Willy Aybar hit the go-ahead RBI double in the eighth inning, and the Rays scored five unanswered runs to edge the Washington Nationals, 5-4, and sweep a three game interleague series.
Gabe Kapler hit a two-run homer and drove in three runs for the Rays, who have won a season-high five in a row. Kapler reached base in each of his four plate appearances, drawing two walks in addition to two hits.
"Three tough games against (the Nationals). I know their record isn't very good, but they played us very hard," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "We saw some really good pitching from them, and their effort level was great. I was really proud of the way we reacted -- we got down a couple times but kept coming back."
B.J. Upton and Carlos Pena each had a pair of hits, while James Shields allowed four runs on nine hits in 6 1/3 innings in the start. Dan Wheeler (2- 1) earned the win for pitching a scoreless eighth inning, while J.P. Howell notched his third save of the season.
Alberto Gonzalez went 2-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored for the Nationals, who have only three wins in their last 18 games. Nick Johnson and Elijah Dukes each had a pair of hits, while Ross Detwiler surrendered four runs on six hits with five walks over six innings. Washington fell to 0-6 this season in games Detwiler has started.
"I believe (Detwiler) gave us a good chance to win." Nats manager Manny Acta said. "He battled for us -- this is a kid that is fresh out of Double-A and really competed for us out there. You take away those walks, which is a lesson he'll learn, and we got something good with him."
Ron Villone (3-3) took the loss for allowing the go-ahead run in the eighth.
After the Nats failed on a scoring chance in the seventh, the Rays went ahead for good in the eighth. Pena hit a leadoff double to center, and two batters later, Aybar hit an RBI double to left for a 5-4 Tampa Bay lead.
Howell worked around a two-out hit batsman in the ninth to close out the Rays' win.
Washington went out in front in the second. Dukes blasted a double to deep center to lead off, moved to third on a groundout and scored on Gonzalez's single to right.
The Nationals had a big fourth inning, scoring three runs to widen their lead. Adam Dunn singled, and Dukes followed with another double. Gonzalez doubled two batters later to score both runners, and Josh Bard added an RBI double to give the visitors a 4-0 advantage.
Tampa Bay cut its deficit in half in the home fourth on a Kapler run-scoring single and a Dioner Navarro RBI groundout.
With two outs in the sixth, Gabe Gross worked a walk, and Kapler followed with a two-run homer to left to tie the game, 4-4.
"When I hit the ball, I didn't think it was going to be a home run -- I thought it would be a double," Kapler said. "I came out of the box hard, and it's nice to have that little cut-out (in left field). It's nice when your home ballpark helps you win a game."
Washington put runners on the corners with two outs and a chance to go in front in the seventh, but Randy Choate struck out Dunn looking to keep the game even!!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment