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Hinske helps Rays finish sweep of Blue Jays

Apr 25, 2008 - 3:59 AM LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida (Ticker) -- Once again, Eric Hinske helped the Tampa Bay Rays put the finishing touches on the Toronto Blue Jays.

Hinske had a hit and drove in two runs as the Rays posted a 5-3 victory over the Blue Jays on Thursday.

Rookie Evan Longoria and Dioner Navarro each had an RBI and Andy Sonnanstine pitched 6 1/3 effective innings for the Rays, who swept their three-game series against Toronto at Champions Stadium at the Walt Disney Complex.

"To win three games like this against a very good team, even though they're banged up, is huge," said Rays manager Joe Maddon, whose team reached the .500 mark (11-11). "We caught them at the right time, but we did play well. We got big hits when necessary because they have a very good pitching staff. So to beat them is very important."

The win gave Tampa Bay a perfect 6-0 record here, including a three-game sweep of the Texas Rangers last May.

"I don't know," said Maddon about the team's success at Disney. "But if we get into the playoffs, I'd like to play here."

Hinske, who had the go-ahead RBI single in the Rays' 5-3 come-from-behind win on Wednesday, also was involved in the decisive score that put Tampa Bay ahead to stay in the fifth inning Thursday.

"You pull for a guy like Eric, just not against us," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "He's locked in right now, is hitting great and hurt us in this series."

With the bases full and the Rays trailing, 3-2, in the bottom of the fifth, a sacrifice fly by Longoria knotted the score at 3-3. Hinske then reached first on a throwing error by Toronto second baseman Aaron Hill, allowing B.J. Upton to score from third and giving Tampa Bay a one-run lead. Two batters later, Navarro's single to left plated Carlos Pena to make it 5-3.

All five runs were charged to Blue Jays starter Dustin McGowan (1-2), who allowed a single and two walks in the fifth before being replaced by reliever Brian Tallet with no outs in the frame.

"I lost my concentration, it's embarrassing," McGowan said. "I've got to throw strikes no matter how hard I throw.

"I was good for the first three innings then just fell apart. I was just searching for a way to pitch through the fifth inning and that's where I got myself into more trouble trying to find a different arm slot. I just couldn't find any consistency. It's just very frustrating."

McGowan gave up four hits and seven walks while striking out six in four-plus innings.

"Dustin was as good as could be the first three innings then he just lost the strike zone," Gibbons said. "He lost it big time."

The three-run inning helped make a winner of Sonnanstine (3-1), who allowed three runs, six hits and two walks to earn his second straight win.

"I felt real good," Sonnanstine said. "I was throwing the fastball well. My slider was moving around a lot and it took a little bit to get a grasp on it so I stuck to the fastball. Just like my last start, and it made my other pitches better."

The righthander, who struck out three, was comming off an impressive three-hitter in a 5-0 blanking of the Chicago White Sox last Saturday.

Gary Glover, who relieved Sonnanstine with one on and one out in the seventh, went 1 1/3 innings before Trever Miller replaced him to get the final out in the eighth.

Troy Percival worked around two baserunners in the ninth to notch his fourth save of the season and third consecutive in this series.

Hinske, who had three hits and came up a single shy of the cycle in a 6-4 win over the Blue Jays on Tuesday, had earlier tied the contest at 2-2 with an RBI single in the fourth.