ANAHEIM, Calif. — David Price pitched into the seventh inning to win his third straight decision, and the Tampa Bay Rays scored twice on passed balls by backup catcher Ryan Budde in a 4-3 victory over Jered Weaver and the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday.
Price (5-1) allowed three runs — two earned — and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings. The left-hander struck out six and walked three.
Rafael Soriano, the sixth Tampa Bay pitcher, threw a perfect ninth for his ninth straight save.
Weaver (4-2) had a career-high 12 strikeouts in seven innings, but was charged with four runs — one earned — and six hits.
Ben Zobrist hit an RBI double for the Rays, who took two of three from the Angels for their first series win in Anaheim since 1998.
Budde had a rough day. His first passed ball came two pitches after Weaver struck out B.J. Upton looking and Budde started walking back toward the third base dugout with the ball in his hand, thinking it was the third out.
He was about to roll it back to the mound when he saw Weaver breaking for the plate to cover in case Carl Crawford tried to score from third.
In the fifth, Weaver ended a streak of 13 straight batters retired by walking Jason Bartlett two outs and giving up a hit-and-run single by Crawford.
Budde's next passed ball let Bartlett come home and made it 3-1.
Budde, who made his third start this season, is on the roster because of injuries to Jeff Mathis and Bobby Wilson — who has been on the DL since his collision with Mark Teixeira on April 23.
Upton later added an RBI single in the sixth before Howie Kendrick's double in the bottom half brought home a run and Bobby Abreu hit a sacrifice fly in the seventh.
Notes
The three unearned runs were the first this season against Weaver, who gave up only six unearned runs over the previous two seasons. … Angels DH Hideki Matsui, fighting through a 6-for-52 rut and batting .228, didn't start. He grounded out as a pinch-hitter in the eighth for Mike Napoli, who struck out all three times up in the DH spot. … Angels manager Mike Scioscia and pitching coach Mike Butcher had a lengthy closed-door meeting with struggling LHP Scott Kazmir, a day after another inconsistent start by the pitcher they obtained from the Rays last August. But Scioscia said Kazmir (2-3, with a 6.82 ERA) will make his next scheduled start Monday at Texas. … Abreu had his first RBI in 14 games since April 27.