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Six-run fourth gives Fossum all he needs

Apr 18, 2007 - 3:10 AM ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- Casey Fossum hopes his first win is just the first of many.

Fossum pitched well into the eighth inning and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays erupted for six runs in the fourth inning off Steve Trachsel en route to a 6-4 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

After yielding a first-inning leadoff single to Brian Roberts, who stole second and third before scoring on a groundout by Nick Markakis, Fossum retired 11 straight until an infield single by Miguel Tejada in the fourth.

Fossum (1-2) got the side in order in the fifth and seventh and escaped a two-out jam in the sixth by getting Markakis to fly out with a runner on third.

"It made my job easier when we jumped on them early," Fossum said. "My control was pinpoint today. It's good to get that first (win) out of the way. Hopefully I'll get a lot more."

Fossum left after yielding a double to Jay Gibbons and a walk to Alberto Castillo to start the eighth. Pinch hitter John Knott greeted reliever Brian Stokes with a three-run homer, the first of his career, but the righthander got through the eighth and Al Reyes logged the ninth for his fifth save.

"Casey was a big part of it," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. "He looked as good as I've seen him the past two years."

Trachsel (0-1) retired the first nine batters with the aid of a double play, before imploding in the fourth.

"Location was the difference (in the fourth)," Trachsel said. "Balls in the middle of the plate. I made a couple of good pitches and got some ground balls, but they were in the holes. I just couldn't stop the bleeding."

Brendan Harris doubled in a run and Ty Wigginton and Delmon Young produced RBI singles. Carlos Pena delivered a sacrifice fly and Rocco Baldelli, who opened the frame with a walk, capped the frame with a run-scoring single.

"I was just trying to get a good at-bat," said Harris, who is hitting .444 this season and has hit safely in all five games he has played. "Being able to bat around was nice."

Trachsel left after Baldelli's hit, surrendering six runs on six hits in 3 2/3 innings.

"I think the first couple of innings, Trachsel was on his game," Baltimore manager Sam Perlozzo said. "He had good location and kept the ball down. I think that one inning, his ball kept leaking out over into the strike zone and they took advantage of it."

"Trachsel's a command pitcher," Maddon said. "He tries to get you to swing at a ball in the dirt or a little out of the strike zone. We can't swing at everything. We have to be selectively aggressive and that's what we were."

The Devil Rays rebounded from blowing a 6-0 lead Monday night in a 9-7 loss.

"This was a big game, we played well," Baldelli said. "There were no negatives. We had to get last night's game out of our system."

Reyes, who entered the season with six career saves, recorded his fifth save in as many chances this year. He has retired 18 of the 21 batters he has faced.

"A big part of the win was our pitching," Maddon said.