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Seventh-inning surge powers Devil Rays past Red Sox

Jul 29, 2007 - 10:19 PM ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) - The Tampa Bay Devil Rays took out a week's worth of frustration in one inning.

Locked in a scoreless battle with the Boston Red Sox, the Devil Rays hit three home runs in the seventh inning and cruised to a 5-2 victory Sunday.

Home runs by Dioner Navarro, B.J. Upton and Carlos Pena and a solid performance from starter Scott Kazmir allowed Tampa Bay to end an eight-game losing streak.

"Was it eight games?" Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon asked. "I've had enough of those. It's about time we had some eight-game win streaks."

Kazmir and relievers Scott Dohmann and Gary Glover (4-3) shut out the Red Sox until two outs in the eighth when Glover allowed back-to-back homers to Manny Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis.

Navarro started Tampa Bay's five-run outburst in the seventh, homering to right field on an 0-2 pitch from Daisuke Matsuzaka (12-8).

"He had a real nice game, his home run really took off," Maddon said. "He also had a nice day behind the plate."

Matsuzaka, who defeated the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday, was bidding to win consecutive road starts for the first time since May 9 and May 24.

"Dice-K was good today, he off speed was sharp all day," Boston manager Terry Francona said. "The game got away more then we wanted it to in the seventh and it hurt."

Following Navarro's home run, Josh Wilson singled to left, knocking Matsuzaka out of the game. Manny Delcarmen got Akinori Iwamura to ground into a fielders' choice, but then allowed a single to Brendan Harris and back-to-back home runs to Upton and Pena.

Matsuzaka had not allowed a run in 13 1/3 innings until Navarro's home run.

"It feels good for me because was a team we had to step up," Navarro said.

Kazmir, who had won his last two home starts, left after six shutout innings and did not figure in the decision. The lefthander scattered six hits while striking out eight and walking one.

"My slider was biting the way I wanted," Kazmir said. "It's totally different when you don't need to worry about your mechanics during your windup."

Through the first six innings, Kazmir and Matsuzaka kept both offenses in check. Both teams had scoring opportunities, but couldn't break through. The Red Sox stranded five through six and the Devil Rays six.

"What I'm seeing from Kazmir is good tempo and delivery," Maddon said. "I'm seeing better control and command."

Dohmann relieved Kazmir in the seventh and walked two. With runners at first and third and two outs, Glover coaxed Julio Lugo into a groundout to third.

The Devil Rays, who own the worst record in the majors, still have 12 games remaining against the Red Sox in their next 51 contests.

"When our lineup is unable to produce runs, my job is to hold the other team to zero runs," Matsuzaka said.

Dustin Pedroia, Wily Mo Pena and Youkilis had two hits each for the Red Sox, who were limited to eight hits.

All-Star Carl Crawford, who injured his right wrist attempting to make a diving catch Friday, came in the ninth as a defensive replacement. However, Crawford said his wrist still hurts that he can't grip a bat and will undergo an MRI Monday.

The Devil Rays' eight-game losing streak was all against American League East opponents. The Devil Rays' next six games are also against division foes - Toronto (July 30-Aug. 1) and Baltimore (Aug. 3-5).

The Red Sox had won eight of their past nine games.

"We were kind of living on the edge a couple of innings," Boston's Mike Lowell said. "We wanted to finish the series (sweep) but we ran into a guy today with good stuff."

The Devil Rays optioned reliever Jae Kuk Ryu to the minors to make room for Dan Wheeler, who was traded to Tampa Bay from Houston Saturday.