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Lowe, Dodgers knock off Devil Rays

Jun 23, 2007 - 3:19 AM ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- Derek Lowe continues to have success against the Tampa Bay Devils Rays.

The righthander pitched 6 2/3 solid innings as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Devil Rays, 6-3, in the opener of a three-game interleague series on Friday.

Facing Tampa Bay for the first time since 2004, Lowe (8-6) allowed three runs, five hits and one walk, while striking out five.

"Today was an offensive win, the offense picked me up the whole game," Lowe said. "Anytime you can get runs especially early it allows you to settle down a little bit knowing every pitch is not life and death."

The righthander now is 10-3 with a 3.11 ERA in 38 career appearances - 14 starts - against the Devil Rays, who he threw a no-hitter against as a member of the Boston Red Sox in 2002. It was the first no-hitter at Fenway Park since 1965.

"Lowe's pretty good," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. "He's got the ultimate bowling-ball sinker out there."

Two relievers bridged the way to Takashi Saito, who survived a pair of two-out singles for his 20th save in 21 opportunities. Jonny Gomes came to the plate with a chance to tie the game, but Saito struck him out on a 2-2 slider.

"It would've been nicer if the game was tighter (in the ninth)," Maddon said. "I thought we rallied well in the ninth."

The Dodgers were quick to provide Lowe with run support as Luis Gonzalez led off the top of the second inning with a home run off rookie starter Andy Sonnanstine (1-2). It was the seventh homer the rookie righthander had allowed over his first 20-plus major league innings.

The lead grew to 2-0 later in the frame when James Loney advanced to third base on a fly out and scored when the relay throw from shortstop Brendan Harris sailed into the stands.

Sonnanstine ran into more trouble in the fifth, allowing back-to-back singles to Rafael Furcal and Juan Pierre. Furcal moved to third on the hit by Pierre, who advanced to second base when the throw came in to third.

The hustle paid dividends as Russell Martin followed with a two-run single to center.

Sonnanstine allowed four runs, 10 hits and one walk, while striking out one in seven innings.

"I mixed up a little more with tempo and arm angle," Sonnanstine said. "There's some good hitters coming up to the plate, so if you don't have your best stuff you have to rise to the occasion."

The Devil Rays began to chip away at the 4-0 lead in the bottom of the frame as rookie Delmon Young plated Carlos Pena with an RBI single. Carl Crawford's eighth triple of the season in the sixth scored Harris to cut the lead in half.

Young trimmed the lead to 4-3 with a two-out solo homer in the seventh and put an end to Lowe's outing.

The Devil Rays' momentum did not last long.

Jeff Kent opened the eighth with a deep fly ball to center field that went for a triple when Young lost the ball in the lights. Gonzalez followed with a liner to right that also was played into a triple after Gomes' unsuccessful attempt at a diving catch in right field.

Loney followed with an RBI single - his third hit of the game - to restore the Dodgers' three-run cushion.

This was just the fourth win for the Dodgers in their last 25 games at an American League ballpark.