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Navarro haunts former team as Devil Rays down Dodgers

Jun 24, 2007 - 5:27 AM ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- Payback can sometimes be sweet.

Dioner Navarro hit the go-ahead solo homer in the seventh as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays posted a 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday.

Navarro, who was acquired along with pitcher Jae Seo 362 days ago from Los Angeles for catcher Toby Hall and pitcher Mark Hendrickson, struck back at his former team.

He took a full-count fastball from Dodgers starter Randy Wolf (8-6) for his first homer - a solo shot - of the season. A switch-hitter, the homer was Navarro's first hit from the right side in his last 34 at-bats.

"It's always nice to hit a home run," Navarro said. "It feels good, but I have nothing but good things to say about them. They treated me good when I was over there."

Casey Fossum (5-6) recorded the last out in the seventh to get the win. Gary Glover allowed two hits but no further damage in the eighth before turning it over to closer Al Reyes, who worked around a walk and a hit in the ninth for his 17th save in 18 chances - one outing after blowing his first save of the season.

The theme of the contest was the Dodgers' inability to take advantage of scoring opportunities. Los Angeles left at least one runner on base in every inning and 15 total, including three separate occasions in which they failed to push across a run with the bases loaded at some point during the inning.

"Fifteen is too many people to leave on base and think you might win a game," Dodgers manager Grady Little said.

The Dodgers were 0-for-4 with the bases loaded, including grounding into two double plays.

"We made the pitches when we had to and we were able to get out of it each time," Navarro said.

Wolf surrendered four runs and 10 hits with two walks and five strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings - his longest start this month - but failed in his first opportunity to become the fourth National League pitcher to reach nine wins.

"They are trying to do their job (scoring runs) as best as they can," Wolf said. "It's not lack of effort. My only frustration is with how I threw.

"I left a couple of pitches out over the plate. We didn't win, so you can't really walk away feeling good. The home run in the seventh hurt a lot. When you get to the sixth or seventh, you have to hang zeros."

James Loney and Andre Ethier each scored a run and had two hits for the Dodgers, who dropped to 4-22 in their last 26 road games against the American League.

Despite owning the American League's best home ERA (2.45) this season, Scott Kazmir remained winless at home since July 3, 2006. Kazmir allowed three runs over seven innings.

The Devil Rays won despite walking or hitting a Dodgers batter in every inning except the eighth.

"Five walks is not going to cut it," Kazmir said. "In the sixth, I made two pitches I wish I had back. For the most part, I battled and was able to get some tough outs."

"To Kazmir's credit, he pitched through some difficulties," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. "I loved his tenacity tonight."

Tampa Bay improved to 11-7 in one-run games; Los Angeles fell 16-8 in such contests.