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Kazmir outduels Santana; Devil Rays snap road skid vs. Twins

Apr 14, 2007 - 7:03 AM MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Scott Kazmir and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays ended their long losing skid at the Metrodome against an unlikely source.

Kazmir outdueled Johan Santana, and B.J. Upton had a key hit in a three-run fifth inning as the Devil Rays beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-2, snapping an 11-game slide here.

The Twins entered having won the last 24 starts at home by Santana, a modern day major league record, and the lefthander was 17-0 over that span. But the Devil Rays were not daunted.

"I was up for the challenge, I always am," Kazmir said. "I try to take every game the same, I really do. But, you have to get up for games like this, because you know that you can't give up much.

"Once we got the lead, it just felt like I had to bear down, and the adrenaline kind of took over a little bit."

Coming into the game, even the reigning Cy Young winner Santana knew he would have to be at his best.

"Kazmir is becoming one of the best lefthanders in the game," Santana said. "He threw the right pitches at the right time. Tonight wasn't my night."

Trailing, 1-0, in the top half of the fifth, Josh Paul and Upton had consecutive RBI singles to put the Devil Rays in the lead. Baldelli plated Paul with an RBI groundout later in the frame to give the Devil Rays a 3-1 lead.

Santana (2-1) allowed four runs, six hits and a walk in seven innings and struck out 10 for his first loss in his last five starts vs. Tampa Bay.

Kazmir (1-1) was outstanding, scattering two runs and six hits in eight innings while striking out six. It was his first victory since July 3, 2006, a span of nine starts. The 23-year old also gained his first win vs. the Twins in four career starts.

"Kaz set the tone," Devil Rays' manager Joe Maddon said. "He looked like he was getting stronger as the game was in progress. The velocity seemed to come up. The command was very good. He was pounding the strike zone."

Al Reyes worked around a one-out double by Justin Morneau in the ninth for his third save of the season.

A night after making a critical baserunning blunder late in a tie game, Carl Crawford again created some excitement on the basepaths for the Devil Rays.

In the sixth, the outfielder hit a ball that tailed away from Minnesota left fielder Josh Rabe and made it to the wall. Crawford turned on the speed and came away with his second career inside-the-park home run.

"Once I saw the ball got past him, I knew I was going to at least try for it," Crawford said. "(The media and fans) made fun of me running through the sign. I was going to run through the sign again just to show them it doesn't matter if I run through the sign."

Ty Wigginton had two hits and Rocco Baldelli drove in a run for Tampa Bay, which had not won in the Metrodome since June 3, 2004.

Morneau had two hits, homering for the second straight game, and Luis Castillo also had two hits for the Twins, who had won 15 of their last 16 vs. the Rays.

"That was a pretty good duel," Twins center fielder Torii Hunter said. "Johan had 10 strikeouts, that let's you know how well Kazmir was pitching. He pitched pretty good. I am impressed with that guy."