• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Garza tosses first complete game as Rays sweep Marlins

Jun 26, 2008 - 9:09 PM By Christopher Stock PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

MIAMI (Ticker) -- Matt Garza took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and finished with a one-hit complete game to lead the Tampa Bay Rays to 6-1 victory over the Florida Marlins on Thursday.

Hanley Ramirez broke up the no-hit bid with a solo home run leading off the seventh. The shortstop sent the first pitch of the at-bat over the left-center field wall for his 17th homer of the season.

Garza was quite impressed with his one blemish, as Ramirez had to hit a slider low and outside to end the bid for history.

"I don't know how he got it," Garza said. "That was interesting. How did he hit it? But he is a great hitter in the game and you just tip your cap."

Garza (6-4) cruised through the first six innings, allowing just a walk while facing the minimum batters and tossing 74 pitches. Ramirez spoiled Garza's attempt for the first no-hitter in franchise history, as the righthander had to settle instead for Tampa Bay's second one-hit outing.

The late Joe Kennedy had the first one-hit complete game at Detroit on May 2, 2003.

"I've made huge strides," Garza said. "Mentally, I think I would have lost after giving up the slider to Hanley, been ticked off, and a couple more knocks could have came and we would be talking a different story. But I was able to re-group and it was a good pitch outside of the zone."

"The game was Garza," Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "I think he pitched out of the stretch one time, the whole game, with a base on balls. He made one bad pitch and Hanley hit it out of the ballpark, but other than that it was a tough afternoon for us."

The 24-year-old Garza tied a season-high with 10 strikeouts and walked one. He threw 76 of his 108 pitches for strikes en route to his first career complete game. His longest previous outing was 7 2/3 innings.

"This was a huge step for me," Garza said. "You obviously know (about the no-hitter) when you are looking at the lineup and going 1-2-3. I kept my routine the same and kept making pitches."

"That was really impressive," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "His stuff from the very first inning looked that good. He was able to throw his breaking ball for strikes even in fastball counts. That was just a really well-composed performance."

Shawn Riggans drove in three runs and Evan Longoria homered and doubled twice for the Rays, who swept a three-game series in Florida for the first time in team history, outscoring the Marlins, 27-8.

"We showed the last couple of days that we played up to our potential," Longoria said. "We have been piecing wins together and when it all comes together, we have something special going."

The rookie Longoria has been a very special piece of the puzzle for the Rays, collecting seven hits, including two home runs, and six RBI in the series.

Tampa Bay led 2-0 after a solo homer by Longoria in the fourth inning. Akinori Iwamura added an RBI single later in the inning.

Riggans hit a two-run double in the fifth to give the Rays a 5-0 advantage. Ben Zobrist hit his second homer in as many days in the eighth to cap off the scoring.

"You don't want to look back at the end of the year and see one or two games get away and you're sitting at home," Riggans said. "It's very important to finish a sweep especially when we are playing good like this."

Mark Hendrickson (7-6) lasted 4 2/3 innings, giving up five runs, five hits and five walks. He struck out three.

It was the fourth straight loss for Hendrickson, who has given up at least four runs in five of his last six starts.