Carlos Pena Homers Twice, Drives in 6 to Pace Rays Past the Orioles 10-5
By FRED GOODALL | Associated Press | Apr 11, 08 9:41 PM CDT in
Sports
Carlos Pena homered twice and drew a bases-loaded walk in the eighth inning to finish with six RBIs, helping the Tampa Bay Rays rally Friday night for a 10-5 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.
Pena hit a two-run homer off Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie in the first. He made it 5-5 in the seventh with a three-run shot off left-hander Jamie Walker, who entered the game after Guthrie retired the first batter of the inning.
The 2007 AL comeback player of the year when he hit 46 homers and drove in 121 runs, Pena has five homers in 10 games this season. He drew the bases-loaded walk off Dennis Sarfate (2-1) on a check swing that could have been called a third strike to put Tampa Bay ahead 6-5.
The Rays broke it open with four more runs in the inning on B.J. Upton's two-run single, Eric Hinske's RBI double and Shawn Riggans' run-scoring single _ all off Greg Aquino, the fourth Baltimore pitcher.
Al Reyes (1-1) pitched two-thirds of an inning to get the win after being arrested early Friday at a Tampa bar and charged with being in a fight that disturbed the peace. He apologized for the incident, which occurred while celebrating his 38th birthday, and the Rays said before the game that he would not face disciplinary action.
Guthrie scattered eight hits over 6 1-3 innings. The right-hander, who lost to Tampa Bay on opening day, struck out four and walked one before being replaced by Walker with three left-handed batters in a row headed to the plate.
Akinori Iwamura reached on an infield single and Carl Crawford's pop fly dropped in shallow center field for his 1,000th career hit before Pena's second homer. Sarfate followed Walker and allowed three runs, one hit and four walks in one inning.
Luke Scott's two-run double was the big blow off Rays starter James Shields (1-2) during Baltimore's three-run first. Brian Roberts had an RBI double in the second and Ramon Hernandez added a run-scoring single off Shields to make it 5-2 in the sixth.
Only two of the five runs scored off Shields were earned. Shortstop Jason Bartlett's two-out throwing error gave the Orioles their first run and Scott followed with his double into the gap in left-center field.
Crawford went 2-for-4 to become the eighth player since 1900 to reach 1,000 hits and 250 steals before his 27th birthday. Among active players, he's the ninth to get to 1,000 hits at age 26 or younger, joining Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Adrian Beltre, Ivan Rodriguez, Ken Griffey Jr., Albert Pujols, Andruw Jones and Vladimir Guerrero.
Notes:@ Rays DH Cliff Floyd, out 4 to 6 weeks with a torn medial meniscus in his right knee, had surgery Friday. ... Orioles closer Chris Ray, who is rehabbing from right elbow surgery at Baltimore's minor league complex in nearby Sarasota, worked out with the team before the game. The right-hander had a long toss session, but has not thrown off a mound yet. ... Rays LHP Scott Kazmir (left elbow strain) threw 46 pitches in his second live batting practice session and could pitch in an extended spring training camp on Tuesday.
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