ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Scott Kazmir picked a great
time for his best start of the season.
Kazmir took a shutout into the eighth inning, and Ben
Zobrist and Carlos Pena homered on consecutive pitches as the Tampa Bay Rays
beat the Texas Rangers 5-3 on Friday night.
"That's as good as he's been all year in my mind," Tampa
Bay manager Joe Maddon said. "It was really fun to watch. I was really
impressed."
Kazmir (8-7) didn't allow a run until Taylor Teagarden
opened the eighth with a homer. The left-hander, who has won four straight
starts at home, wound up allowing three runs and five hits over 7 1-3 innings.
"If he can keep that going, there's no telling what can
happen," Rays center fielder B.J. Upton said.
Tampa Bay moved within three games of AL wild-card leader
Boston. Texas remains one game behind the Red Sox, who lost 20-11 to the New
York Yankees.
"We played all around good baseball," Kazmir said. "To
get that first one (a win in the initial game of the series) is huge and gives
us a little momentum."
It was just the second time this year Kazmir has gone
seven or more innings.
Zobrist hit a two-run shot and Pena followed with his
32nd homer to put Tampa Bay ahead 5-0 in the fifth. Zobrist has homered in three
straight games and has 22 this season, breaking a tie with Jose Cruz Jr. (2004)
for the most by a Rays switch-hitter.
Dustin Nippert (4-2) gave up five runs and seven hits in
five innings for the Rangers, who are 20-14 since the All-Star break.
"I don't know if it's like I lost my focus or what, but
those two pitches were not where I wanted to throw them," Nippert said. "That
was the deciding factor of the game."
Michael Young had three hits for Texas.
After Teagarden's homer, Marlon Byrd had an RBI single
and Andruw Jones hit a run-scoring grounder off Grant Balfour, cutting Texas'
deficit to 5-3. The eighth inning ended when pinch-runner Julio Borbon was
thrown out trying to steal second with Josh Hamilton batting.
Texas had a no steal situation in place for Hamilton's
at-bat.
"Am I going to call a steal from the dugout with
Hamilton at the plate?" Texas manager Ron Washington asked. "You just don't
force things. There's certain situations in the ballgame that say that the best
thing to do is let the guy at the plate do his damage if he's going to do his
damage. He learned from it. We'll move on."
"I just got a little mixed up on the sign there," Borbon
said. "It wasn't the smartest thing to do, going on that pitch."
Kazmir worked out of a second-and-third, one-out jam in
the sixth by striking out Byrd and Jones.
J.P. Howell pitched the ninth for his 15th save. The
Rays improved to 41-20 at home.
Carl Crawford put the Rays ahead 1-0 when he drove in
Jason Bartlett with a grounder in the first. Bartlett made it 2-0 during the
second with a sacrifice bunt-fielder's choice.
NOTES: The Rays are 9-17 against the AL West this
season. … Pena has two homers in four at-bats against Nippert. … Teagarden
has homered in four of his last 10 games. … Byrd has driven in 12 runs over
his last 12 games. … Texas RHP Jason Grilli (right elbow) rejoined the team
after a minor league rehab stint and is expected to be reinstated from the
15-day DL this weekend. … Rangers C Kevin Richardson, designated for
assignment earlier this week, cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A
Oklahoma City,