Homers lead Rays to rare road feat

Tampa Bay belts Baltimore for its first road sweep in 2 years.

By EDUARDO A. ENCINA, Times Staff Writer
Published August 31, 2007

B.J. Upton (right) meets Carlos Pena and Carl Crawford after hitting a three-run homer, the Rays' second homer of the third inning.
	[AP photo]

BALTIMORE - The last time the Devil Rays walked out of Camden Yards with a sweep, B.J. Upton was 13.

Camden Yards hasn't been the friendliest of places to the Rays, especially recently. The Rays arrived in Baltimore losers of nine straight here.

They left Thursday night with an 8-6 win and their first sweep of the foundering Orioles in Baltimore since May 15-18, 1998 - the franchise's first trip here.

"Since I've been here, it's been tough to beat these guys, especially the past couple of years," said Upton, who keyed a third straight Rays comeback with a three-run homer that capped a four-run third inning. "For us to come into their place and get a sweep, I think it's great for us going into New York."

With a series against the streaking Yankees next, the win gave the Rays their sixth win in their past seven games and their first road sweep in more than two years Tampa Bay took three in Cleveland on Aug. 12-14, 2005.

It was also the first time the Rays won three consecutive road games in nearly two years. It last happened Sept. 25-28, 2005.

The Rays (54-80) won the first two games of this series by getting key situational hits when they needed them, but in the finale, they relied on the home run. Five of their eight runs came off three homers, including shortstop Josh Wilson's first major-league homer in the third - a shot that cleared the wall in centerfield and seemed to rattle Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie.

"It kind of opened up after that," Upton said of Wilson's homer. "It kind of gave us a spark."

Rays left-hander Scott Kazmir wasn't at his best, and he fell behind early. Nick Markakis' three-run homer three batters into the game gave Baltimore an early lead. Kazmir escaped further damage in the opening inning after allowing the first five batters to reach base, inducing a double-play ball from Melvin Mora and striking out designated hitter J.R. House.

"I felt like I was going side to side with the ball," said Kazmir, who despite his struggles won his team-high 11th game of the season. "I felt like I was just battling the whole entire game. You have days like this. You just have to learn how to battle through it."

After Wilson and Upton's long balls gave the Rays a 4-3 edge, the Orioles regained the lead on Kevin Millar's two-run shot in the third off Kazmir.

The Rays pecked away, scoring one run in the fourth inning and another in the sixth on Carl Crawford's single. Crawford's hit gave the Rays a lead they would not relinquish.

The Rays bullpen, suddenly stellar, performed well again when Kazmir left after five innings and 98 pitches. Three relievers combined to hold the Orioles to one ninth-inning run. Scott Dohmann pitched a pair of scoreless innings and escaped a seventh-inning jam with two on and no outs. He got cleanup hitter Miguel Tejada to ground into a double play and struck out Millar.

[Last modified August 31, 2007, 01:24:20]