• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Six-run eighth helps Rays sweep doubleheader

Sep 24, 2008 - 5:35 AM By Rich Dubroff PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

BALTIMORE (Ticker) -- The Tampa Bay Rays hope Wednesday will be another special night.

Dioner Navarro smacked a two-run, go-ahead single to highlight a six-run, eighth inning as the Rays rallied for a 7-5 victory over the Baltimore Orioles in the second game of a doubleheader on Tuesday.

Thanks to their doubleheader sweep over the Baltimore Orioles, the Rays' magic number for clinching the American League East is down to two.

If Tampa Bay beats Baltimore on Wednesday - as they have done 11 straight times - and the Boston Red Sox (92-65) lose to the Cleveland Indians, the Rays will pour champagne one more time.

"That's what we're shooting for," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. "We celebrated the clinching of the wild card spot (Saturday). Immediately, we talked about wanting to win the division. That's the carrot we really want."

It looked as if the celebrating would have to wait a few days after the Orioles took a healthy lead into the eighth.

Trailing, 5-1, after the seventh, the Rays' lineup came alive en route to shrinking their magic number to clinch the division to two. Willy Aybar smacked an RBI groundout and Evan Longoria connected on a solo home run off Orioles starter Alfredo Simon to cut the deficit to 5-3.

Jamie Walker (1-3) then came on in relief but surrendered a run-scoring single to Jason Bartlett before Navarro delivered his decisive hit. B.J. Upton capped the outburst with an RBI double.

"That's what we've been about all year," Upton said. "We don't quit until the last out. A couple of big hits."

Jeff Niemann (2-1) tossed 2 1/3 innings to notch the win and J.P. Howell got the final five outs to record his third save.

"We can taste it a little more tonight," Howell said. "What's the number, two? We need a little help from Boston, but we can't rely on them.

"Let's just keep this thing moving. And just because if we win this division doesn't mean we can stop. We have to go all the way to October 30 in my book."

This season has been a year of firsts for the Rays, who are in their 11th campaign, and they achieved another - winning their first doubleheader. They've played 14 twinbills and had split seven while being swept six times.

Maddon had no idea that his team had never won a doubleheader.

"Really? That's funny," Maddon said. "Really? It always feels good to win two games in one day."

James Shields tossed seven stellar frames en route to a 5-2 win in the first game.

For the first seven innings of the nightcap, Tampa Bay had been stymied by Simon, who allowed one run and five hits over seven innings in his first major league start.

"Their guys off the bench got the hits," Baltimore manager Dave Trembley said. "You could see when Longoria hit the home run, it kind of woke them up."

The Orioles scored two runs in the second on RBI singles by Juan Castro and Brian Roberts. In the fifth, Baltimore took a 3-1 lead on Oscar Salazar's RBI infield out. Their fourth run scored on a double by Guillermo Quiroz, and Ramon Hernandez's infield out drove in the fifth.

The Orioles, who have lost eight in a row, are 6-27 since August 17.