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Pena, Longoria power Rays past Tigers

Aug 2, 2008 - 3:50 AM ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- Joe Maddon admitted he's doing something no other Tampa Bay Rays manager has done in franchise history during the month of August - scoreboard watching.

Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria hit solo home runs and the Rays' bullpen pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings en route to a 5-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Friday.



The Rays won their 41st home game, tying a franchise record set in 2004 and 2006 with 23 games at Tropicana Field still remaining. The Rays are 37-9 in their last 46 home games.

The Rays (64-44) maintained a three-game lead over the Boston Red Sox in the American League East and opened a 5 1/2 lead over the third-place New York Yankees.

"I can't miss the scoreboard, it's right in front of me," Maddon said. "It is pleasing when you see they (the Red Sox and Yankees) don't win."

Pena belted his 19th home run in the sixth and Longoria followed with his 20th blast in the seventh. Longoria leads the Rays and all major league rookies in home runs.



Grant Balfour (3-1), the first of four Rays' relievers, struck out three over 1 1/3 hitless innings for the victory.

"It's a great feeling when everyone does their job," Balfour said.

Troy Percival pitched a scoreless ninth for his 24th save in 26 chances. It was career save No. 348, moving him past Randy Myers into eight place on the all-time list.

"This is fantastic," Percival said. "To win a pennant, we've got to play that way every day. If we do that, we'll be all right. Every save I get is a win for this club."

All-Star lefthander Scott Kazmir threw 110 pitches in 4 2/3 innings. He left after allowing three hits, two runs and a career-high six walks with five strikeouts.

"You just can't say enough about the bullpen," Kazmir said. "They've just been closing the door every time they get a chance. These guys have picked me up so many times."

It was Kazmir's shortest outing since June 17 against the Chicago Cubs, when he also left after 4 2/3 innings.



Zach Miner (5-4), making his third consecutive start after 32 relief appearances, allowed three runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 frames. He walked three and struck out three in losing for the first time since May 16.

"I made some mistakes here and there, but they hit some good pitches," Miner said. "It was just one of those games I tried to battle to keep us in it, but unfortunately I was not able to do it."

Trailing, 2-0, in the third, the Rays pulled even after an RBI double by Akinori Iwamura, who then scored on a passed ball by Tigers catcher Brandon Inge.

The Rays took a 4-2 lead in the sixth when Pena delivered a solo home run and Cliff Floyd, who doubled in the inning, scored on reliever Joel Zumaya's wild pitch.

Gary Sheffield's bases-loaded walk in the first and Miguel Cabrera's RBI triple in the third accounted for the Tigers' two runs.

The Tigers left the bases loaded in the first and seventh innings in losing for the fifth time in their last eight games.

"I thought we did a good job of laying off pitches and getting (Kazmir) in trouble," Detroit manager Jim Leyland said. "But we didn't do a good job keeping him in trouble. We let some early chances get away, obviously. We got him in a jam, but we didn't get the hit to knock him out."