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Kazmir, Devil Rays add to Angels' slide

Jul 19, 2007 - 4:06 AM ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- After dropping three of four to the New York Yankees to open the second half of the season, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays are starting to turn it around.

Scott Kazmir pitched a gem as the Devil Rays posted a 7-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Wednesday at Tropicana Field.

"That was the best outing of the year for him," Devil Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "It's what we've been looking for. He had great rhythm and tempo and I don't know if you noticed, it was an easy delivery and the ball just jumped out of his hand. That's what we saw a lot last year."

Mired in last place in the American League East Division (37-56), the Devil Rays have won two straight against the AL West leaders.

The Angels (55-38) entered Wednesday's game struggling, and Kazmir would not let them off the hook. They now have lost three straight and are 4-7 in their last 11 games.

"Records don't mean anything," Angels manager Mike Scoscia said. "The Rays are playing aggressive baseball and they got good pitching the last couple of nights. We're better than we've shown the last couple of weeks."

Kazmir (7-6), whose problems with high pitch counts have forced him out of games early, was sharp on Wednesday. He turned in seven strong innings, throwing just 94-pitches - 65 for strikes - while allowing a run and three hits with one walk and six strikeouts.

"It's all starting to come together now," Kazmir said. "I felt really comfortable out there, not having to worry about mechanics, just put the ball where I wanted. I told you that in the second half I just wanted to go back to what I did the last couple of years."

Anaheim opened the game with a run in the first, when Reggie Willits scored on Orlando Cabrera's groundout. However, Kazmir yielded just two hits over the next six innings.

In the fourth, the Devil Rays tied it on an RBI single by Delmon Young. But Angels starter Bartolo Colon prevented further damage, wiggling out of a bases loaded, none-out jam with back-to-back strikeouts and a popout.

"My location was much better," Colon said. "I feel very good and I'm happy where I am right now. It's more frustrating the game I pitch and the team doesn't win."

Tampa Bay took the lead an inning later on a run-scoring groundout by B.J. Upton and tacked on another run when Anaheim catcher Jose Molina threw the ball into left field on Carl Crawford's 28th stolen base, allowing the speedster to score from third.

"He picked a perfect spot to run," said Maddon. "He was really paying attention to what they were doing right there. That was a big run for us right there as it brought the momentum back to our side because they got out of so many jams. They got out of the bases loaded jam and that added it to their side but Kaz goes out there and does his job. Carl is getting a little toasty right now, He's getting hot."

In the sixth, Ty Wigginton greeted Angels reliever Dustin Moseley with a homer to center, his 14th of the year, to make it 4-1. Wigginton, who entered the game with a club record-tying eight straight hits, grounded into a forceout in his first at-bat, ending the streak.

Moseley then loaded the bases and was lifted in favor of lefthander Darren Oliver. The lefthanded-hitting Carlos Pena promptly plated three runs with a double off the "B" ring, the second-highest at Tropicana Field, stretching the bulge to 7-1.

The double extended Pena's hitting streak to 14 games, the longest run of the season by a Devil Ray.

"That's cool, isn't it?" Pena asked rhetorically his shot off the ring. "I thought I had enough of it (for a homer) but some guys said it might have been too high and it would be caught on the track. I don't want to find out. We'll take the double and three runs, that's fine."

Colon (6-5) allowed three runs and five hits in five innings. He struck out seven but issued four walks.