The Rays had a great long weekend as they swept their way through Memorial Day. After a win Friday night against the Orioles, the Rays took two more from them and then on on Memorial Day against the Texas Rangers. With those wins the Rays are now 31-20 this season.
On Saturday the Rays beat the Orioles 11-4 behind the pitching of Edwin Jackson. Jackson went five innings giving up three runs and picked up his third run in the process. Three Rays relievers combined to finish the game. The Rays offense was terrific as they scored 9 of their 11 runs in the first two innings to put the game out of reach. Evan Longoria homered twice and picked up six RBIs to help lead the Tampa offense. BJ Upton went 4-4 and Carlos Pena went 3-3. This one was over early.
On Sunday the Rays finished their sweep of the Orioles with a 5-4 win. James Shield got the start on the mound for the Rays and went eight strong innings. He gave up 4 runs with only three of them being earned. He didn’t factor in the decision. The Rays won in the final at bat, so Troy Percival, who got two outs in the 9th, got his first win of the season. The Rays went up 4-1, but the Orioles came back to tie it at 4 in the sixth inning. With one out in the 9th inning, Evan Longoria hit a RBI double that won the game for Tampa, continuing his huge weekend. Longoria and Dioner Navaro were the only Rays with two hits.
Finally on Monday, the Rays topped the Texas Rangers 7-3 with Scott Kazmir getting the win. Kazmir was almost un-hittable as he went seven inning, gave up three hits and run while he struck out 10. Kazmir got the win and improved to 4-1 on the season after starting on the DL. Carlos Pena and Dioner Navarro each had three hits for the Rays and Eric Hinske homered. BJ Upton had two hits and two RBI.
The Rays will continue their series with the Rangers on Tuesday. Andy Sonnanstine will start for the Rays as he looks for his seventh win of the season. Game time is 7:10pm.
