Final
Longoria, Pena homer in Rays 10-4 win
Aug 9, 2009 - 6:16 AM By TIM BOOTH AP Sports WriterSEATTLE(AP) -- The sting from an 11th-inning loss a night earlier didn't become a two-day hangover for Tampa Bay.
Evan Longoria, Carlos Pena and the Rays' bats made sure of that.
Longoria broke a 3-all tie with his 24th homer of the season and Pena added a two-run shot moments later in Tampa Bay's 10-4 win over the Seattle Mariners on Saturday night, the Rays' sixth victory in eight games.
After seeing Ryan Langerhans celebrate following a two-out homer on Friday night that gave Seattle a 7-6 win, the Rays quickly bounced back and gained another game on the slumping Red Sox in the AL wild-card chase.
"It was a big blow. We got knocked out late," Pena said. "But for us to come back fresh again and put that behind us and play like nothing happened that's great."
Longoria's homer came in the fifth inning and gave Tampa Bay a 4-3 lead. Two batters later, Pena went deep off Seattle reliever Chris Jakubauskas for his 28th homer of the season. Tampa Bay then cushioned its lead with four runs in the eighth, highlighted by Jason Barlett's two-run single.
But for all the offense the Rays got, it was two key outs from reliever Randy Choate that proved critical.
Choate took over for starter James Shields with one out in the sixth, runners on second and third and the Rays holding a 6-4 lead. The sidewinding lefty forced Ichiro Suzuki to reach for an outside fastball and induced a slow roller to third for the second out. Choate then got out of the jam when Russell Branyan tapped back to the mound.
That sequence ensured Shields (7-8) would get his first win since June 20.
"It's big. Tonight was a total team effort. I felt I had some pretty good stuff tonight, I just didn't go as long as I wanted to go," Shields said.
Shields wasn't near as sharp as his last outing when he took a no-hitter into the seventh inning. He was knocked out in the sixth after Michael Saunders' third hit, a double into the right-field corner, scored Franklin Gutierrez, advanced Rob Johnson to third and ended Shields' night.
But Choate ended the chance and the Rays trio of Choate, Grant Balfour and Brian Shouse set down the final 11 Seattle batters. Tampa Bay moved within 1 1/2 games of Boston in the AL wild-card chase, while Seattle remained 5 1/2 back.
"It's nice to be one of the top bullpens in baseball. We've done pretty well so far," Choate said. "When you do cough it up a little bit like last night, to be able to come back and get an out in an important spot and be able to get the win it's nice to have a comeback like that."
Longoria's homer came after Seattle rallied from an early 3-0 deficit and a meltdown by starter Ian Snell, who lasted just 1 1-3 innings and walked six batters. It was his fifth homer in the last 10 games.
After Ben Zobrist walked, Pena jumped on a 3-2 fastball from Jakubauskas (5-7) to give the Rays a 6-3 lead.
Snell was making his debut at Safeco Field following a strong first start with the Mariners after being traded along with Jack Wilson to Seattle on July 30. It certainly wasn't the first impression Snell was hoping to make on the home crowd.
"To be honest I was a little nervous, a littler jittery, probably a little too excited and the adrenaline was rushing to much. That caused me to keep the ball up in the zone," Snell said. "I dug us a hole that we couldn't get out of."
Snell gave up four walks in the first inning - including a walk of Pat Burrell with the bases loaded - along with an RBI single to Zobrist. The second inning wasn't any better as Snell walked Bartlett for a second time, allowed a double to Carl Crawford and saw Barlett score on Longoria's infielder grounder. Seattle manager Don Wakamatsu saw enough when Snell issued his sixth walk on a 3-2 pitch to Zobrist. It matched the shortest start of Snell's career.
Jakubauskas got out of the second inning jam with a double play and pitched 4 2-3 strong innings of relief, his only hiccup being the two homers allowed.
Gutierrez hit a two-run homer in the second off Shields, his 13th of the season, and scored on scored on Saunders' double in the sixth. Gutierrez finished a triple shy of the cycle.
NOTES: Seattle pitchers allowed a season-high 10 walks. Six of the 10 scored. ... Snell lasted just 1 1-3 innings on May 14, 2006, against Florida while with Pittsburgh. ... Seattle RHP Doug Fister made his major league debut in the ninth. Newly acquired C Gregg Zaun made his debut with the Rays. Zaun went 1-for-5.
- ** CONFIRMED **
AL
TAMPA BAY 10
SEATTLE 4 FINAL
Aug 9 1:22 AM - AL
AT SEATTLE - SCORING UPDATE
SACRIFICE FLY BY CARL CRAWFORD SCORED B.J. UPTON
SITUATION: 4 RUNS IN, J BARTLETT ON FIRST, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: TAMPA BAY 10
SEATTLE 4 TOP,8TH
DUE UP FOR TAMPA BAY: E LONGORIA (.275, 1-FOR-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI)
Rays 10, Mariners 4 Top 8, 0 OutsAug 9 12:54 AM - AL
AT SEATTLE - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY JASON BARTLETT SCORED GREGG ZAUN AND GABE GROSS
SITUATION: 3 RUNS IN, J BARTLETT ON FIRST, B UPTON ON THIRD, 0 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: TAMPA BAY 9
SEATTLE 4 TOP,8TH
DUE UP FOR TAMPA BAY: C CRAWFORD (.316, 1-FOR-4)
Rays 9, Mariners 4 Top 8, 0 OutsAug 9 12:52 AM - AL
AT SEATTLE - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY B.J. UPTON SCORED PAT BURRELL
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, B UPTON ON FIRST, G ZAUN ON SECOND, G
GROSS ON THIRD, 0 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: TAMPA BAY 7
SEATTLE 4 TOP,8TH
DUE UP FOR TAMPA BAY: J BARTLETT (.332, 0-FOR-2, 2 BB)
Rays 7, Mariners 4 Top 8, 0 OutsAug 9 12:51 AM - AL
AT SEATTLE - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY MICHAEL SAUNDERS SCORED FRANKLIN GUTIERREZ
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, M SAUNDERS ON SECOND, R JOHNSON ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: TAMPA BAY 6
SEATTLE 4 BOTTOM,6TH
DUE UP FOR SEATTLE: I SUZUKI (.364, 0-FOR-2, BB)
Rays 6, Mariners 4 Bot 6, 0 OutsAug 9 12:17 AM - AL
AT SEATTLE - SCORING UPDATE
TWO-RUN HOME RUN BY CARLOS PENA (28) TO RIGHT WITH 0 OUT IN
THE 5TH OFF CHRIS JAKUBAUSKAS SCORED BEN ZOBRIST.
CURRENT SCORE: TAMPA BAY 6, SEATTLE 3
DUE UP FOR TAMPA BAY: P BURRELL (.225, 0-FOR-1, BB, RBI)
Rays 6, Mariners 3 Top 5, 0 OutsAug 8 11:46 PM - AL
AT SEATTLE - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY EVAN LONGORIA (24) TO CENTER WITH 0 OUT IN
THE 5TH OFF CHRIS JAKUBAUSKAS.
CURRENT SCORE: TAMPA BAY 4, SEATTLE 3
DUE UP FOR TAMPA BAY: B ZOBRIST (.292, 1-FOR-1, BB, RBI)
Rays 4, Mariners 3 Top 5, 0 OutsAug 8 11:39 PM - AL
AT SEATTLE - SCORING UPDATE
ERROR BY JAMES SHIELDS ALLOWED ROB JOHNSON TO SCORE.
SITUATION: 3 RUNS IN, M SAUNDERS ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: TAMPA BAY 3
SEATTLE 3 BOTTOM,2ND
DUE UP FOR SEATTLE: I SUZUKI (.365, 0-FOR-1)
Rays 3, Mariners 3 Bot 2, 0 OutsAug 8 11:02 PM - AL
AT SEATTLE - SCORING UPDATE
TWO-RUN HOME RUN BY FRANKLIN GUTIERREZ (13) TO LEFT CENTER
WITH 1 OUT IN THE 2ND OFF JAMES SHIELDS SCORED ADRIAN
BELTRE.
CURRENT SCORE: TAMPA BAY 3, SEATTLE 2
DUE UP FOR SEATTLE: J WILSON (.281, 0 HR, 2 RBI)
Rays 3, Mariners 2 Bot 2, 0 OutsAug 8 10:57 PM - AL
AT SEATTLE - SCORING UPDATE
1B/FAILED FC BY EVAN LONGORIA SCORED JASON BARTLETT
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, E LONGORIA ON FIRST, C CRAWFORD ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: TAMPA BAY 3
SEATTLE 0 TOP,2ND
DUE UP FOR TAMPA BAY: B ZOBRIST (.292, 1-FOR-1, RBI)
Rays 3, Mariners 0 Top 2, 0 OutsAug 8 10:43 PM - AL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
TAMPA BAY 2 2 1 0
SEATTLE 0 0 0 (BOT 1)
CURRENT PITCHERS: TAM - JAMES SHIELDS
SEA - IAN SNELL
DUE UP FOR SEATTLE: I SUZUKI (.365, 7 HR, 30 RBI)
R BRANYAN (.259, 25 HR, 62 RBI)
J LOPEZ (.277, 15 HR, 65 RBI)
Rays 2, Mariners 0 Bot 1, 0 OutsAug 8 10:31 PM
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