• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Kazmir, Crawford help Devil Rays rout Orioles

Aug 5, 2007 - 3:22 AM ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- For the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, eight finally was enough.

Scott Kazmir threw seven strong innings and Carl Crawford had three hits, drove in a pair of runs and scored three times as the Devil Rays snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Baltimore Orioles with a 9-2 victory on Saturday.

Carlos Pena added his team-leading 26th home run for the Devil Rays, who had lost 10 of the previous 11 meetings between the clubs.

"Early on, I thought the Orioles were beating us late a lot," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. "We have not hit well against them. We have not matched up well against them."

Kazmir (8-7) allowed one run and scattered seven hits with two walks and nine strikeouts. The 23-year-old, who won his third straight home start, threw 74-of-110 pitches for strikes.

"It seems like I'm not doing any over-analyzing," Kazmir said. "I'm just going out there making pitches. You don't have to worry about your mechanics. It's a huge difference."

Kazmir's home struggles have come full circle. The lefthander was 0-4 in his first 10 home starts this season but is 3-0 with a 0.69 ERA in his last four.

"Everyone is working for Scott," catcher Josh Paul said. "He had focus all game long. It's good to see."

Pena gave Kazmir a cushion with which to work by hitting a two-run homer in the first inning, and Crawford plated two with a single in the second as Tampa Bay jumped to a 5-0 lead.

Crawford, who turns 26 on Sunday, continued his torrid hitting. He has hit safely in 13 of his last 15 games, batting .411 (23-for-56) during that stretch.

"Overall we got good at-bats today," Maddon said. "Our lefties don't mind lefties. (Pena's) home run in the first got us going."

Tampa Bay got two more runs in the fourth on an RBI single by B.J. Upton and a groundout by Delmon Young. Young added a two-run double in the sixth to make it 9-1.

The Devil Rays reached Brian Burres (5-5) for seven runs - six earned - and eight hits in 3 1/3 innings. Burres left with one out in the fourth after allowing consecutive hits by Akinori Iwamura, Crawford and Upton.

"It really was just that everything was flat," Burres said. "I tried to get through more pitches. I tried to get things going. The ball wasn't feeling right coming out of my hand."

Iwamura, who was one of three Devil Rays with two hits, extended his hitting streak to a career-high 10 games.

Corey Patterson had an RBI single in the fourth for Baltimore, which has lost four of six.

"I don't like to see us give outs away and I don't like to see us not make plays that we should make," Baltimore manager Dave Trembley said. "The whole thing starts with pitching for us and I think that is how the game is for everybody. It wasn't a good night for us."