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Pena, Royals crown Devil Rays

Jul 8, 2007 - 10:51 PM KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- Tony Pena's career-high three doubles, including one with the bases loaded in the sixth inning, and a six-run eighth inning powered the Kansas City Royals to a 12-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Sunday.

It was the Royals' second straight victory against the Devil Rays after three consecutive defeats.

Pena, who had a career-high four RBI, had a bases-clearing double off Devil Rays' reliever Jason Hammel into the left field corner in the sixth. Mark Grudzielanek also collected three hits for the Royals.

"We did a real good job offensively today," Royals manager Buddy Bell said.

"It's a great feeling," Pena said. "Our offense came through and got some hits in key moments."

The run support benefited Royals starter Jorge De La Rosa (7-9), who allowed two runs on five hits and had a career-high seven strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings. De La Rosa also upped his record in day games to 4-0 with an American League-leading 1.78 ERA in those contests.

"I thought he was pretty good," Bell said. "He kept us in the game and pitched us into the sixth."

David Riske came on in relief of De La Rosa in the sixth and worked 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief before giving way to Zack Greinke in the eighth. Octavio Dotel worked the ninth.

The Royals put away the game in the bottom of the eighth by scoring six times, highlighted by back-to-back two-run doubles by Alex Gordon and Ross Gload.

"It's good to see, especially against this team because they've got a lot of guys who can hit the ball out of the ballpark," Bell said. "You're up four, and then all of a sudden, you're up two. It makes the games that much more interesting for them, anyway. We had all of the momentum and now we're trying to hold on. It was nice to see that six-run spot in the eighth."

"We just can't pitch like that and expect to compete on a nightly basis," Devil Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "That's just not going to happen. We walked too many and the batting average against us is very high. We have to stop walking people and start making some pitches and we're just not doing it."

Kansas City overcame a one-run deficit in the third with back-to-back doubles by Pena and David DeJesus and a single to right field by Grudzielanek.

The Royals plated another run in the fifth inning on Emil Brown's two-out single to center field.

The Devil Rays sliced the deficit to one on Jonny Gomes' two-out solo home run to center field, his eighth of the season. For Gomes, who had four hits on Sunday, it was his ninth home run in 13 career games against Kansas City.

"I think it's just one of those funny things statistically," Gomes said. "I just happen to hit them well."

"Gomes had a nice series," Maddon said. "I really respect how he's going about things and he's going about them like a pro. When he was sent down, he came back with a vengeance; he's played well and he's played hard every night."

Dioner Navarro's sacrifice fly to center field in the second inning gave the Rays a 1-0 advantage.

Devil Rays starter Scott Kazmir (5-6), who gave up five runs on seven hits in five-plus innings, lost his third straight decision.

"Kaz just struggled again command-wise," Maddon said. "We took him as deeply as we could."

Kansas City has won four of its last six games, while Tampa Bay dropped its 13th in its last 14 games.