hitter Rob Bowen to hit a grounder to third to earn his first save in two tries this season.
Cliff Floyd walked four times and scored four runs for the Rays, who won two of three from Oakland and haven’t lost a series since the All-Star break.
“This type of win is what’s been happening since early in the season when we started win a lot of games late,” Floyd said. “We’ve got our confidence up and we believe as long as we go on that field we’ve got a chance to win.”
Tampa Bay missed a chance to win in the 11th inning of the 4-hour, 24-minute game when Rocco Baldelli was tagged out at home plate by Oakland catcher Kurt Suzuki after Casilla’s pitch skipped under Suzuki. The ball bounced off the backstop right back to Suzuki, who raced to the plate to get Baldelli.
Pena then hit the first pitch he saw from Casilla in the 12th over the wall in right field to put the Rays ahead for good.
“I can’t ask for anything more,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “It’s exactly what we’re looking for. Beyond everything else is the continuous maximum effort. It was tremendous. I loved it.”
Oakland, which hasn’t won a series since taking three of four from Seattle in early July, rallied to tie the game on Frank Thomas’ RBI single in the bottom of the ninth but couldn’t do much else against Tampa Bay’s bullpen.
Carlos Gonzalez hit a two-run homer for the A’s, who lost their ninth consecutive series for the first time since 1979. Oakland is 4-21 since the All-Star break, the worst mark in baseball.
Justin Ruggiano tied it at 4 in the fifth with a pinch-hit single to drive in Floyd.
Tampa Bay right-hander James Shields gave up all four Oakland runs and had a season-high five walks in five innings.
A’s starter Sean Gallagher had another rough outing, lasting only four innings while giving up three earned runs and walking four (Associated Press - Sports).
Andy Sonnanstine learned a few things from his previous outings against Oakland. The most important lesson was trusting himself.
Eric Hinske had three hits, including a home run, and Ben Zobrist doubled in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Athletics 3-2 on Wednesday night.
Sonnanstine (12-6) beat an AL West team for the first time in five decisions, and won his second straight following a three-game losing streak as the Rays have spent all but two days in first place in the AL East since June 28.
“I didn’t feel sharp the last time I pitched here,” said Sonnanstine, who lost his two previous starts against the A’s. “I wanted to be aggressive and stay aggressive. That really worked out. I feel like if I stick to my game plan it sets me up for success.”
Sonnanstine lasted six innings, allowing two runs and six hits with a walk and six strikeouts, one shy of his season high. He’s given up five runs in his last 19 1-3 innings (2.33 ERA) after allowing 14 in his previous 19 innings.
“Sony had really good stuff,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “His last two outings are as good as I’ve seen him in a long time. He’s always been a winner.”
Sonnanstine became the quickest pitcher to 12 wins (119th game) in Rays history.
Carlos Pena hit a home run for the Rays, who maintained their three-game lead over the Boston Red Sox. The Rays have won four of five and 10 of 14.
“We just keep on playing,” Pena said. “It’s important to focus on the present. This is a young team but we’ve behaved maturely and it happened naturally. We’re able to handle things.”
Eric Patterson, who was recalled from Sacramento earlier Wednesday, drove in two runs for the A’s, who fell to 7-22 since trading Rich Harden to the Chicago Cubs. Patterson was part of the trade.
Mark Ellis and Bobby Crosby both had two hits for the A’s, who were seven games over .500 and 3 1/2 behind the Red Sox in the wild card race when Harden was moved.
“We had first and third, nobody out, and don’t score,” A’s manager Bob Geren said. “That’s a big blow. We tried to force some contact there and push a run across and that’s about it. It’s difficult to win when you’re not getting enough runs.”
Grant Balfour and Dan Wheeler both pitched a scoreless inning and Troy Percival worked the ninth for his 27th save in 30 chances. It was his 34th career save against the A’s, his most against any team.
Justin Duchscherer (10-8) lost his third straight decision and remains winless in his last six starts. He gave up three runs and six hits with a walk and a career-high eight strikeouts over 6 1-3 innings.
“Sometimes you make pitches and they just beat you,” Duchscherer said. “Two solo home runs I didn’t feel like it was going to beat me. I battled through it got into the seventh and had a little bit of an unfortunate bounce on the last hitter and that ended up costing us the game.”
Duchscherer gave up two home runs in a game for the third time, and allowed only his 10th and 11th of the season. He allowed more than two earned runs in consecutive games for the first time.
Xtra, xtra: The Rays are 32-0 when Percival enters a game in a save situation. Roland Arrojo recorded his 12th win in the Rays’ 135th game in 1998 (Associated Press - Sports).
Gio Gonzalez found himself faced with two runners in scoring position and the top of the order coming to bat. The Oakland rookie is a good listener, though, and he focused on what his catcher and pitching coach had to say during a meeting on the mound.
“That was all it took,” Gonzalez said Tuesday night after earning his first major league victory, a 2-1 Athletics win over the Tampa Bay Rays. “I calmed down once I heard what they had to say.”
Gonzalez pitched out of that jam and got help from his bullpen the rest of the way in his first home start with Oakland.
Bobby Crosby hit a two-run homer in support of Gonzalez, who went five-plus innings in his second career start. The A’s won for the second time in 14 games to briefly derail the AL East-leading Rays.
Jerry Blevins and Joey Devine combined to pitch three scoreless innings, and Brad Ziegler got three outs for his second save.
Ziegler extended his scoreless streak to 38 innings, breaking Mike Torrez’s club record set in 1976. It’s also the longest such run to begin a career in modern major league history (since 1900).
“Once Jerry Blevins got me out of that jam I knew we were going to win,” said Gonzalez, who mentioned the lineup card, a wet baseball, a water-soaking and just watching the game as the souvenirs and memories he’ll take with him.
Akinori Iwamura drove in a run and Jason Bartlett had two hits for the Rays, who lost for the third time in 13 games. Their lead in the AL East dropped to three games over Boston.
With rookie slugger Evan Longoria and outfielder Carl Crawford on the 15-day disabled list, the Rays managed six hits. Rocco Baldelli, playing just his second game after missing more than a year because of assorted ailments, batted cleanup and went 1-for-3.
Scott Kazmir (8-6) failed to pitch more than five innings for the fourth consecutive start. He allowed two hits and two runs in five innings, with a pair of walks and six strikeouts. He’s left the game behind or tied in six of his last seven starts.
“In my last inning I felt everything was working well,” Kazmir said. “I’d like to get a little more comfortable in the first couple of innings. I get behind in the count, try to get a strike and let up just a little bit and give up a home run.”
Kazmir, who averages 9.87 strikeouts per nine innings, had won his last four decisions against the A’s and six of seven overall. He fell to 1-3 in his last eight starts.
Emil Brown walked to open the second and Crosby followed with his seventh home run of the season, a shot into the left-field bleachers. Kazmir retired 12 of his final 15 batters.
“We didn’t hit the cover off the ball but we got what we needed,” Crosby said. “Gio has been awesome ever since he settled down after the first inning in Toronto.”
Ben Zobrist walked with one out in the third. Bartlett doubled and Iwamura hit a sacrifice fly.
Gonzalez (1-1), acquired in the trade that sent Nick Swisher to the Chicago White Sox, walked two batters with one out in the fourth but came back to strike out the next two hitters.
“Strikeout pitchers can get out of it themselves,” A’s manager Bob Geren said. “That’s a key difference between top-notch pitchers and average pitchers.”
Zobrist and Bartlett each singled to open the fifth. A botched safety squeeze bunt cost the Rays one run when B.J. Upton followed with a single. Gonzalez got Bartlett leaning off second for a caught stealing, and Carlos Pena flied out.
“We kind of messed things up,” Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. “We tried to do one thing with the bat and we didn’t read it right. We got outpitched and they made good plays.”
A’s right fielder Ryan Sweeney hurt his right thumb making a diving catch late in the game and will likely miss a game or two.
“It was definitely sore,” Geren said. “He certainly hurt the thumb.”
Xtra, xtra: The Rays are 12-37 in Oakland, their worst record in any AL ballpark (Associated Press - Sports).
Add another achievement to the Tampa Bay Rays’ remarkable season: the return of outfielder Rocco Baldelli.
Oh, and that franchise-record 71st victory was pretty significant too.
Willy Aybar homered twice, including a three-run shot, Shawn Riggans added a three-run homer of his own, and Baldelli returned after missing more than a year in the Rays’ 11-3 rout of the Seattle Mariners on Sunday.
Tampa Bay bettered its previous best record of 70-92 in 2004. The Rays improved to 71-46 by taking three of four in Seattle and own a 4 1/2 -game lead over Boston in the AL East, their largest advantage since July 6.
“It’s going to take more than that,” manager Joe Maddon said bluntly afterward.
But multi-homer games and franchise win records didn’t matter much in the Rays’ clubhouse afterward. The attention belonged to a grinning Baldelli, and even being on the field after nearly seeing his playing career end.
“I’ve said it before, there were times I didn’t know if I was going to be playing anymore. I honestly didn’t know,” Baldelli said after going 1-for-4. “There were some scary times too. Those are all behind me now, hopefully. I came out of it feeling good and I’m just really, really happy now.”
The oft-injured Baldelli missed most of last season with a lingering hamstring problem, just another in a string of injuries that kept him sidelined for much of the 2005 and 2006 seasons. The Rays asked Baldelli to pace himself during spring training, but he was soon diagnosed with a mitochondrial disorder, a condition that slows muscle recovery and causes extreme fatigue.
Baldelli slowly worked himself into shape and with outfielder Carl Crawford going on the 15-day disabled list Sunday after injuring a tendon in the middle finger of his right hand, the Rays were in need of an outfielder. Just so happened that Baldelli was with the team for this trip, and played in his first game since May 15, 2007.
He claims not to get nervous often, but didn’t have much of an appetite before Sunday’s game.
“To be able to get back to the big leagues, it’s special,” Baldelli said. “I honestly don’t even know what to say.”
Baldelli had an RBI single in the third inning and made a diving grab—or as he said “fall”—of Brian LaHair’s shallow fly ball in the fifth. He was lifted in the sixth inning after getting four at-bats, almost exactly the kind of acclimation Maddon hoped to get for Baldelli.
“It’s not about him playing right field and getting a hit today. It’s just the matter of him getting back out, getting back in the fray and I think that’s going to, in the long haul, benefit him in a lot of different ways,” Maddon said.
The Rays have done a pretty good job this season of keeping the rest of the league speechless about their remarkable turnaround. Even on the day the Rays learned they’ll be without Crawford for at least two weeks, and possibly longer, it was again everyone in Tampa Bay’s lineup chipping in.
Aybar started at third base in place of Evan Longoria, who missed his third straight game with a sore right wrist after he was hit by a pitch on Thursday night. Aybar gave Tampa Bay a 3-0 lead in the second with his fifth homer, barely clearing the top of the left-field wall. Aybar later hit a solo homer in the seventh in almost the identical spot. He has six homers this season, and 11 in his career.
Riggans came through with two outs in the fifth, hitting a pitch by R.A. Dickey (3-7) over the hand-operated scoreboard in left for his fifth homer of the season. Riggans has played in just 18 of the Rays’ last 86 games, typically just to give starting catcher Dioner Navarro a day off. It was Riggans first homer since June 29.
“You can’t really look at what we don’t have. You have to look at what we do have and the guys that we do have can produce,” Riggans said.
Edwin Jackson was the recipient of those unlikely homers from the Nos. 8 and 9 hitters in the Rays’ batting order, and won his fourth straight start. Jackson (9-7) pitched seven strong innings, scattering seven hits and striking out two. His only mistake was Jose Lopez’s solo homer leading off the second. Lopez was later pulled from the game by manager Jim Riggleman, who declined to give an explanation afterward other than to say it was not an injury.
“I don’t know why, but I’ll say nothing right now,” Lopez said.
Cliff Floyd had three hits, including an RBI single to score Carlos Pena in the sixth. Pena had tripled, with his ball bouncing twice off the top of the wall, but staying in play. B.J. Upton also had an RBI single for the Rays.
Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki extended his hitting streak to 16 games, and had an RBI single in the ninth.
Xtra, xtra: Upton and Suzuki both stole their 36th base in Sunday’s game, two behind AL-leading Jacoby Ellsbury of Boston (Associated Press - Sports).
A little bit of small ball added up to a big win for the first-place Tampa Bay Rays.
Dioner Navarro hit a sacrifice fly to score Ben Zobrist in the 11th inning and the AL East-leading Rays beat the Seattle Mariners 8-7 Saturday night, matching the franchise record for most wins in a season with 70.
The Rays, 70-46, rallied from a 5-0 deficit and remained 3 1/2 games ahead of Boston, which beat the Chicago White Sox 6-2. Tampa Bay won 70 games in 2004 under Lou Piniella.
Miguel Batista (4-12) walked Zobrist leading off the 11th. Zobrist then stole second and advanced to third on a groundout by Willy Aybar.
“I just found my way on base and we put on a good hit-and-run that happened to work out for us,” Zobrist said of the stolen base. “It was just a bunch of little things. We did a lot of little things well that helped us stay in the game.”
Chad Bradford (4-3) pitched the ninth and 10th innings to earn a win in his Tampa Bay debut. Bradford arrived in Seattle on Saturday morning after the Rays acquired the side arm-throwing reliever from the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday for a player to be named.
Troy Percival worked a perfect 11th to earn his second straight save and 26th in 29 opportunities.
Both teams loaded the bases with one out in the 10th and failed to score.
Seattle closer J.J. Putz struck out Carlos Pena and retired Eric Hinske on a line-out to shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt. Putz had walked Akinori Iwamura, B.J. Upton and Carl Crawford to load the bases.
Bradford got Adrian Beltre to ground into a double play in the bottom of the 10th to end the Mariners’ threat.
“Bradford, it was unbelievable,” Zobrist said. “It didn’t seem like it fazed him at all to be in that situation.”
Seattle manager Jim Riggleman watched Beltre foul off five pitches before he hit into the 5-2-3 double play. The Rays used five infielders on the play, moving left fielder Crawford to center and center fielder B.J. Upton behind second base.
“He hit it hard,” Riggleman said of Beltre. “You’re not out there with a fungo. You can’t guide it through.”
Singles by Betancourt and Ichiro Suzuki, a fielder’s choice by Willie Bloomquist and an intentional walk to Raul Ibanez had loaded the bases. Bloomquist left the game with a strained right hamstring after beating out the throw to first.
The Rays have won nine of 11.
Trailing 5-0 after two innings, the Rays rallied for six runs in the sixth to go ahead 7-5.
Seattle tied it at 7 in the eighth on pinch-hitter Jeff Clement’s RBI-double and Suzuki’s run-scoring single. Suzuki went 4-for-6 with a home run and three RBIs.
Tampa Bay scored three runs in the sixth with two outs off starter Ryan Rowland-Smith. The Rays then jumped all over reliever Cesar Jimenez for three runs on four straight hits, including two-run doubles by Upton and Crawford.
The Mariners called up Rowland-Smith after Friday’s game from Triple-A Tacoma to make his third start of the season. Rowland-Smith replaced Miguel Batista, who was demoted to the bullpen.
Besides a solo home run by Gabe Gross to lead off the third, Rowland-Smith shut out the Rays until the lefty ran into trouble with two outs and nobody on in the sixth.
Suzuki homered to right to lead off the first.
The Mariners added another run in the first and scored three runs on four hits in the second. Betancourt and Suzuki each singled in a run to give the Mariners a 5-0 lead.
Xtra, xtra: Tampa Bay rookie third baseman Evan Longoria did not start for the second straight game because of a sore right wrist. Longoria said he expects to be ready to return to the starting lineup when the Rays play Tuesday at Oakland. Longoria hurt the wrist after getting hit by a pitch in Thursday’s series opener. Crawford singled in the third to extend his hitting streak to 11 games (Associated Press - Sports).
Hard to say who’s in more of a renaissance right now—the Rays or Troy Percival.
In the last three years, Percival has been an out-of-gas flame thrower with a blown out elbow, an advance scout and, as of 14 months ago, a minor league coach.
Now, the supposedly retired closer is leading Tampa Bay toward the AL East title, a destination as improbable for him as it is for his team.
Carlos Pena hit his 21st home run, the 38-year-old Percival looked as dominant as ever while getting his 25th save and the Rays increased their lead in the AL East to 3 1/2 games with a 5-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night.
Tampa Bay’s edge over second-place Boston is its largest since July 7.
Percival struck out two of the three batters he faced in a perfect ninth inning, blowing away Wladimir Balentien—who had earlier hit a two-run homer— and then pinch-hitter Willie Bloomquist to end save No. 25, in 28 chances. That’s 17 more saves than he had from 2005-07.
Tampa Bay is 28-0 when he enters the game in a save situation. He has 349 career saves, eighth-most all-time.
Ask James Shields (10-7), who allowed three runs in 6 2-3 scrappy innings to get the Rays’ eighth win in 10 games, how impressive Percival has been coming back and he laughs. Loudly.
“It’s amazing, man,” the 26-year-old Shields said of his fellow Southern Californian. “If I could throw half as good as he does when I’m 38, I’d be happy.”
Not that’s it’s been as easy as it’s looked.
“His arm feels good. The biggest thing is to keep the rest of him going,” manager Joe Maddon said, also laughing.
Percival was the last man out of the training room later Friday night after helping his Rays improve to 24-29 on the road—where 28 of Tampa Bay’s final 47 games will be. He’s been on the disabled list twice this season with hamstring problems.
When asked if he spends a lot of time in there these days, he cackled.
“Are you kidding me? It takes five innings to get ready to pitch one,” Percival said.
He said he has to begin getting ready in the training room with stretching, lifting and agility exercises during the third inning if there’s even a hint he may pitch the ninth.
“I’m not kidding. It’s a lot,” he said. “Used to be I’d grab a ball, throw the ninth inning and go home. Not anymore. It’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it to be with this team going where we are.”
Tampa Bay is one victory from tying the franchise record of 70 wins in a season.
The recently surging Pena made up for the absence of Evan Longoria, the team’s leader in home runs and RBIs. Longoria is missing at least one day of his team’s season-long, 10-game road trip because of a bruised hand.
Pena gave the Rays the lead in the second inning with his solo home run off Carlos Silva. He then singled home the final run of the decisive four-run third.
Silva (4-13) allowed eight hits and five runs—four earned—in six-plus innings to take the AL lead in losses. The Mariners sunk back to 26 games under .500 one night after stunning the Rays with a last at-bat home run.
The right-hander, signed to a $48 million, four-year contract as a free agent before Seattle’s lost season, still has won just once since April 17.
“I don’t care if we are 40 games behind, we should play better than this,” Silva said, calling out position players for at least the third time this season. “I can talk about the starting rotation—every time we cross the line we want to do our best. … Maybe half of the team don’t have that mentality.”
Some of Silva’s ire likely came from his defense giving the Rays half of their runs in the key third. With one out, No. 9 hitter Ben Zobrist, subbing for injured shortstop Jason Bartlett, singled. So did Akinori Iwamura. B.J. Upton singled home Zobrist to tie the game at 2. Then Carl Crawford hit a hard one-hopper that shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt snared, but Betancourt sailed his throw 10 feet over first base and into a camera well. The two-base error scored Iwamura and Upton to put the Rays ahead 4-2.
It was Betancourt’s 17th error this season, most of any AL shortstop.
Pena then singled home Crawford to make it 5-2.
Xtra, xtra: The Rays designated 38-year-old RHP Al Reyes for assignment after the game, to make roster room for RHP Chad Bradford’s arrival Saturday. “It wasn’t a surprise,” Reyes said. Bradford was acquired off waivers from Baltimore Friday. Tampa Bay is the sixth team dating to 1902 to be in first place on Aug. 8 or later after having baseball’s worst record the year before. The 1991 Atlanta Braves were the only such team that ended the season in first place (Associated Press - Sports).
Stunned looks in the dugout. Cold silence in the clubhouse. Shrugged shoulders all around.
Not all game-ending moments go the way of the Rays these days. It only seems like it.
Raul Ibanez lined a hanging pitch from Dan Wheeler like a laser inside the right-field foul pole, Seattle’s first game-ending home run in its lost season, and the Mariners beat AL East-leading Tampa Bay 2-1 on Thursday night.
“Raul hit that ball so hard, it didn’t have time to go foul,” Seattle manager Jim Riggleman said.
Ibanez didn’t have time to comprehend what he’d just done.
“You really don’t realize until you are going around the bases what’s going on,” Ibanez said.
On the other side of the country a day earlier, the Rays’ six-run bottom of the ninth ended with Carlos Pena’s home run that stunned Cleveland and sent Tampa Bay into a mosh pit at home plate. Manager Joe Maddon was still glowing from that Thursday, calling it the most exciting win of his team’s thrill-ride from laughingstocks to legitimate this season.
Then came Ibanez’s fourth career walkoff home run. It prompted a wild, on-field celebration by the team with the AL’s worst record.
“Split-finger. Just trying to put him away. And I just hung it up there,” Wheeler (2-5) said among the quiet Rays, who began a season-long, 10-game road trip by losing for just the second time in nine games, trimming its division lead to 2 1/2 games over idle Boston and 5 1/2 over the New York Yankees.
“Part of the (pregame) meeting was, ‘Don’t let this guy beat you,” Wheeler added. “But there’s not a guy I don’t think I can get out. … It stinks right now, it definitely does, but the sun will come up tomorrow.”
Problem for the Rays is, they will be on the road when it does. They dropped to 23-29 away from Tropicana Field, where 29 of its final 48 games will be played. The Rays are 45-17 at home. That’s the largest differential between home and road success in the major leagues.
On-deck batter Adrian Beltre threw his batting helmet into the air the moment the ball left the bat of Ibanez, who has 16 RBIs in his last five games.
“The way Raul’s swinging, it seems like the situation’s finding him,” said Seattle closer J.J. Putz (5-4), who escaped trouble in the top of the ninth for his third win of a seven-game homestand. “Right now, the big situations are finding Raul—and he’s delivering.”
Felix Hernandez allowed just four hits and one run in eight innings for Seattle, which won for just the fourth time in 57 games when trailing after seven innings. The Mariners, 25 games under .500, beat a contender for the third time in four games, following a series win over Minnesota.
Tampa Bay’s Andy Sonnanstine went to a three-ball count just once over the first six innings. He retired 17 consecutive batters from the second into the seventh innings.
Wladmir Balentien doubled and fellow rookie Bryan LaHair singled off Sonnanstine to begin the eighth. No. 9 hitter Yuniesky Betancourt then tied the game on a sacrifice fly that scored Balentien.
Tampa Bay had a chance to go ahead in the top of the ninth after Putz hit Evan Longoria on the right wrist with a fastball and Carlos Pena singled him to third with one out. But Putz, showing he may be closer to his 2007 All-Star form after a series of injuries, struck out Cliff Floyd with a 97 mph fastball and Dioner Navarro with a breaking pitch low and away.
Longoria had a bulbous wrap on his wrist after the game, but said X-rays were negative.
“It’s just going to be sore, but that’s all right,” the Rays’ leader in home runs and RBIs said. He expects to play Friday.
Then, to a teammate, Longoria said: “I ain’t going down now, buddy.”
The only run of the first 7 1/2 innings came when Hernandez allowed a walk to Carl Crawford and a single to Longoria leading off. Crawford, back in the lineup after missing three games with a sore hamstring, reached third on a fielder’s choice. Then with the count 2-2 on Floyd, Hernandez appeared to confuse catcher Jeff Clement, who allowed the pitch to clang off his lower leg to the backstop. Crawford ran home easily on what was scored a wild pitch.
Hernandez struck out five, walked three and allowed three runs or fewer for the 11th consecutive start. He improved his ERA to 2.94 ERA, fourth in the AL.
Xtra, xtra: Rays OF B.J. Upton went 0-for-4 one day after Maddon benched him for not running out a ground ball (Associated Press - Sports).
Carlos Pena admits there is a growing sense that Tampa Bay might be destined for big things this season.
That said, the Rays are trying to stay calm about their success.
Pena’s three-run homer capped a six-run rally in the ninth inning that carried the Rays past the Cleveland Indians 10-7 Wednesday for one of their most thrilling victories in a wondrous season.
“That’s something that we definitely think about it and envision,” Pena said. “We actually see it in reality at the same time. It’s very important for us that we also put it in perspective. We know it’s great, we’re enjoy it, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We never lose focus in the fact, ‘Hey, let’s play the game today.’ It’s most important for us.”’
Eric Hinske had an RBI double in the ninth and Gabe Gross tied it 7-all with a two-run homer off Edward Mujica, who was trying for his first major league save.
Masa Kobayashi (4-5) replaced Mujica and gave up an infield single to Akinori Iwamura. The right-hander then walked Ben Zobrist before Pena homered to center for his fifth career game-ending homer, setting off a raucous celebration at Tropicana Field.
“Probably the most exciting win I’ve been involved with here,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said.
Pena tossed his helmet aside as he approached home plate, where he was mobbed by jubilant teammates bouncing in unison. The AL East leaders, who have never won more than 70 games in 10 previous seasons, improved to 68-45 with their eighth victory in 11 games.
The Rays, whose 45 home wins are the most in the majors, now embark on their final trip out West this season beginning Thursday night at Seattle.
Troy Percival (2-0) got two outs in the ninth for the win. He threw a run-scoring wild pitch that made it 7-4.
Jhonny Peralta went 5-for-5 with a solo homer and two RBIs for the Indians. He tied his career high for hits, set June 30 at the Chicago White Sox.
“I feel happy to do that,” Peralta said.
Dioner Navarro had a two-run homer for Tampa Bay, which has won 15 of its last 16 series at home.
Rays center fielder B.J. Upton was benched by Maddon for failing to run out an eighth-inning grounder in Tuesday’s 8-4 win over the Indians. Maddon said the benching was a one-day action, and after the game said the matter was closed.
“I just work here,” Upton said.
Indians designated hitter Ryan Garko had a short day Wednesday after not leaving the batter’s box on a second-inning grounder that hugged the first-base line before Pena fielded the ball and recorded an unassisted out. Andy Marte pinch-hit for Garko in the third.
“I just benched him because he didn’t run it out,” Indians manager Eric Wedge said.
Garko said he made a “mental mistake.”
“It’s a respect thing, really, and now it’s over,” Garko added.
Rays All-Star Scott Kazmir continued a personal trend of not pitching deep into games, allowing five runs and nine hits over 4 1-3 innings. The left-hander has gone 5 2-3 innings or less in seven of his last nine starts.
“I’m not concerned yet,” Maddon said. “If it was a physical issue I would be.”
Shin-Soo Choo had an RBI single and Marte drove in a pair with a double as the Indians went up 5-3 in the fifth. The Rays got to 5-4 in the bottom half on Evan Longoria’s second run-scoring single.
Peralta’s fourth hit, an RBI double, extended Cleveland’s advantage to 6-4 in the sixth. He cut the Indians’ deficit to 3-2 with a third-inning homer.
Longoria had an RBI single and Navarro hit a two-run shot to put the Rays ahead 3-1 in the first. Navarro has two homers and five RBIs in the last two games.
Cleveland took the lead on Franklin Gutierrez’s leadoff homer in the first.
Indians starter Jeremy Sowers gave up four runs and six hits in six innings (Associated Press - Sports).
Evan Longoria had another memorable at-bat during his outstanding rookie season.
Longoria, Dioner Navarro and Cliff Floyd homered to help the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays beat the Cleveland Indians 8-4 on Tuesday night.
Longoria’s two-run drive in Tampa Bay’s four-run seventh was his 22nd of the season, setting a team record for a rookie. Longoria hit two long drives that landed in foul territory then took a pitch before connecting against Rafael Betancourt.
“Longo’s at-bat was spectacular,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “He thought the first foul ball he hit was the hardest ball the whole at-bat.”
Longoria’s 428-foot drive made it 6-3, and Floyd and Navarro added back-to-back shots later in the inning.
Longoria hit a grand slam off Toronto ace Roy Halladay on July 20 during a 10-pitch at-bat. He fouled two balls off his left ankle before the homer.
Edwin Jackson (8-7) won his third consecutive start, giving up three runs and seven hits in 5 2-3 innings. Four Rays relievers allowed one run over the final 3 1-3 innings
“You’ve got to be thankful for them,” Floyd said of the bullpen. “If we’re going to win, it’s going to take them to keep doing what they’ve been doing.”
Left fielder Carl Crawford (sore left hamstring) and shortstop Jason Bartlett (right index finger) were out of the Rays lineup for the second consecutive game.
Tampa Bay stayed three games ahead of Boston and moved 6 1/2 games ahead of third-place New York.
Jhonny Peralta hit a two-run homer in the third to put Cleveland ahead 3-1. He has six homers and 26 RBIs over his last 25 games.
Tampa Bay responded with three runs in the fourth. Navarro stopped an 0-for-14 slide with a two-out, two-run single, and scored on Gabe Gross’ triple to give the Rays a 4-3 lead.
“I really believe we showed a lot of heart,” Maddon said. “We wanted to win that game, and somehow we did. These guys (Cleveland) have pressed us hard.”
Grady Sizemore had an RBI single in the eighth for Cleveland, which had won the first five games in the season series against Tampa Bay. The Indians left 13 runners on base, and went 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position.
“It was a frustrating ballgame to say the least,” manager Eric Wedge said.
Indians right-hander Fausto Carmona (5-4) lasted just four innings in his third start since returning from a left hip strain. He allowed four runs and three hits, walked five and struck out four.
Carmona has given up 17 runs over 12 2-3 innings in his last three outings.
“It’s been a little difficult to get in a good groove, especially today,” Carmona said through a translator. “I was trying to get back into the strike zone, but I was unable.”
Shin-Soo Choo put the Indians ahead 1-0 with an RBI single in the first. The Rays tied it at 1 in the bottom half on Carlos Pena’s sacrifice fly.
Cleveland loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth, but failed to score. Rays outfielder B.J. Upton caught pinch-hitter Ben Francisco’s drive near the center-field fence to end the inning.
Xtra, xtra: Jonny Gomes held the Rays’ previous record for homers by a rookie, hitting 21 in 2005. Tampa Bay recalled SS Ben Zobrist from Triple-A Durham and optioned Gomes to its top farm club (Associated Press - Sports).
Cliff Lee overcame early struggles and less-than-stellar stuff en route to another victory.
Lee tied the major league lead with his 15th win and the Cleveland Indians stayed unbeaten against the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays this season with a 5-2 victory on Monday night.
“Honestly, I didn’t have my best stuff,” Lee said. “Most of the innings I felt I had to battle quite a bit. They put me to the test petty good.”
Lee (15-2) went seven innings, giving up two runs and eight hits. The left-hander is 9-2 in 13 road starts.
Tampa Bay’s five-game winning streak ended. The Rays, who went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position against Lee, are three games ahead of Boston in the AL East. The Red Sox lost 4-3 to Kansas City.
David Dellucci hit his 100th career homer for the Indians, who improved to 20-36 on the road. Cleveland is 5-0 against the Rays this season, including a four-game sweep at home July 10-13.
Rafael Perez pitched the final two innings to record his second save.
Akinori Iwamura drove in both runs for Tampa Bay, which fell to 43-17 at home. Tampa Bay is 26-60 all-time in games with Cleveland.
“For some reason we play really well against these guys,” Dellucci said. “And when Cliff Lee is on the mound, you just follow his lead.”
Rays left fielder Carl Crawford (sore left hamstring) and shortstop Jason Bartlett (right index finger) were out of the starting lineup. It’s possible both might not start again Tuesday.
Kelly Shoppach put the Indians ahead 1-0 with an RBI double in the second. He made it 5-2 on a run-scoring in the eighth, and has eight RBIs over his last seven games.
Cleveland took a 2-0 lead on Asdrubal Cabrera’s third-inning solo homer.
Lee worked out of jams in the first and second innings, leaving five runners on base and holding Tampa Bay to 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position over the stretch.
“Fastball command. He throws the fastball where he wants to,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “I see a guy pitching with a lot of confidence.”
After needing just seven pitches to work a perfect third, Lee allowed a two-run, two-out single to Iwamura in the fourth that tied it at 2.
“He did a good job when he had to,” Rays first baseman Carlos Pena said. “He’s done an incredible job this year.”
Dellucci hit a two-run shot to put Cleveland back up 4-2 in the fifth.
“Growing up, I never thought I’d hit one homer, let alone 100,” Dellucci said. “It’s just a sign that you played in the ‘bigs’ for a long time.”
Tampa Bay starter Matt Garza (9-7) allowed four runs and seven hits in five innings. He is 0-3 with a 4.68 ERA in five games against Cleveland.
“I was off tonight,” he said.
The announced crowd at Tropicana Field was 17,049.
Xtra, xtra: The Rays will review the status of OF Rocco Baldelli (chronic muscle fatigue) Tuesday. “I don’t think he’s far off,” Maddon said. Baldelli worked out with the team before the game. Maddon also said that LHP David Price, the first overall pick in the 2007 amateur draft and currently with Double-A Montgomery, could join the team later this season. “He’s on task to get here,” Maddon said. (Associated Press - Sports).
Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon called the Rays’ extra-inning win over Detroit “inspirational.” Tigers manager Jim Leyland needed just 19 seconds to wrap up another tough defeat.
Carl Crawford hit a tying RBI single in the 10th inning and Carlos Pena drew a game-ending, bases-loaded walk to give AL East-leading Tampa Bay a 6-5 victory on Sunday.
“Emotional,” Maddon said. “I just love the fact we did not give up.”
Tampa Bay took advantage of Fernando Rodney’s wildness to put together the winning rally. Eric Hinske led off with a walk, bringing Jason Bartlett to the plate. Bartlett squared to bunt and left when Rodney (0-3) plunked him on his right index finger.
Shawn Riggans batted for Bartlett, and Rodney hit him on the chest with the next pitch.
“It wasn’t the best way to get the runner over, but it worked out,” Riggans said.
Both runners advanced on Akinori Iwamura’s sacrifice and B.J. Upton walked before Crawford hit a tying single into left field. One out later, Pena won it when took a 3-2 pitch to force in the winning run.
Rodney has blown four of his five save chances.
“I’ll just tell all of you to say whatever you want and write whatever you want,” Leyland said in his brief postgame media session. “That’s all I’ve got for you today. You guys write about it. You saw it. You write whatever you want. Report whatever you want.”
Detroit (55-56), one of the preseason favorites to win the AL pennant, is 13-16 since the start of July.
“You’ve got to step it up if you want to be in the hunt,” Leyland said before the game. “You don’t want to be in the hunt, go home. Take an early vacation. Come back for spring training. We’ll bring some kids up to play. We should be embarrassed. I’m not sure enough people are.”
Trever Miller (1-0) got the final two outs in the 10th for the Rays. He did not have a decision in his previous 121 outings—a major league record—dating to a victory over Atlanta on Sept. 30, 2006.
Miguel Cabrera gave Detroit a 5-4 lead with a leadoff homer off closer Troy Percival in the 10th. Cabrera has four homers and 25 RBIs in 17 games since the All-Star break.
Percival, who blew his third save in 27 opportunities, also gave up a tying solo homer to Curtis Granderson in the ninth. Granderson extended his hitting streak to 13 games.
“I wasn’t very good,” Percival said. “This team doesn’t quit. This bullpen has been so good, it’s like every time we do stink it up it’s like they’re obligated to go out and do something and they do. It’s incredible.”
Tampa Bay (66-44) equaled its victory total from last season and improved to 43-16 at home.
Magglio Ordonez had a pair of RBI singles and Gary Sheffield hit a solo homer for the Tigers. Armando Galarraga allowed one run and four hits over seven innings.
Tampa Bay scored three times against newly acquired Kyle Farnsworth to take a 4-3 lead in the eighth. Hinske hit a solo homer and Upton had a two-run shot for his first homer in 26 games.
“I was just trying to be aggressive and they hit the ball like they are supposed to when I make a mistake,” Farnsworth said. “It’s tough. Guys battled back for us, so it’s kind of frustrating. They did that for us, and we let them down pitching-wise. It’s tough.”
The Tigers went up 3-1 on Sheffield’s homer in the eighth. He has 489 career homers, including nine this season.
James Shields gave up two runs and nine hits in 6 1-3 innings for Tampa Bay.
Xtra, xtra: Bartlett said X-rays showed no broken bones. He might miss Monday’s game with Cleveland. Maddon and executive vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman will talk with Rocco Baldelli (chronic muscle fatigue) on Monday to determine the outfielder’s status. Baldelli completed a minor league rehab assignment Friday (Associated Press - Sports).
Personal accomplishments are nice, but Evan Longoria is more interested in what his performance means to the Tampa Bay Rays.
The All-Star third baseman tied a club record for home runs by a rookie, hitting No. 21 and driving in three runs Saturday night to help the AL East leaders maintain their three-game lead in the division with a 9-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers.
Longoria, who’s hitting .280 with 67 RBIs after beginning the season in the minors, also homered in the Rays’ 5-2 win over Detroit the previous night. He has five home runs and 14 RBIs in his last 14 games.
“It’s exciting … and I’ll have time to enjoy (personal accoloades) in the offseason, but what we’re doing right now as a team is a little more exciting,” Longoria said.
“He’s one of the best young players in all of baseball. There’s no question about that,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said.
“I saw him at the All-Star game. Had a chance to meet him. A very pleasant young man. Very impressive. I like him a lot because he’s a two-way player. A great third baseman, and a very, very good offensive player. He’s a total package.”
Carl Crawford contributed a two-run single for the Rays, who have won four straight and set a franchise record for home wins in a season (42) before a sellout crowd of 36,048 at Tropicana Field.
At 65-44, they have the second-best record in baseball and are just one victory shy of matching their total for last year, when they were a major-league worst 66-96. They lead Boston by three games and third-place New York by 5 1-2 in the AL East.
Right-hander Andy Sonnanstine (11-6) allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings, ending a three-game losing streak in which he gave up 14 runs and 22 hits in 19 innings. He hadn’t won since combining with J.P. Howell and Grant Balfour to shut out Kansas City on five hits July 5.
Longoria had a RBI double during a four-run second inning against Kenny Rogers (8-8) and a run-scoring single off Freddy Dolsi in the fourth. He led off the sixth against Casey Fossum with his home run.
Miguel Cabrera was 3-for-3, including an RBI double off Al Reyes, for Detroit. Placido Polanco had an RBI double and Magglio Ordonez added a run-scoring single off Sonnanstine when the Tigers trimmed Tampa Bay’s lead to 4-2 in third.
But with Rogers struggling from the beginning, when he walked two and hit a batter to load the bases in the first inning, the Rays pulled away for good with three runs off the Tigers’ starter in the fourth.
The 43-year-old left-hander gave up a RBI double to B.J. Upton before Crawford’s two-run single and Longoria’s double made it 4-0 in the second. Longoria’s fourth-inning single off Dolsi drove in the sixth run charged to Rogers, who fanned a season-high eight while giving up seven runs and six hits in 3 1-3 innings.
“I would have loved to stay out there a little longer and try to find my way out of that last inning, but it’s my own fault for not keep my pitch total down and getting into too many jams,” said Rogers, who threw 109 pitches.
The Tigers wasted an opportunity to gain ground on Chicago and Minnesota in the AL Central. Their third straight loss dropped them to 55-55.
“We have 11 hits, three runs. They have 11 hits, nine runs. That’s not good,” said Leyland, whose batters are 2-for-20 with runners in scoring position in the first two games of the series.
“We just haven’t done the job. You’ve got to go out and win ballgames,” the manager added. “We’ve hung around (.500) and got a little over. We just haven’t been able to take the next step to get something really rolling.”
Xtra, xtra: Sharon Robinson, daughter of Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson, threw out the ceremonial first pitch as part of African-American Celebration Night. The sellout, which could be attributed in part to a postgame concert featuring LL Cool J, was a club-record fifth this season. All of the tickets were gone by last Tuesday, making it the earliest the Rays have sold out a home game since their inaugural game in 1998. The Rays have not decided if OF Rocco Baldelli, on the 60-day disabled list with a disorder that causes muscle fatigue, will be activated. He finished a rehab assignment at Double-A Montgomery on Friday night. If he returns, it most likely will be in a limited role, rather than as an everyday player (Associated Press - Sports).
The Tampa Bay Rays are counting on Carlos Pena’s bat to help them stay in the pennant race.
The struggling slugger homered for the fourth time in eight games Friday night, helping the AL East leaders beat the Detroit Tigers 5-2 and retain a three-game lead in the division over Boston.
“I really believe in our guys,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “I believe they’re going to come through in the clutch and keep getting better.”
Pena is one of the players—along with Carl Crawford and B.J. Upton—the Rays expect to contribute more offensively after failing to add another bat before Thursday’s non-waiver trade deadline.
He was last season’s AL Comeback Player of the Year when he hit .282 with 46 homers and 121 RBIs, but hasn’t been nearly as consistent this season.
“We don’t ever try to project anything into the future. … We basically show up each day and play the game and just have faith that everything’s going to be great at the end,” Pena said.
Evan Longoria also hit a solo homer, and Tampa Bay’s bullpen limited Detroit to one hit over the last 4 1-3 innings.
Grant Balfour (3-1) struck out three of the four batters he faced in relief of All-Star Scott Kazmir to get the victory. The right-hander, who began the season in the minors, lowered his ERA to 1.20 with just four runs allowed and 45 strikeouts in 30 innings.
Pena’s homer off Zach Miner (5-4), snapping a 2-2 tie in the sixth, briefly lifted him into a tie with Longoria for the team lead with 19.
Longoria, leading all major league rookies in home runs, hit No. 20 off Joel Zumaya to make it 5-2 in the seventh.
Dan Wheeler escaped a bases-loaded jam in the seventh after J.P Howell gave up a double to Curtis Granderson, hit Magglio Ordonez with a pitch and walked Miguel Cabrera, bringing Gary Sheffield to the plate.
Sheffield, who drew a bases-loaded walk from Kazmir in the first, grounded to shortstop to end the threat.
“It’s a great feeling,” said Balfour, who’s allowed no runs and one hit in his last eight appearances. “All the guys are doing our part, one after the next.”
Troy Percival worked the ninth to finish the four-hitter, moving ahead of Randy Myers for sole possession of eighth place on the career saves list with 348. The 40-year-old closer has converted 24 of 26 opportunities this season.
The effort by the bullpen made up for a subpar performance by Kazmir, who fell behind 2-0 when he walked four of the first six batters of the game and then gave up a RBI triple to Cabrera in the third.
Although the left-hander only allowed two runs and three hits, he tied a career high with six walks in 4 2-3 innings.
“I thought we did a good job of laying off pitches, getting him in trouble. But we didn’t do a very good job of keeping him in trouble,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. “We let some early chances get away.”
Since winning a club-record six straight decisions from May 10 to June 6, Kazmir has only won twice in 10 starts. He’s lasted fewer than six innings in seven of those starts, exiting early more often than not because of high pitch counts.
He threw 110 pitches Friday night, departing after giving up a two-out single to Ordonez and issuing a walk to Cabrera. Balfour replaced him and struck out Sheffield to end the inning.
Miner, making his fourth start of the season after 32 appearances out of the bullpen, allowed four runs and eight hits in 5 1-3 innings. His chances of extending his personal winning streak to five consecutive decisions spread over two months was hindered by Detroit’s lack of timely hitting.
The Tigers left the bases loaded twice, stranded 12 runners overall and finished 0-for-9 with men in scoring position.
“We just couldn’t get a big hit,” Leyland said. “It’s that simple.”
Tampa Bay tied it with two runs in the third. Akinori Iwamura hit an RBI double and eventually came around to score when Brandon Inge, who became Detroit’s regular catcher when Ivan Rodriguez was traded to the New York Yankees, failed to handle a low pitch and was charged with a passed ball.
Xtra, xtra: After going 7-for-55 during a 13-game stretch, Crawford has five triples and is 9-for-23 during a six-game hitting streak. Rays OF Rocco Baldelli (mitochondrial disorder) finished a 20-day rehab assignment at Double-A Montgomery. His status will be re-evaluated when he returns to St. Petersburg this weekend (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.
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).
B.J. Upton responded to a benching exactly the way Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon hoped he would.
