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Sonnanstine posts fourth win as Rays rout Orioles

May 1, 2008 - 3:28 AM By Sean Burns PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

BALTIMORE (Ticker) -- With staff ace Scott Kazmir due back soon, one of the Tampa Bay Rays' starters is likely headed for the bullpen. On Wednesday, Andy Sonnanstine made a pretty convincing argument that he should stay right where he is.

Sonnanstine worked eight strong innings and Eric Hinske provided him with all the offense he would need with a two-run homer as the Rays topped the Orioles, 8-1.

After allowing five hits in the first three frames, Sonnanstine (4-1) locked in after Brian Roberts' RBI single, retiring 12 straight batters and 16 of the final 19 he faced.

"I just felt good out there," said Sonnanstine, who allowed six hits and struck out five while facing the minimum number of batters in all but two innings. "My location was good, and around the third or fourth inning, I just got locked in."

"If I had a word to describe him, it would be 'unflappable'," said Rays manager Joe Maddon, whose team finished April above .500 for the first time in franchise history and tied the club record for wins in any month (14). "He had one bad outing where he got away from his game plan early, but tonight, he pitched his game."

Since that bad outing - where he allowed seven runs in 3 1/3 innings against the Yankees - Sonnanstine has won three straight starts, allowing four runs and 12 hits over a span of 23 innings.

"We definitely have a tough decision to make in the next couple of days, but he made a solid case for himself," said Maddon of the 25-year-old righthander, who also set the team record for wins in April.

With the game tied at 1-1, Hinske knocked in what proved to be the deciding runs in the fourth inning, pulling a 1-0 pitch from Baltimore starter Matt Albers (2-1) over the scoreboard in right field for his sixth homer of the season and a 3-1 lead.

"It's been a good start - both for me and for the team," Hinske said. "Hopefully, we can stay hot and keep winning games."

Tampa Bay tacked on five runs off the Orioles' bullpen in the sixth inning to take an 8-1 advantage. Four of those runs came off Baltimore reliever Bob McCrory, who made it through just one-third of an inning in his major league debut.

McCrory allowed two walks and two hits, leaving after B.J. Upton singled to score Gabe Gross. Carlos Pena greeted Baltimore's Dennis Sarfate with another single that scored Akinori Iwamura and Carl Crawford before Dioner Navarro added two more runs with a single that plated the final two runs of the inning.

Albers pitched well despite the loss, going six frames and allowing four hits in his second spot start of the year.

The win was the seventh in eight games for Tampa Bay, which had a six-game winning streak snapped Tuesday in the first game of the three-game series against the Orioles.

"I think it was an important game for us," Maddon said. "It showed that we can go on a nice run, hit a bump in the road, but then rebound and win again. We've got something to build on here. We want to go out and have the best May now."