The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Florida Marlins on Saturday, but failed to sweep the series with their interstate rival as they lost on Sunday. They won on Saturday by a score of 4-1 but lost on Sunday 9-3. The Rays current record is 40-29.
Matt Garza got the start on Saturday and was very effective. Garza went seven innings and gave up only three hits and one run while striking out three. The win for Garza moves him to 5-3 on the season. Dan Wheeler threw a perfect eighth inning while Troy Percival came on in the ninth inning and picked up his fifteenth save of the year. On Sunday things didn’t got quite as smoothly. Edwin Jackson started on the mound and got hit pretty hard. Jackson was able to last five innings but was charged with six runs and the loss as he fell to 4-6 on the season. Jackson allowed five hits, three walks, and gave up a pair of home runs. Hardly his best effort of the season.
The Rays got on the board early on Saturday as a Jonny Gomes solo home run gave Tampa a 1-0 lead in the second inning. The Rays mustered only five hits to get their four runs, but were helped a great deal by picking up six walks. The Rays got seven hits on Sunday but were unable to do anything more than score three runs. They got a solo home run from Eric Hinske, while Cliff Floyd led the Rays with two hits, including a double.
Tampa will take a day off on Monday and will welcome the Chicago Cubs to town for a series starting on Tuesday. Scott Kazmir will start the opener in Tampa. Game time is 7:10pm.
