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Boston had rare road success in Florida at the perfect time.
Clay Buchholz pitched six effective innings, Jason Bay drove in two runs and the Red Sox hurt Tampa Bay’s playoff hopes with a 6-3 win over the Rays on Thursday night.
The Red Sox took 2 of 3 from the Rays—Boston’s first series win at Tropicana Field since Sept. 21-23, 2007—to extend their AL wild-card advantage over Tampa Bay to six games. Texas trails Boston by three games.
“This is a tough, tough place,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. “I know we’ve had a run lately that hasn’t been very good, and I think part of that is they’re good. For us to win here, you have to play good games. Now you come down here and you’ve got to play clean baseball or you lose.”
Buchholz (4-3) allowed three runs and six hits. Bay, with 21 RBIs in his last 22 games, hit a two-run double that put the Red Sox ahead 2-0 in the first.
Evan Longoria had a run-scoring double for the Rays. The AL All-Star has 27 RBIs against the Red Sox this season. Since 1954, the most runs driven in against Boston during one season is 29, by Detroit Hall of Famer Al Kaline in 1959.
“Obviously you don’t want to lose any series, let alone one like this, but truth be told it’s one game,” Longoria said. “Disappointing, yeah, but we’re fortunate enough to be able to play tomorrow and still be in a race for the playoffs. The focus is come to the ballpark tomorrow and win that day.”
The announced crowd was 20,823, several thousand under the Rays’ home average of 23,992 starting the day. The three-games series drew just 57,663.
Boston took a 4-3 lead in the sixth when Mike Lowell hit a sacrifice fly. A run-scoring single by Victor Martinez and an RBI grounder from Kevin Youkilis made it 6-3 during the seventh.
Tampa Bay left-hander David Price (7-7), who had a win and save out of the bullpen when the Rays beat Boston in last year’s AL championship series, gave up four runs and six hits in 5 1-3 innings.
“I just wasn’t very good. Period,” Price said. “Didn’t have command. Didn’t have my stuff. I wasn’t out there really mentally. When you’re going out there like that, you’re going to lose.”
Ben Zobrist hit an RBI single and Longoria drove in a run with double to tie it at 2 in the first.
Rocco Baldelli, a member of the 2008 Rays, put Boston up 3-2 on a second-inning solo homer. Tampa Bay pulled even at 3-all on Gregg Zaun’s RBI double in the fourth.
“The Rays play really well in this building, so to be able to come in here at any point and win a series is very big,” Baldelli said.
Billy Wagner and Daniel Bard each worked a scoreless inning before Jonathan Papelbon pitched the ninth for his 34th save.
“I had those guys come in behind me that just slammed the door,” Buchholz said. “That’s a good feeling.”
Tampa Bay center fielder B.J. Upton left in the fifth with a sprained left ankle. He and left fielder Carl Crawford made contact on the warning track while going after Dustin Pedroia’s fly ball. Crawford caught the ball as Upton went down after taking an awkward step with his left ankle.
X-rays were negative, and Upton might miss just two or three games.
“I just rolled it,” Upton said. “When I’m able to play, I’m back out there. We’ll see how it goes the next couple day.”
Xtra, xtra: Boston CF Jacoby Ellsbury stole two bases and leads the majors with 58. Red Sox RHP Tim Wakefield (back) threw a 25-pitch bullpen session and might start Saturday’s game against the Chicago White Sox. Francona said the plan is to have INF Jed Lowrie (left wrist) stay with Triple-A Pawtucket until the minor league season ends (Associated Press - Sports).
The Tampa Bay Rays keep finding ways to hang in the AL playoff race.
“You’re not always going to win. It’s not always going to be an oil painting,” manager Joe Maddon said Wednesday night after his team rebounded from a sloppy performance the previous day to beat Boston 8-5 and avoid falling farther behind the wild-card leading Red Sox.
“It’s about effort and intent,” Maddon added, “and I saw that the last two nights.”
Pat Burrell snapped an eighth-inning tie with a RBI single and Evan Longoria followed with a two-run homer, enabling the defending AL champions nudge back within five games of Boston in the wild-card standings.
J.P. Howell (7-4) pitched one inning to earn the victory, despite allowing the Red Sox to tie it 5-all in the eighth on a wild pitch with the bases loaded. Dan Wheeler got the final two outs for his second save.
Carlos Pena led off the bottom of the eighth with a double off Ramon Ramirez (7-4), then scored on Burrell’s single to right-center. Longoria hit his 26th homer—eighth against Boston this season—on reliever Manny Delcarmen’s first pitch.
“Every time we play the Red Sox, it’s kind of like this. … They’re playing for something, we’re playing for something. I love it. Our guys love it,” Maddon said.
“We’re in the mix of things,” Pena said. “It’s really exciting to think about the upcoming games that we have. We’re very optimistic.”
Burrell and Carl Crawford hit solo homers off Red Sox ace Josh Beckett, who gave up five runs and seven hits while striking out nine in six innings. The Rays led 5-1 before the Red Sox scored twice in the fourth and once in the seventh to get back in the game.
Jason Bay, David Ortiz, J.D. Drew and Victor Martinez drove in runs off Rays starter Matt Garza, who allowed four runs and six hits in 6 2-3 innings but was unable to get his first win since July 24—a stretch of seven starts.
Boston pulled even in the eighth, loading the bases on three walks before scoring on Howell’s wild pitch. The Red Sox were unable to get the others home, though, and finished 3-for-16 with runners in scoring position.
“We got it tied,” Boston manager Terry Francona said, “and it got away.”
Tampa Bay, which dropped a season-high six games behind the Red Sox on Tuesday night, leads the season series between the teams 9-5, including a 6-2 advantage at Tropicana Field. The Rays also trail Texas by 2 1-2 games in the wild-card race.
“They play us tough. I think selfishly when we won (Tuesday night) it was kind of a safety net knowing the worst we could do is give up one game,” Bay said.
“That’s a good team and they always play us tough, so I think it’s a just a little reminder that it ain’t over yet. Ultimately, we still like the spot we’re in.”
Although he settled after a rocky first three innings, Beckett has not pitched well the past month, allowing 14 homers over his last five starts after giving up 10 in his first 22 starts of the season.
During that stretch, the right-hander’s yielded 27 runs in 31 1-3 innings.
“We lost. There’s not a lot of positives out of it,” Beckett said. “Obviously the big inning was the second inning. I thought I made some adjustments after that.”
Crawford homered in the first and Burrell went deep in the second, when Tampa Bay also scored on Akinori Iwamura’s RBI single and B.J. Upton’s sacrifice bunt, which first baseman Victor Martinez fielded and threw to the plate too late to keep Gregg Zaun from scoring from third.
Zaun’s RBI double made it 5-1 in the third.
Boston scored on Bay’s RBI triple in the second, then added two more in the fourth on Drew’s run-scoring single and Ortiz’s RBI grounder. The Red Sox trimmed their deficit to 5-4 when Martinez singled with two outs in the seventh to finish Garza.
“For some reason the last two starts, I just haven’t had that late life,” Garza said. “I have to figure out how to get it back. That’s all there is to it.”
Xtra, xtra: Ortiz has 100 career RBI’s against the Rays. The Rays promoted RHP Wade Davis from Triple-A Durham to make his major league debut against Detroit on Sunday. Rays senior advisor Don Zimmer had successful surgery for decompression of a nerve in his lower back. He is expected to be released from the hospital later this week and Dr. Tom Tolli expects a full recovery in six to eight weeks (Associated Press - Sports).
The Boston Red Sox didn’t take any chances.
With a seemingly comfortable lead slipping away in the eighth inning Tuesday night, manager Terry Francona asked Jonathan Papelbon to work overtime to finish off an 8-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.
“The way the inning was unfolding, it looked like the game was going to be won or lost in the eighth,” Francona said after his closer bailed the AL wild-card leaders out of a jam and then pitched a perfect ninth for his 33rd save.
“He got out of it with no runs, which is kind of hard to do. He felt good enough to go back out and have a crisp ninth. So, it worked out about as well as it could.”
Papelbon entered with two runs in and the bases loaded with no outs and shut down the AL champions with help from a diving catch by center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury, who snared Jason Bartlett’s sinking liner before scrambling to his feet to keep a runner from tagging up at third.
“That,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said, “is a do-or-die play.”
Papelbon, who struck out B.J. Upton for the first out, got Carl Crawford to foul out to end the inning. The save was his fifth of more than one inning.
“Those are pressure situations. The guy that’s the coolest will come out on top,” Papelbon said. “You get into situations like that, it boils down to focus. It’s a focus thing.”
The victory was the 11th in 14 games for Boston, which got a rare win at Tropicana Field to drop Tampa Bay a season-high six games behind the wild-card leaders.
Just as discouraging for the Rays, who also trail Texas in the wild-card standings, was the announced crowd of 17,692—less than half the capacity at Tropicana Field and 11,755 less than the teams averaged for six previous meetings in the domed stadium this season.
The Red Sox, who lost to the Rays in a seven-game AL championship series last year, remained 6 1/2 games behind the first-place New York Yankees in the AL East.
The Rays vowed to battle back.
“I’m not frustrated at all,” Maddon said, adding that he could not fault his team’s effort.
“They beat us. We made some mistakes. It happens,” he said. “What’s that game time—7:08 tomorrow night? We’ll show up. I promise you.”
Jon Lester (11-7) allowed two runs and seven hits, walked one and struck out nine in six innings. He gave up an RBI single and solo homer to Carlos Pena, who hit his AL-leading 39th leading off the fourth.
Francona said Lester left with tightness in his groin, but the manager didn’t think it was serious.
Bay hit his 30th homer, a solo shot in the fourth off Andy Sonnanstine (6-8), who returned from a two-month stint in the minor leagues to—at least for the moment—fill the opening in Tampa Bay’s rotation created by the trade that sent Scott Kazmir to the Los Angeles Angels.
Drew hit a two-run homer off the Rays starter in the fourth. Youkilis had a sacrifice fly off Sonnanstine and hit his 23rd homer off Dan Wheeler to increase Boston’s lead to 7-2 in the eighth.
Billy Wagner pitched a perfect seventh in his second appearance for the Red Sox since being acquired from the New York Mets last week, but the Rays made it interesting in the eighth against Hideki Okajima.
All five batters Okajima faced reached base, with Pat Burrell and Dioner Navarro delivering RBI singles to trim Tampa Bay’s deficit to 7-4. Francona then turned to Papelbon an inning earlier than usual.
Boston won for just the second time in seven games at Tropicana Field this year. The Red Sox are 3-13 in the Rays’ ballpark over the past two regular seasons.
Sonnanstine made his first big league start since beating Philadelphia on June 25. He had the highest ERA (6.61) in the majors when he was demoted to the minors two days later, and was 1-7 with an 8.22 ERA in nine road starts.
The right-hander had been much sharper at home (5-0, 4.54 ERA) before Tuesday night, although a pair of fielding errors—one by second baseman Akinori Iwamura, and the other by first baseman Pena—set up a pair of Boston runs.
“It’s a tough game. Errors are going to happen,” Sonnanstine said. “I need to do a little bit better job of stopping the floodgates from opening.”
Xtra, xtra: Ellsbury’s RBI triple in the ninth made it 8-4. Lester struck out the side in the second, hiking his season total to 191—a record for a Red Sox left-hander. He finished with 196. Bruce Hurst fanned 190 for Boston in 1987. Bay reached 30 homers for the fourth time. Pena has four homers in 26 career at-bats against Lester (Associated Press - Sports.)
Carlos Pena and the Tampa Bay Rays headed into September on a high note.
Next up, a key series against the Boston Red Sox.
Pena hit his AL-best 38th homer and drove in four runs to help the Rays beat the Detroit Tigers 11-7 on Monday for a split of their four-game series.
Tampa Bay scored six times in the first inning against the AL Central leaders, capped by Pena’s two-run drive. James Shields remained unbeaten against Detroit, and Jason Bartlett added a solo homer as the Rays moved within five games of idle Boston in the wild-card race.
Tampa Bay hosts the Red Sox on Tuesday night, the start of a three-game set.
“I don’t know if it gets any bigger,” Evan Longoria said. “Today is a great way to head home. It should be fun.”
Tampa Bay is 4-1 against the Red Sox at Tropicana Field this season and has won seven of the first 11 meetings.
Carlos Guillen had four hits for Detroit, including a pair of two-run homers.
Tigers starter Jarrod Washburn (9-8) allowed his first six batters to reach base. The last was Pena, who hit a shot down the right-field line. Pat Burrell had a two-run double earlier in the inning.
“It was great,” said Pena, who finished August with 12 homers and had his seventh game this season with four or more RBIs. “That first inning really put momentum on our side.”
Pena added an RBI double in the fifth and Bartlett homered in the sixth off Washburn, who lost for the second time since joining the Tigers in a July 31 trade with Seattle. He left the mound to a chorus of boos after allowing eight runs and nine hits in 5 2-3 innings.
“He certainly didn’t have very good success today,” Detroit manager Jim Leyland said. “Some of it by his own doing and some of it was that’s just the way it is sometimes.
“Sometimes it just isn’t your day.”
Pena singled in the first of three Tampa Bay runs off reliever Ryan Perry in the seventh and finished a seven-game road trip with four homers and 12 RBIs.
“Carlos is looking extremely sharp,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said.
Shields (9-10) allowed both two-run homers by Guillen, one in the first and another in the seventh, but had little trouble in between. The right-hander yielded four earned runs in seven innings and struck out six to win his second consecutive outing and improve to 3-0 in five career starts against the Tigers.
Guillen had his sixth career multihomer game. Detroit got its last two runs in the ninth off reliever Brian Shouse.
“It feels good,” Guillen said. “I hit the ball good. I was just trying to stay short and make good contact.”
Xtra, xtra: Pena missed his own club record for homers in a month by one. He hit 13 in September 2007. The Rays’ 43 August homers set a club mark. Longoria scored three times. Guillen also had his eighth career four-hit game. Tigers RHP Jeremy Bonderman (shoulder) will be activated from an injury rehab assignment Tuesday but will not be used as a starter, Leyland said. With rosters expanding to 40, the club also will promote pitchers Eddie Bonine and Casey Fien, C Dusty Ryan, OF Wilkin Ramirez and SS Brent Dlugach from Triple-A Toledo. Tampa Bay RHP Andy Sonnanstine will be recalled Tuesday from Triple-A Durham to start against Boston. The Rays also will call up C Shawn Riggans, OF Fernando Perez and RHP Jeff Bennett (Associated Press - Sports).
Justin Verlander is starting to sense the Detroit Tigers have the intangibles that helped them reach the World Series a few years ago.
Placido Polanco hit a three-run homer with two outs in the eighth inning, lifting Detroit to a 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday.
Third baseman Brandon Inge sealed the victory, leaping to snag B.J. Upton’s high hopper down the line with a runner on first and throwing across the diamond for the final out.
The AL Central-leading Tigers improved to 42-21 at home and have a relatively comfortable cushion over the Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox.
“This is a different ballclub than 2006, but there’s a lot of good karma and good guys just like we had,” said Verlander (15-7), a rookie for the AL champions when they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals. “It’s a very similar-type feeling and obviously, that was a fun year.”
The Rays, meanwhile, are not enjoying their season after winning the AL pennant.
“We let it get away,” manager Joe Maddon said. “We’ve done that too many times, and that’s why our record is where it is.”
Tampa Bay fell to 28-38 on the road and 11 games over .500 overall, heading home for a possibly pivotal series against the wild card-leading Boston Red Sox.
“We can’t afford to lose games like the one we lost today,” Rays outfielder Carl Crawford said. “We’re getting close to the line where we are going to be eliminated.
Verlander gave up three runs, six hits and four walks over eight innings and struck out four, matching a season low. Fernando Rodney pitched the ninth for his 29th save in 30 chances.
Grant Balfour (5-3) spoiled Jeff Niemann’s strong start.
Niemann was replaced in the eighth with a 3-1 lead after Clete Thomas hit a leadoff double. After Balfour retired the first two batters he faced, Curtis Granderson walked and Polanco hit his eighth home run of the season, snapping an 0-for-13 slump.
“I had challenged the first two guys and I felt great, but when I pitched around Granderson, it put me on the defensive,” Balfour said. “Polanco squared up a fastball, which is going to happen, but it happened at the worst possible time.”
Evan Longoria hit a two-run homer in the fourth—his 25th—and Akinori Iwamura’s first home run later in the inning gave the Rays a 3-1 lead.
Niemann retired the Tigers in order in the first two innings and four of the first six.
“He should have three more wins than we’ve given him,” Maddon lamented.
Detroit catcher Gerald Laird threw out Upton in the seventh and Jason Bartlett in the first, extending his major league-leading total to 30 this season.
“That gets lost in this whole game,” Leyland said. “That was huge for us. Laird was a big part of this win.”
Xtra, xtra: Verlander has lasted at least eight innings eight times this season, setting a career high. Longoria ended an 18-game stretch without a homer. Sunday marked the 104th anniversary of Ty Cobb’s first game in the majors. In his first at-bat on Aug. 30, 1905, Cobb doubled off New York Highlanders’ ace Jack Chesbro at Detroit’s Bennett Park. Thomas matched a season high with three hits. Crawford stole his 55th base, moving into a tie with Boston’s Jacoby Ellsbury for the most in the majors, and is five away from setting a career high. The Tigers drew 36,067 fans, putting them over the 2 million mark (Associated Press - Sports).
David Price was stung hard when Tampa Bay traded his best friend on the team Scott Kazmir.
The left-hander responded with the longest outing of his young career to help the Rays beat the Detroit Tigers 3-1 on Saturday. He lasted 7 1-3 innings and allowed a run and five hits. Price (7-6) struck out four and walked one.
“We needed it. It was big because emotions could have been running high,” said Price of his performance after Friday night’s deal that sent Kazmir to the Anahaim Angels for two prospects and a player to be named later.
He also broke a personal skid with his first road win of the season.
“It was good to get David rolling in the right direction,” Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. “We needed to get a win on the road.”
The key was Price’s fastball command.
“That’s where it starts for me. That’s my best pitch,” he said. “And when I can control that, I get positive results.”
Detroit catcher Gerald Laird agreed.
“You can see he’s got an electric fastball,” he said. “But today it seemed like he just kept us off balance, and he located well.”
J.P. Howell pitched the ninth for his 16th save in 23 chances.
Price worked out of a jam in the third inning, striking out Curtis Granderson and getting Placido Polanco to pop out with runners on second and third.
“We hit a few balls on the nose, but we didn’t do anything,” said Detroit manager Jim Leyland.
Price also struck out Miguel Cabrera with a runner on second to end the sixth.
“It seemed like he was dominating the strike zone and being super aggressive,” said Rays’ first baseman Carlos Pena.
Nate Robertson (1-1) took the loss as he was making his first appearance after coming off the disabled list Friday. He had been sidelined after having left elbow surgery. Robertson allowed two runs and four hits in four innings. He walked one and struck out four in his first start of the season.
“He gave us a shot to win the game,” said Leyland.
Magglio Ordonez’s two-out RBI single in the eighth off Dan Wheeler produced Detroit’s run.
Gabe Gross’ leaping catch at the wall on Granderson’s drive with a runner on first and none out in the eighth prevented the Tigers’ from tying the game. Gross had pinch hit for starting right fielder Gabe Kapler in the top of the eighth.
Third baseman Evan Longoria made two outstanding plays, including a diving effort to his left on Marcus Thames’ grounder in the seventh and shortstop Jason Bartlett also victimized Thames in second with a diving play to his right.
Tampa Bay scored twice runs in the third on Ben Zobrist’s RBI groundout and Pena’s two-out run-scoring single.
Pena was allowed to bat after the inning was extended when Robertson struck out Pat Burrell with a runner on second and two out, but catcher Gerald Laird couldn’t handle the pitch. It allowed Burrell to reach first and Jason Bartlett to go to third. Pena followed with his single.
Carl Crawford added a sacrifice fly in the ninth for the Rays.
Xtra, xtra: Tampa Bay activated 2B Akinori Iwamura from the 60-day disabled list and he was 1-for 2, with two runs scored and a walk. Iwamura missed 81 games while recovering from left knee surgery. He suffered the injury on May 24. Robertson had four masses removed from the elbow area of his arm. Detroit SS Adam Everett made two errors to match a career high (Associated Press - Sports).
Brandon Inge spends a good deal of time visiting with sick children in hospitals, and he’s often asked to hit an inspiring home run.
Occasionally he comes through.
Friday night was one of those times. Inge homered in his first at-bat, helping the Detroit Tigers to a 6-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays, who traded hard-throwing Scott Kazmir to the Angels after the game.
“There’s a kid named Noah that I’ve visited a couple times in the hospital, and he’s at home right now, and I spent a couple hours with him today,” Inge said. “He asked me the dreaded question—could I hit a home run for him in the game, and I told him I’d do the best I could.”
Inge homered to left off Matt Garza in the second inning to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead.
“When that ball went over the fence—that’s just an awesome feeling,” he said. “I see a lot of the kids at Mott Children’s Hospital, and they always ask for a homer, and it’s worked out twice now.”
For the Rays, the loss was overshadowed by the postgame news they had traded Kazmir, a two-time All-Star, to the Los Angeles Angels for two minor leaguers, left-hander Alex Torres and infielder Matt Sweeney, and a player to be named.
“This is a surprise—I had heard rumors before, but it’s hard to believe that it is now official,” Kazmir said. “It’s a disappointment because of all the relationships I’ve built in the organization and the city, but you can’t control the business side of the game.”
Rookie Rick Porcello (11-8) won for the first time since Aug. 6, allowing one run on four hits and two walks in 5 2-3 innings.
“That’s pretty impressive for a young kid,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland
The 20-year-old has allowed one or two earned runs in five of his six August starts.
“This has been a lot of fun, pitching while we are in a pennant race like this,” Porcello said. “I love pitching in Comerica Park—it’s a great pitcher’s park and the fans have been great.”
Four Detroit relievers combined to finish the six-hitter, which dropped the Rays 4 1/2 games back in the wild-card race.
“That’s still a tremendous team,” Leyland said. “They are as good as they were last year, but the Yankees did what the Yankees can do—they went out and got two top-notch pitchers in (CC) Sabathia and (A.J.) Burnett and one of the best players in the American League in Teixeira.”
Garza (7-9) took the loss, giving up six runs on five hits and three walks in five innings.
After Inge hit his 25th homer in the second, Detroit took control with five runs in the fourth. With one out, Aubrey Huff and Carlos Guillen walked before Inge’s single loaded the bases.
Gerald Laird and Adam Everett hit back-to-back two-run doubles, and Curtis Granderson made it 6-0 with a third straight double.
“The two walks are what cost me the game,” Garza said. “I walk those two guys, Inge singles, Laird hits a bloop and Everett rolls one down the line. That happens, but the walks are what really killed me.”
Gregg Zaun got Tampa Bay on the board with a sixth-inning RBI single that ended Porcello’s night.
Former Tiger Gabe Kapler ended the scoring with a solo homer off Bobby Seay in the ninth.
“I thought we hit the ball hard in a few key situations, but right at people,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “Their kid did a great job, and we just had the one bad inning.”
Garza didn’t think the Kazmir trade, which had been rumored before the game, hurt the Rays.
“You can’t let something like that distract you, or what will happen when you have a sick kid,” he said after hugging Kazmir. “We’ll miss him, but you only think about it for a few minutes, and then you’ve got to play.”
Xtra, xtra: Rays INF-OF Ben Zobrist missed the game due to a death in the family, but was expected to be back for Saturday afternoon’s game. Rain delayed the postgame fireworks for an hour, but several hundred fans stayed to see the show. The Tigers and Rays played for the first time this season, the first of seven games between the teams in 10 days. Detroit activated LHP pitcher Nate Robertson from the disabled list Friday, and he is expected to make his first start of the season Saturday against Tampa Bay. Robertson has been out since June 27 after having a mass removed from his left elbow (Associated Press - Sports).
A wild pitch brought a fitting end to a wild game.
Marco Scutaro scored the winning run on a wild pitch after Rays closer J.P. Howell loaded the bases with three walks, and the Toronto Blue Jays rallied to beat Tampa Bay on Wednesday night in a game in which two umpires were injured.
Rod Barajas hit a tying pinch-hit homer off Howell (6-4) with one out in the ninth. After walking three and with rookie Randy Ruiz up, Howell uncorked a curveball that bounced high off the shinguard of catcher Gregg Zaun, allowing Scutaro to score without a play.
“This is as bad as a gets as a relief pitcher,” Howell said. “Everyone does so much work to get there and you just want to get out of there, man.”
The blown save was Howell’s seventh.
“It’s just unfortunate because J.P. has been so great for us all year,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said.
The Rays are four games behind Boston for the AL wild card.
“You try to move on right then and there,” Howell said. “You try not to even carry it one more step with you as you cross the chalk. That’s what I try to do but obviously it’s a little more difficult in that situation, especially with what’s going on right now.”
Brandon League (2-5) worked one inning for the win.
It was a tough night to be a home plate umpire. Crew chief Jerry Crawford left after two innings because of back spasms and his replacement, Tom Hallion, was struck in the chest by a pitch from Rays lefty Scott Kazmir in the sixth.
Hallion was knocked backward when Travis Snider swung and missed at a two-strike pitch that seemed to cross up Rays catcher Zaun, slamming straight into Hallion’s ribs.
Kazmir was left shaken by the incident, which started when he tried to throw a fastball away that tailed inside.
“It hit him flush, you know, right there in the midsection,” Kazmir said. “I heard the sound when it hit him and the way he fell down, I knew it wasn’t good. You never want to see anything like that.”
Trainers and medical staff rushed to Hallion’s side and waved a cart onto the field. Hallion eventually stood up and walked off without assistance.
After a 21-minute delay, the game resumed with Hallion at third base. First base umpire Brian O’Nora moved behind the plate and Scott Barry moved from third to first.
“It was recommended by the doctor that (Hallion) not continue behind the plate,” said Crawford, the crew chief. “There was some doubt that he would not be able to continue. If he was having any difficulties breathing or something like that, we wouldn’t have let him go back out there. I would have gone back out there. We would have worked three men, I would have gone back out.”
Crawford said both he and Hallion are expected to be fine in time for the crew’s next assignment, Friday night in St. Louis.
Toronto’s comeback cost Kazmir his fifth win in six starts. The lefty allowed one run and four hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out a season-high 10. It’s the 17th time in his career Kazmir has fanned at least 10.
“When I got two strikes I had both my slider and my changeup to kind of lean on,” Kazmir said. “I got a couple of strikeouts with my slider early in the game but late in the game it was mainly my changeup. I was keeping it low and kind of throwing it off my fastball.”
Rays reliever Russ Springer pitched the seventh and Grant Balfour started the eighth but was replaced by Howell with two outs and runners at first and third. Howell got out of it by striking out Snider.
Seeking to win consecutive starts for the first time this season, Blue Jays rookie left-hander Rzepczynski didn’t allow a hit until Pat Burrell’s two-out single in the sixth. Already struggling with a high pitch count, the rookie’s shutout bid ended on the very next batter when Gabe Kapler homered into the left field bullpen, his fifth.
Rzepczynski allowed two runs and three hits in six innings. He walked a season-high five and struck out seven.
Toronto cut the deficit in half in the bottom half on an RBI double by Jose Bautista.
Making a rare start at third base, Toronto’s John McDonald turned in the defensive play of the night in the second, leaping to his left to knock down a liner by Burrell, then throwing to first from his knees for the out.
Xtra, xtra: Maddon said OF Carl Crawford (sore lower back) is feeling better, adding there is “a solid chance” the speedy outfielder will play at Detroit on Friday. The Rays are off Thursday. Rays Double-A LHP Darin Downs was released from hospital Wednesday and is returning home, where he will continue to be under a doctor’s care. Downs sustained a fractured skull when he was hit by a line drive Aug. 17 (Associated Press - Sports).
Carlos Pena may be a long way from 500 home runs but the Tampa Bay Rays slugger he feels like he’s already there.
Pena hit two two-run homers, giving him 200 for his career, James Shields pitched 6 2-3 innings for the win and the Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-3 on Tuesday night.
“That was fun when I heard that,” Pena said of reaching the milestone. “I was like ‘What? Two hundred home runs in the major leagues?’ It would take me a few minutes to count to 200. That’s all I know. That’s not one, two, three, four, five. It’ll take me a couple of minutes to get there. I’m very happy, I’m very grateful to have the opportunity to be able to actually do anything like that.
“Maybe it’s not 500 but to me it’s 500,” Pena added. “Maybe to the rest of the world it’s not 500 but to me, it feels just like it.”
The AL home run leader, Pena went 2 for 5 with four RBIs in his fourth multihomer game of the season. He has more home runs (37) than singles (35).
Pena has hit six homers in five games and 11 in 17. He’s batting .455 (10 for 22) over his current seven-game hitting streak.
“He looks like he’s going to hit the ball hard every time he swings the bat right now,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said.
The Rays, who remained three games behind Boston for the AL wild card, have won eight of 10.
Aaron Hill and Travis Snider hit solo homers for Toronto (57-67), which has lost 10 of 13 and is a season-low 10 games below .500.
Rays shortstop Jason Bartlett went 3 for 5, raising his average to .346. Bartlett is third in the AL in hitting behind Minnesota’s Joe Mauer and Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki.
Shields (8-10), who had lost four of five starts, allowed three runs and eight hits. He walked two and struck out five.
“I didn’t have my good stuff tonight,” Shields said. “I don’t know what it was. I just didn’t feel right out there. I battled through it. It’s one of those days where you don’t really have anything but, with the team giving me some runs early, it kind of gave me the confidence just to throw strikes and get hitters our early.”
Randy Choate pitched 2-3 of an inning, Chad Bradford and Brian Shouse each got one out and Dan Wheeler worked the ninth for the Rays, who are 11-3 against the Blue Jays.
Toronto took the lead in the first when Marco Scutaro singled, stole second and scored when Adam Lind singled through a drawn-in infield.
Pena put the Rays in front in the second with a two-run drive into the second deck in right off rookie left-hander Brett Cecil (5-3).
The Rays added four more off Cecil in the third. Pat Burrell hit a two-run single and, after a visit to the mound by Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston, Pena hit a second smash even deeper into the second deck in right.
“He’s seeing the ball amazing,” Shields said of Pena. “Those two balls he hit were no-doubters. I’m really happy for him right now.”
Cecil lost his second straight start, the first time this season he has dropped consecutive outings. He allowed six runs, five earned, and six hits in 3 1-3 innings, walked three and struck out three.
“Up in the strike zone, he stayed up most of the time,” Gaston said of Cecil. “When he’s down he pitches pretty good, his fastball sinks and runs a little bit and his changeup is good down. It looks like he’s getting his body out in front of his arm and he’s dragging his arm through.”
Hill hit his 30th homer in the third but Rays outfielder Gabe Gross made it 7-2 with an RBI single off Josh Roenicke in the fifth.
Snider cut it to 7-3 with a homer off the center field restaurant on Shields’ first pitch of the seventh, his second homer in three games.
Snider also had the defensive highlight, crashing into the right field wall after making a running catch of Gabe Kapler’s liner in the second.
Xtra, xtra: Rays OF Carl Crawford (sore lower back) was held out of the lineup and is unlikely to play Wednesday, Maddon said. Crawford left Monday’s game after three innings. The Rays are off Thursday and open a four-game series at Detroit on Friday. Tampa Bay is 23-23 when facing left-handed starters. Rays Double-A LHP Darin Downs, who suffered a fractured skull when he was hit by a line drive Aug. 17, remains in the hospital but is improving, a team spokesman said. Downs’ status will be reevaluated Wednesday. Blue Jays pitchers have allowed 10 or more hits in nine of the past 10 games. Toronto is 16-34 against AL East opponents (Associated Press - Sports).
Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon was smiling after their win and it wasn’t because his Rays roughed up Roy Halladay.
Nope, he was impressed with rookie starter Jeff Niemann.
Carlos Pena and Ben Zobrist each homered and the Rays handed Halladay his worst outing in more than two years, beating the slumping Blue Jays 12-7 on Monday night.
“I can’t be more pleased,” Maddon said. “It was just a really gritty, good effort when we needed to do it. It was awesome.”
Staked to an early 3-0 lead, Niemann buckled by giving up a second-inning grand slam to Toronto’s Rod Barajas. But the rookie righty never broke, allowing the Rays to come back.
“He easily could have caved in at that point, easily could have just called it in from that moment on and said ‘Forget about it,’ but he didn’t,” Maddon said. “You watch his composure and you watch how well he brought us into the seventh inning. For me, that may have been his best start of the year just based on that alone.”
Niemann (12-5) allowed six runs—five earned—and eight hits in 6 1-3 innings. He walked three and struck out three to move past Toronto’s Ricky Romero for the lead among AL rookies in victories.
“After the game, I went up to him and said ‘We won this game because of you. You kept it together,”’ Pena said. “That’s extremely impressive coming from a young pitcher like that. He showed a lot of poise.”
Halladay allowed eight runs—seven earned—in six innings to lose for the third time in five starts against the Rays this season.
“He’s arguably the best pitcher in the game,” Pena said. “His stuff is nasty. It’s very hard to just make contact. It does feel good to be able to come out on top because we know we’re going up against the best.”
Zobrist finished 3 for 4 with two RBIs and Jason Bartlett had three hits with an RBI, raising his average to .343, as the Rays won for the seventh time in nine games.
The Rays, who trail Boston by three games in the AL wild-card race, snapped a four-game road losing streak.
Toronto has lost nine of 12 and fell to 3-10 against Tampa Bay this season.
Halladay (13-7), who gave up 12 hits, walked one and struck out eight, has lost four of his past six decisions overall. It was his second straight loss, the second time this season he has dropped two straight. The righty was tagged for four runs and eight hits in five innings against Boston last Wednesday.
Halladay, who sat huddled at his locker with pitching coach Brad Arnsberg as the clubhouse emptied, denied feeling fatigued by a long season and persistent trade rumors leading up to the July 31 deadline.
“It just gets back to making pitches, it really does,” he said tersely. “It’s that simple. When you don’t, they cost you. That’s really all I can say.”
The seven earned runs are the most Halladay has allowed since he gave up seven to Tampa Bay on June 5, 2007, a game Toronto won 12-11 thanks to a six-run ninth.
Monday’s win “basically eradicates that old, bad memory,” Maddon joked.
The Rays jumped on Halladay for three in the first. Zobrist hit an RBI single, Pena followed with a sacrifice fly and Pat Burrell singled home a run.
“That first inning kind of set the stage for a wacky game,” Niemann said.
Toronto reclaimed the lead in the second, sending 10 men to the plate. Barajas hit a grand slam off Niemann, his 12th homer and second career slam, and Marco Scutaro drove in a run with a fielder’s choice.
The Blue Jays made it 6-3 in the third when Randy Ruiz scored on Bartlett’s fielding error, but the lead was short-lived.
Tampa Bay tied it in the fourth on Bartlett’s RBI single, with a second run scoring on Travis Snider’s throwing error. Willy Aybar capped the inning with a run-scoring grounder.
The Rays took the lead for good in the fifth when Zobrist led off with a walk and Pena followed with a homer to right, his 35th.
Zobrist greeted reliever Brandon League with a leadoff homer to left in the seventh, his 23rd.
Rays outfielder Carl Crawford left the game after three innings with a sore back and was replaced by Aybar.
“We don’t believe it’s anything serious but we definitely had to get him out of the game,” Maddon said. “We’ll see what happens but I’m not anticipating that he’ll be able to play (Tuesday).”
Xtra, xtra: Pena has as many singles (35) as home runs. Toronto activated LHP Scott Downs off the 15-day DL and placed 3B Edwin Encarnacion (strained left hamstring) on the 15-day DL. Halladay will get an extra day of rest before his next scheduled start, Sunday at Boston (Associated Press - Sports).
Scott Feldman earned high praise from Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon.
The right-hander won his fifth consecutive road start, Michael Young and Ivan Rodriguez each drove in two runs and the Texas Rangers avoided a three-game sweep by beating the Rays 4-0 on Sunday.
Feldman (13-4) is the first Texas pitcher with victories in five straight starts away from home since Rick Helling accomplished the feat in 1998. Feldman, 9-1 this season on the road, allowed four hits in seven scoreless innings.
Maddon said Feldman’s stuff actually “was better” than Mark Buehrle’s when the Chicago White Sox left-hander threw a perfect game against Tampa Bay on July 23.
“He was pretty much a complete package today,” Maddon said.
Young extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a two-run single in the third that put Texas ahead 2-0.
Rodriguez made it 3-0 with a fourth-inning RBI double and hit a sacrifice fly in the ninth. He has driven in 62 runs in 77 career games against the Rays.
Tampa Bay’s David Price (6-6) gave up three runs and three hits in seven innings. The left-hander had won five starts in a row at home.
“It’s good on paper, but it’s not good enough,” Price said. “Feldman threw well. He kept us off balance for seven innings.”
Feldman struck out a career-high 11 and walked two. Texas pitchers finished with 15 strikeouts.
“We needed a well-pitched game, and we shut out a pretty good team,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said. “I just think it showed the character and the resiliency in that clubhouse.”
Feldman worked out of jams in the second and seventh innings when the Rays had two on with one out.
“We mixed it up really good,” Feldman said. “Pudge (Rodriguez) is probably the best catcher of all-time and he’s got a really good idea about what he’s doing back there. He showed a lot of confidence in me and my off-speed pitches. That made a big difference facing those guys.”
Feldman’s 11 strikeouts were the most by a Texas pitcher since Matt Perisho had 12 on Oct. 3, 1999, against the Los Angeles Angels.
“He threw all his pitches for strikes when he needed to,” Tampa Bay third baseman Evan Longoria said. “He was tough.”
Darren O’Day struck out all three batters he faced in the eighth before closer Frank Francisco pitched the ninth in a non-save situation.
The Rays completed a nine-game homestand with a 6-3 record. They won two of three from Texas despite going 1 for 25 with runners in scoring position.
“That’s incredible,” Maddon said. “Their pitching is that good.”
Tampa Bay is 42-21 at home this season.
Xtra, xtra: Tampa Bay, 25-35 on the road, starts a seven-game road trip Monday at Toronto. The Rays will face Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay (13-6), who they have defeated five times over the past two seasons. The Rangers are off Monday before opening a three-game series Tuesday at the AL East-leading New York Yankees. Texas signed 3B Travis Metcalf to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Oklahoma City. Tampa Bay special adviser Fred McGriff, dressed in full gear, was the umpire for a pregame softball contest between the wives and girlfriends of the Rays and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. McGriff hit 493 homers during a 19-year big league career. The Rays are hitting .069 (4 for 58) against the Rangers bullpen this year (Associated Press - Sports).
Carlos Pena had more to play for than a Tampa Bay victory.
Pena homered twice and drove in the winning run with an RBI single in the 10th inning, giving the Rays a 5-4 victory over the Texas Rangers on Saturday night.
The Rays’ first baseman learned early Saturday that his close friend and college teammate, Greg Montalbano, had died of cancer Friday night. Montalbano pitched in the minors for the Boston Red Sox.
“I was crushed,” Pena said. “He was my right hand in college. He’s been battling cancer for 10 years. He was always smiling. The only thing that comforts me is I know he’s in a better place, but we’re going to miss him greatly.”
Evan Longoria was hit by a pitch from Jason Grilli (1-2), just off the disabled list, to start the bottom of the 10th and went to second when Ben Zobrist walked. Pena then hit a liner to center to score Longoria.
Afterward, the slugger was still thinking about Montalbano.
“I dedicated this game to his memory and his family,” Pena said.
Pena finished with four RBIs for the Rays, who remain three games behind AL wild-card leading Boston. The Rangers fell two games back of the Red Sox, who beat the New York Yankees 14-1.
“Carlos swung at strikes and didn’t miss them,” Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said.
Pena has three of his 16 career multihomer games this season, and has eight homers over his last 14 games.
Grant Balfour (5-2) struck out two during a scoreless 10th for the win.
Marlon Byrd pulled the Rangers even at 4 on a two-out, ninth-inning solo homer off Tampa Bay closer J.P. Howell, who had converted his previous 13 save opportunities.
“We came back and won it. You know what, it really eliminates what happened,” Howell said.
Pat Burrell hit a go-ahead RBI double in the eighth as the Rays took a 4-3 lead. His drive off the left-field wall scored Pena, who drew a two-out walk from C.J. Wilson.
Michael Young homered and had his third straight three-hit game. He has 18 three-hit games this season and 144 in his career, which is three behind teammate Ivan Rodriguez’s club record.
“It was a well-played game,” Young said. “Those kind of games, you love being the home team.”
Pena hit a solo homer in the second and put the Rays up 3-2 on a two-run shot in the fourth.
Texas went ahead 2-1 in the third when Taylor Teagarden drove in a run with a double and Young had an RBI triple. Young tied it at 3 on a sixth-inning solo homer.
Tampa Bay’s Matt Garza allowed three runs and six hits over seven innings. He has just one win in his last nine starts.
Rangers right-hander Tommy Hunter gave up three runs and seven hits in five innings.
Young singled in the first to extend his hitting streak to 10 games. He has 19 career double-digit hitting streaks, which ties the Rangers mark held by Rodriguez.
The game was delayed for a couple of minutes in the ninth when Byrd was hit by peanuts thrown from the left-field seats. Additional security was sent to the area.
“We played a good game. They just played better than us,” Byrd said.
Xtra, xtra: The AL East-leading Yankees had a group of scouts at the game between playoff contenders. Longoria hit into his AL-leading 23rd double play this season in the third. Byrd has 13 RBIs over his last 13 games. The Rangers activated Grilli (right elbow) from the 15-day disabled list before the game and optioned RHP Willie Eyre to Triple-A Oklahoma City. Texas RHP Brandon McCarthy (right shoulder) made his fourth minor league rehab start for Oklahoma City (Associated Press - Sports).
Scott Kazmir picked a great time for his best start of the season.
Kazmir took a shutout into the eighth inning, and Ben Zobrist and Carlos Pena homered on consecutive pitches as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Texas Rangers 5-3 on Friday night.
“That’s as good as he’s been all year in my mind,” Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. “It was really fun to watch. I was really impressed.”
Kazmir (8-7) didn’t allow a run until Taylor Teagarden opened the eighth with a homer. The left-hander, who has won four straight starts at home, wound up allowing three runs and five hits over 7 1-3 innings.
“If he can keep that going, there’s no telling what can happen,” Rays center fielder B.J. Upton said.
Tampa Bay moved within three games of AL wild-card leader Boston. Texas remains one game behind the Red Sox, who lost 20-11 to the New York Yankees.
“We played all around good baseball,” Kazmir said. “To get that first one (a win in the initial game of the series) is huge and gives us a little momentum.”
It was just the second time this year Kazmir has gone seven or more innings.
Zobrist hit a two-run shot and Pena followed with his 32nd homer to put Tampa Bay ahead 5-0 in the fifth. Zobrist has homered in three straight games and has 22 this season, breaking a tie with Jose Cruz Jr. (2004) for the most by a Rays switch-hitter.
Dustin Nippert (4-2) gave up five runs and seven hits in five innings for the Rangers, who are 20-14 since the All-Star break.
“I don’t know if it’s like I lost my focus or what, but those two pitches were not where I wanted to throw them,” Nippert said. “That was the deciding factor of the game.”
Michael Young had three hits for Texas.
After Teagarden’s homer, Marlon Byrd had an RBI single and Andruw Jones hit a run-scoring grounder off Grant Balfour, cutting Texas’ deficit to 5-3. The eighth inning ended when pinch-runner Julio Borbon was thrown out trying to steal second with Josh Hamilton batting.
Texas had a no steal situation in place for Hamilton’s at-bat.
“Am I going to call a steal from the dugout with Hamilton at the plate?” Texas manager Ron Washington asked. “You just don’t force things. There’s certain situations in the ballgame that say that the best thing to do is let the guy at the plate do his damage if he’s going to do his damage. He learned from it. We’ll move on.”
“I just got a little mixed up on the sign there,” Borbon said. “It wasn’t the smartest thing to do, going on that pitch.”
Kazmir worked out of a second-and-third, one-out jam in the sixth by striking out Byrd and Jones.
J.P. Howell pitched the ninth for his 15th save. The Rays improved to 41-20 at home.
Carl Crawford put the Rays ahead 1-0 when he drove in Jason Bartlett with a grounder in the first. Bartlett made it 2-0 during the second with a sacrifice bunt-fielder’s choice.
Xtra, xtra: The Rays are 9-17 against the AL West this season. Pena has two homers in four at-bats against Nippert. Teagarden has homered in four of his last 10 games. Byrd has driven in 12 runs over his last 12 games. Texas RHP Jason Grilli (right elbow) rejoined the team after a minor league rehab stint and is expected to be reinstated from the 15-day DL this weekend. Rangers C Kevin Richardson, designated for assignment earlier this week, cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Oklahoma City (Associated Press - Sports).
Brian Roberts knows the Orioles are concentrating on more than wins as the 2009 season winds down.
Roberts hit his fourth career grand slam and rookie Nolan Reimold added a three-run shot, leading Baltimore past the Tampa Bay Rays 8-7 on Thursday night.
“This may sound bad, but we’re not too focused on wins and losses,” Roberts said. “They are what they are right now. Certainly you don’t want to lose, but what I’m saying is we’re playing good games and you want to win.”
Baltimore (49-72) is heading for its 12th straight losing season and looking toward the future. The Orioles have had rookie pitchers start 69 games this year.
Roberts’ 12th homer of the season came on a 3-2 pitch from reliever Lance Cormier with two outs in the sixth and made it 5-1. Roberts was the first batter Cormier faced—he replaced starter James Shields. It was Roberts’ first grand slam since June 20, 2004, against Colorado.
“I fell behind him, so the pitches I went to were fastballs,” Cormier said. “He’s probably sitting 3-2 fastball. I just went with a two-seamer that didn’t get the outside part of the plate. In my mind, I’m not going to walk this guy. Make him put it in play, trust percentages and I gave him too good of a pitch to hit.”
Reimold extended Baltimore’s advantage to 8-4 with his homer in the seventh. The Orioles stopped a five-game losing streak and are 9-24 since the All-Star break.
“The home run ball usually plays against us, but it was really for us tonight” Orioles manager Dave Trembley said.
Ben Zobrist homered and had four RBIs for the Rays, who entered with a four-game winning streak. Carlos Pena drove in two runs with a single during a three-run eighth as Tampa Bay cut its deficit to 8-7.
“It’s a tough loss,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “We just have to put it aside and come back tomorrow night.
The Rays are four games behind AL wild-card leader Boston. Texas, trailing the Red Sox by a game, opens a three-game at Tampa Bay on Friday night.
Jim Johnson pitched the final 1 1-3 innings for his fifth save. The Baltimore closer, who rejoined the team after missing the previous two games for the birth of his daughter, struck out Evan Longoria a runner on third and two outs in the ninth.
“I loved the fight,” Maddon said. “We were there to the very end.”
Shields (7-10) allowed four runs and seven hits over 5 2-3 innings. All three runs charged to him in the sixth were unearned because leadoff hitter Reimold reached second on third baseman Longoria’s throwing error. The Rays’ opening day starter is 1-5 over his last 11 starts.
Zobrist put the Rays up 1-0 with a first-inning RBI double, and then got Tampa Bay to 5-4 on a three-run homer off Brian Matusz (2-2) in the sixth.
Matusz, making his fourth major league start, gave up four runs and seven hits in 5 1-3 innings.
“I feel like it was the first time this year I was really able to settle down and get into a great groove,” Matusz said.
Baltimore tied it at 1 when Cesar Izturis hit a run-scoring grounder in the fifth.
Xtra, xtra: Shields (3.81) is the only AL pitcher with 10 defeats and an ERA under 4.00. Roberts has a 10-game hitting streak. Tampa Bay 2B Akinori Iwamura (left knee surgery) was the DH for Triple-A Durham two days after leaving a minor league rehab start with leg muscle fatigue. The Orioles claimed RHP Chris Lambert off waivers from Detroit and optioned him to Triple-A Norfolk. Injured Baltimore INF Luis Montanez (right thumb) will play in the Puerto Rico winter league. Baltimore has set up a throwing program for RHP Koji Uehara (right elbow), who is rehabbing at the team’s minor league complex in Sarasota, Fla (Associated Press - Sports).
Jeff Niemann started the season as Tampa Bay’s fifth starter. The rookie is pitching like the ace of the staff.
Niemann allowed one run over 7 1-3 innings for his 11th win of the season, and Pat Burrell, Ben Zobrist and B.J. Upton hit solo homers as the Rays beat the Baltimore Orioles 3-1 on Wednesday night.
“He’s just in control,” Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. “Very solid all the way through. His work has been excellent, both physically and mentally.”
Niemann (11-5) lost his shutout bid when the last batter he faced, Brian Roberts, hit a solo homer with one out in the eighth. The right-hander, who has won seven of his last eight decisions, gave up seven hits and one walk, striking out five.
“I’m just trying to get out there each time, keep us in the game as a team and let the rest fall into place,” Niemann said.
J.P. Howell pitched the ninth for his 14th save. Tampa Bay has won four straight after a five-game losing streak.
Chris Tillman (1-1) allowed the three homers among seven hits over six-plus innings for the Orioles, who are 8-24 since the All-Star break and dropped to a season-high 24 games under .500 (48-72).
Niemann worked out of a bases-loaded, no-outs jam in the fifth. Shortstop Jason Bartlett dived to knock down a liner by Cesar Izturis and threw home for a forceout. Roberts then grounded into a double play.
“Everybody talks about the three homers, the game shifts on that moment,” Maddon said.
Bartlett didn’t check third, where Orioles catcher Matt Wieters was on base, before making his throw.
“I was thinking home when I was going to get the ball,” Bartlett said. “Something in my mind clicked that he’s not too far off the bag.”
Orioles manager Dave Trembley called it the play of the game.
“Niemann should take Bartlett out to dinner,” Trembley said. “I’m not shaking my head over it. I’m tipping my cap to the great play Bartlett made.”
Roberts has hit into just four double plays in 475 at-bats this season.
“Brian Roberts is a guy who hits into a double play about once every blue moon,” Trembley said.
Burrell put the Rays ahead 1-0 with his 12th homer in the fourth. He had a solo shot in Tuesday’s 5-4 win over the Orioles.
Zobrist made it 2-0 with his 20th home run in the sixth. Three of the homers have come since the All-Star break.
Upton homered for the second straight game, putting the Rays up 3-0 with a leadoff shot in the seventh.
All three Tampa Bay homers came on a first pitch from Tillman.
“I can’t really knock myself because I’m being aggressive, but I have to make better pitches,” Tillman said. “I guess I’m giving them too good of a first strike, obviously.”
Baltimore has gone 3 of 18 with runners in scoring position, including 1 of 6 Wednesday, over the past two games. The Orioles are 4-32 in their last 36 road games against AL East opponents.
Tampa Bay loaded the bases with two outs in the first, but failed to score when Burrell lined out to left.
Baltimore’s Nick Markakis went 0 for 4 and had his stretch of reaching base in 38 consecutive games end. His 11-game hitting streak also ended.
Xtra, xtra: Tampa Bay LF Carl Crawford is 11 for 20 with seven doubles over his last five games. Orioles closer Jim Johnson is scheduled to return Thursday after missing two games for the birth of his daughter. Maddon has been named one of four 2009 Lafayette Maroon Club Hall of Fame selections. Maddon played three years of baseball at the college. Trembley said 6-foot-9 rookie RHP Kam Mickolio has the potential to be a closer in the future (Associated Press - Sports).
It must be the hair.
On a night Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon arrived at the ballpark with his silver hair dyed black, Gabe Gross hit a two-run homer, and Pat Burrell and B.J. Upton added solo shots to lead the Rays past the Baltimore Orioles 5-4 on Tuesday.
Maddon’s color change was in preparation for next week’s Johnny Cash-theme road trip, and was an attempt to keep his team loose. The Rays started Tuesday four games behind AL wild-card leader Texas.
“I felt we were way too uptight around here,” Maddon said. “More than anything, we have not been really relishing in victory and I think we’ve been like too painful in defeat. We’ve just got to go out there and play. Understand it’s a game. We got to the World Series last year by being kind of free-spirited about the whole thing. The black hair is symbolic of all those different items.”
Gross gave Tampa Bay a 3-2 lead with his fourth-inning drive. Burrell and Upton homered in the sixth to make it 5-2.
Gross homered for the first time since July 22, and has two homers in his last 33 games. Upton’s last homer came on June 30, and the center fielder has eight RBIs over his past 38 games.
The up-and-down Rays have won three straight after a five-game losing streak.
“I think we should just forget everything that’s happened up to this point,” Upton said. “Hopefully that means we can get going down the stretch.”
Baltimore got a two-run homer from Matt Wieters. The Orioles are 8-23 since the All-Star break and dropped to a season-high 23 games under .500 (48-71).
Rays left-hander David Price (6-5) threw 102 pitches in five innings, allowing two runs and seven hits. J.P. Howell, who agreed with Maddon’s assessment, pitched the ninth for his 13th save.
“It gets dry,” Howell said. “We’re grinding it out, but sometimes you need a little boost. I think we’re all in.”
Baltimore starter Jason Berken (2-11) gave up five runs and 11 hits in 5 2-3 innings.
“The ball started fading over the plate and against good power hitters high balls are no good,” Berken said.
The Orioles took a 2-1 lead in the third on run-scoring singles by Adam Jones and Nolan Reimold. Wieters’ fourth homer of the season, and first since July 5, pulled Baltimore within 5-4 in the eighth.
Wieters struck out with runners on first and second and two outs in the ninth.
“We left too many guys on base and didn’t get the big hit when needed,” Baltimore manager Dave Trembley said.
The Orioles left 13 on base, and went 2 for 12 with runners in scoring position.
Upton put the Rays ahead 1-0 with an infield RBI single in the second.
Baltimore’s Nick Markakis reached base for the 38th consecutive game, the longest active streak in the majors, when he singled in the second. It gave him an 11-game hitting streak.
Xtra, xtra: Tampa Bay 2B Akinori Iwamura (left knee surgery) left in the third inning of a minor league rehab game with Triple-A Durhman with muscle fatigue. The Rays expect Iwamura to play Thursday. The Rays and Major League Baseball celebrated the 40th anniversary of Woodstock by showing music legend Jimi Hendrix’s performance of the national anthem on the stadium video screen. Jones snapped an 0-for-12 slide with his third-inning hit. Tampa Bay RHP Chad Bradford (lower back tightness) threw a 20-pitch simulated game and was reinstated from the DL after the game. INF Reid Brignac was optioned to Durham. Rays SS Jason Bartlett was rested, while Burrell returned after missing two games with neck stiffness. Baltimore closer Jim Johnson returned home for the birth of his child (Associated Press - Sports).
Gregg Zaun’s new teammates were well aware of his knack for hitting grand slams. After all, he had a game-winner against the Rays last season.
He gave them another one to talk about Sunday.
Pinch hitting with the bases loaded in the eighth inning, Zaun connected off Brandon League to help give Tampa Bay a 5-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.
It was Zaun’s fifth career grand slam and first since Sept. 6 while with Toronto. The homer came against the Rays, a game-winning drive off Troy Percival in the 13th inning.
“The funny thing is we were talking about it,” Zaun said. “I don’t know who said it, but somebody said ‘Do that stuff for us.’ I said, ‘All right, I’ll do my best.’ Sure enough, today.”
Ben Zobrist had a one-out single off League (1-5) and went to third on Carlos Pena’s double. After Willy Aybar was intentionally walked to load the bases and pinch-hitter Gabe Gross struck out during a 10-pitch at-bat, Zaun sent a 3-2 pitch into the right field seats.
Tampa Bay obtained Zaun in a trade with Baltimore on Aug. 7.
“I just kind of went with my gut feeling, which was a heater with Zaun,” League said. “I just left it in the middle of the zone and he did what he did with it.”
League hit the next batter, B.J. Upton, on the first pitch, which prompted plate umpire Jim Joyce to warn both benches. After talking with Joyce, Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston replaced League with Casey Janssen.
Rays manager Joe Maddon said Upton was not hit on purpose.
“Jimmy (Joyce) had to do it because a grand slam had just been hit. Based on that, and the way baseball world works today,” Maddon said. “By no means was that intentional.”
Dan Wheeler (4-3) pitched a perfect 1 1-3 innings for the win.
Blue Jays rookie left-hander Marc Rzepczynski gave up one run and six hits over six innings. Toronto, which has lost nine of 12 games this season against Tampa Bay, got a ninth-inning solo homer from Marco Scutaro.
“He gave us a chance to win, but we didn’t take advantage of the opportunity,” Gaston said of Rzepczynski. “Just a base hit or a flyball and it’s a different ballgame. It’s too bad.”
Carl Crawford put the Rays ahead 1-0 on an RBI double during the third. The AL All-Star went 7 of 12 with five doubles in the three-game series with the Blue Jays.
Toronto tied it at 1 when Vernon Wells hit a fifth-inning run-scoring single.
Rays starter Matt Garza struggled, but wound up allowing just one run on eight hits and two walks in five innings. The Blue Jays went 2 for 13 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine against the right-hander.
Garza worked out of a bases loaded, no out jam in the third. He retired Adam Lind on a flyball, struck out Lyle Overbay and got a grounder from Vernon Wells.
“He did the Houdini act today,” Maddon said. “He had good stuff, but they kept getting runners on. He battled through it.”
Toronto had two on with no outs in the fourth, but again failed to score.
Tampa Bay was hitless in 11 at-bats with a runner in scoring position before Zaun’s homer. The Rays have won seven straight home series against the Blue Jays.
Xtra, xtra: Zaun has two career pinch-hit grand slams. The other came on June 27, 2002, while with Houston in a game against Arizona. Blue Jays rookie LHP Brett Cecil (left knee) is set to rejoin the rotation Thursday. He took part in fielding drills and threw off a bullpen mound. Tampa Bay DH Pat Burrell (neck stiffness) was out of the lineup for the second consecutive game. He did hit in the batting cage and could start on Tuesday. Toronto LHP Scott Downs (toe) will stay in Florida for a minor league rehab assignment. He practiced defense and threw off a mound. Scutaro started the game by hitting a grounder to short on the 13th pitch of the at-bat (Associated Press - Sports).
Boston had rare road success in Florida at the perfect time.
