Final
Pena, Aybar homer in Rays win
Jun 11, 2009 - 3:51 AM By FRED GOODALL AP Sports WriterST. PETERSBURG, Fla.(AP) -- The Tampa Bay Rays were hardly concerned about their poor history against John Lackey.
"That was another time," manager Joe Maddon said Wednesday night after Carlos Pena and Willy Aybar homered to help the defending AL champions beat Lackey and the Los Angeles Angels 9-5. "That was against the Devil Rays."
The Angels right-hander had won nine of 10 previous decisions against the Rays, though most of the damage was done before last season, when Tampa Bay dropped the "Devil" from its nickname and posted its first winning record.
"I'm not denigrating John in any way. It's just about we're a different group right now," Maddon said. "The guys here have no interest in that negative history."
Pena hit a solo homer in the third inning and Aybar added a two-run shot off Lackey (1-2) for a 9-5 lead in the fifth.
Aybar also had an RBI single during a five-run second during which the Rays began the inning with four straight hits, three of them well-placed grounders that got through the right side of the infield.
"Kind of everything that could happen wrong happened. Good pitches, they managed to get infield hits. I throw a bad pitch, and they were hitting those hard," Lackey said. "If a couple of those ground balls are at somebody, it's a different game."
The Rays, who ended a three-game skid that featured a lack of timely hitting, rallied from a 3-0 deficit to build a 7-3 lead for Jeff Niemann. But the rookie right-hander lasted just 3 2-3 innings.
Lance Cormier (1-1) pitched 2 1-3 scoreless innings for the win. Jason Isringhausen, Joe Nelson and Dan Wheeler finished up, holding the Angels to one hit - Vladimir Guerrero's ninth-inning triple - over the last three innings.
Chone Figgins had a two-run triple for Los Angeles, but also committed a costly throwing error. Gary Matthews Jr., Bobby Abreu and Juan Rivera also drove in runs for the Angels, who stranded nine baserunners while wasting several scoring opportunities.
Coming off the best performance of his career - a two-hit, complete-game shutout of Kansas City - and pitching on extra rest, Niemann allowed five runs and seven hits.
"He just could not get into any kind of rhythm," Maddon said.
Aybar, Gabe Gross, Dioner Navarro and Carl Crawford drove in runs in the second inning for the Rays. A fifth run scored on a wild pitch by Lackey, who was 9-1 with a 2.36 ERA in 11 career start against Tampa Bay before Wednesday night.
Pena hit his 18th homer in the third, and the Rays went up 7-3 when Ben Zobrist scored on Figgins' two-out error. After Los Angeles pulled within two on Abreu's sacrifice fly and Rivera's RBI single in the fourth, Aybar restored the four-run lead with his fifth homer.
Lackey allowed nine runs and 11 hits, even though he felt he threw the ball well until the fifth inning.
"I definitely expect more of myself," said Lackey, who spent the first six weeks of the season on the disabled list with a strained right forearm. "I don't believe in moral victories. You either win or you lose."
NOTES: Los Angeles CF Torii Hunter, slowed by a groin strain, was out of the lineup. The Angels didn't want Hunter, who will start Thursday, to play three straight days on artificial turf. ... Rays DH Pat Burrell (neck strain) could return this weekend, and SS Jason Bartlett (sprained left ankle) might be back early next week. ... Los Angeles manager Mike Scioscia said setup man Scot Shields' stay on the 15-day disabled list with an injured left knee remains open-ended. ... Tampa Bay LHP Scott Kazmir (right quadriceps) is scheduled to throw three innings in a simulated game Friday. If all goes well, he will pitch in a minor league game next week.
- AL
FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
LA ANGELS 0 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 5 10 1
TAMPA BAY 0 5 2 0 2 0 0 0 x 9 11 2 (FINAL)
BATTERIES: LAA - JOHN LACKEY, RICH THOMPSON (6TH), JUSTIN SPEIER (8TH) AND MIKE
NAPOLI
TAM - JEFF NIEMANN, LANCE CORMIER (4TH), JASON
ISRINGHAUSEN (7TH), JOE NELSON (8TH), DA
Jun 10 10:09 PM - AL
AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
TWO-RUN HOME RUN BY WILLY AYBAR (5) TO RIGHT WITH 0 OUT IN
THE 5TH OFF JOHN LACKEY SCORED BEN ZOBRIST.
CURRENT SCORE: LA ANGELS 5, TAMPA BAY 9
DUE UP FOR TAMPA BAY: G GROSS (.260, 1-FOR-2, RBI)
Angels 5, Rays 9 Bot 5, 0 OutsJun 10 9:02 PM - AL
AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY JUAN RIVERA SCORED CHONE FIGGINS.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, J RIVERA ON SECOND, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: LA ANGELS 5
TAMPA BAY 7 TOP, 4TH
DUE UP FOR LA ANGELS: V GUERRERO (.270, 1-FOR-2)
Angels 5, Rays 7 Top 4, 0 OutsJun 10 8:42 PM - AL
AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
SACRIFICE FLY BY BOBBY ABREU SCORED HOWIE KENDRICK.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, C FIGGINS ON SECOND, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: LA ANGELS 4
TAMPA BAY 7 TOP, 4TH
DUE UP FOR LA ANGELS: J RIVERA (.309, 1-FOR-2)
Angels 4, Rays 7 Top 4, 0 OutsJun 10 8:37 PM - AL
AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
ERROR BY CHONE FIGGINS ALLOWED BEN ZOBRIST TO SCORE.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, D NAVARRO ON FIRST, G GROSS ON SECOND, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: LA ANGELS 3
TAMPA BAY 7 BOTTOM, 3RD
DUE UP FOR TAMPA BAY: R BRIGNAC (.214, 0-FOR-1)
Angels 3, Rays 7 Bot 3, 0 OutsJun 10 8:26 PM - AL
AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY CARLOS PENA (18) TO LEFT WITH 1 OUT IN THE
3RD OFF JOHN LACKEY.
CURRENT SCORE: LA ANGELS 3, TAMPA BAY 6
DUE UP FOR TAMPA BAY: B ZOBRIST (.309, 1-FOR-1)
Angels 3, Rays 6 Bot 3, 0 OutsJun 10 8:15 PM - AL
AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY CARL CRAWFORD SCORED B.J. UPTON.
SITUATION: 5 RUNS IN, 0 LEFT ON, 3 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: LA ANGELS 3
TAMPA BAY 5 END BOTTOM, 2ND
Angels 3, Rays 5 Bot 2, 0 OutsJun 10 8:01 PM - AL
AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
WILD PITCH BY JOHN LACKEY ALLOWED GABE GROSS TO SCORE.
SITUATION: 4 RUNS IN, NONE ON, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: LA ANGELS 3
TAMPA BAY 4 BOTTOM, 2ND
DUE UP FOR TAMPA BAY: B UPTON (.215, 0-FOR-1)
Angels 3, Rays 4 Bot 2, 0 OutsJun 10 7:56 PM - AL
AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
GROUND OUT BY DIONER NAVARRO SCORED WILLY AYBAR.
SITUATION: 3 RUNS IN, G GROSS ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: LA ANGELS 3
TAMPA BAY 3 BOTTOM, 2ND
DUE UP FOR TAMPA BAY: R BRIGNAC (.220, 0 HR, 2 RBI)
Angels 3, Rays 3 Bot 2, 0 OutsJun 10 7:53 PM - AL
AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY GABE GROSS SCORED BEN ZOBRIST.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, G GROSS ON SECOND, W AYBAR ON THIRD, 0 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: LA ANGELS 3
TAMPA BAY 2 BOTTOM, 2ND
DUE UP FOR TAMPA BAY: D NAVARRO (.201, 3 HR, 13 RBI)
Angels 3, Rays 2 Bot 2, 0 OutsJun 10 7:51 PM - AL
AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY WILLY AYBAR SCORED CARLOS PENA.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, W AYBAR ON FIRST, B ZOBRIST ON THIRD, 0 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: LA ANGELS 3
TAMPA BAY 1 BOTTOM, 2ND
DUE UP FOR TAMPA BAY: G GROSS (.255, 3 HR, 16 RBI)
Angels 3, Rays 1 Bot 2, 0 OutsJun 10 7:50 PM - AL
AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
TRIPLE BY CHONE FIGGINS SCORED MIKE NAPOLI AND GARY
MATTHEWS.
SITUATION: 3 RUNS IN, C FIGGINS ON THIRD, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: LA ANGELS 3
TAMPA BAY 0 TOP, 2ND
DUE UP FOR LA ANGELS: B ABREU (.300, 1-FOR-1)
Angels 3, Rays 0 Top 2, 0 OutsJun 10 7:42 PM - AL
AT TAMPA BAY - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY GARY MATTHEWS SCORED MAICER IZTURIS.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, G MATTHEWS ON SECOND, M NAPOLI ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: LA ANGELS 1
TAMPA BAY 0 TOP, 2ND
DUE UP FOR LA ANGELS: H KENDRICK (.235, 4 HR, 22 RBI)
Angels 1, Rays 0 Top 2, 0 OutsJun 10 7:36 PM
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