ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Tampa Bay Rays rode the momentum of a marathon victory to another big victory.
Desmond Jennings drove in four runs, Alex Cobb took a three-hit shutout into the ninth inning, and the Rays beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-1 on Saturday in a match up of exhausted teams to maintain their lead in the American League wild-card race.
“We’ve got to keep things going,” Jennings said. “There’s no relaxing or anything like that. Keep finding ways to win games.”
The first pitch came 10 hours, 56 minutes after the Rays’ 5-4, 18-inning victory over Baltimore that ended at 2:05 a.m., a game that stretched on for 6:54 - a record time for both teams.
Saturday’s game, by comparison, seemed to breeze by in 2:51.
“You can’t put into words how appreciative you are when you’re on the mound and these guys after an 18-inning game, when you’re in bed sleeping while they’re putting together a win, and they come out with the same intensity for you the next day,” Cobb said. “It’s amazing.”
Cobb, in a common practice, left the ballpark early Friday night and went to bed 2½ hours before the game ended.
Tampa Bay (85-69) moved one game ahead of Cleveland (84-70), which entered Saturday in the second wild-card position. The Orioles (81-73) dropped three games behind the Indians and have three other teams in front of them.
Cobb didn’t allow a hit until Steve Clevenger lined a single to right with two outs in the fifth. The Orioles had only two hits over the final 11 innings Friday.
“I think it was more Cobb than anything,” Baltimore Manager Buck Show-alter said. “He’s got command of that change up, to both left and right-handed hitters. He’s impressive.”
Chris Davis tripled with one out in the ninth off Cobb, a fly ball David DeJesus struggled to locate in left. Adam Jones followed with an RBI single that chased Cobb, who struck out 12 and walked two. Closer Fernando Rodney completed the five-hitter.
Miguel Gonzalez (10-8) gave up 3 runs, 2 hits and 5 walks in 6 innings. The right-hander had been 2-0 with an 0.92 ERA in his previous 3 starts at Tropicana Field.
Tampa Bay went ahead in the fifth when Jose Molina and Yunel Escobar walked. One out later, Jennings hit his career-high 14th home run.
Jennings added an RBI triple in the seventh and scored on Ben Zobrist’s single off Francisco Rodriguez.
Eleven players who went the distance Friday came back to start Saturday: Baltimore’s Davis, Jones, Nick Markakis, Manny Machado, J.J. Hardy and Danny Valencia, and Tampa Bay’s Zobrist, Escobar, David DeJesus, Wil Myers and Evan Longoria. Baltimore’s Matt Wieters, who caught all 18 innings, was rested.
ATHLETICS 9, TWINS 1 Oakland lowered its magic number to one for clinching its second consecutive AL West title, beating visiting Minnesota behind the pitching of Jarrod Parker and the hitting of Alberto Callaspo. Parker (12-7) allowed 1 run and 4 hits in 6 innings.
INDIANS 4, ASTROS 1 Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run home run and host Cleveland maintained its hold on an AL wild-card spot with a victory over Houston.
RANGERS 3, ROYALS 1 Matt Garza pitched eight impressive innings for his first victory in six starts and visiting Texas kept close in the playoff race, beating Kansas City.
BLUE JAYS 4, RED SOX 2 Clay Buchholz lost for the first time this season, and AL East champion Boston fell to Mark Buehrle and visiting Toronto. A day after the Red Sox clinched the division title, they lost for just the sixth time in 21 games.
TIGERS 7, WHITE SOX 6 Detroit tied the game with a six-run rally in the ninth inning, then beat visiting Chicago when Omar Infante hit an infield single with the bases loaded in the 12th.
INTERLEAGUE
YANKEES 6, GIANTS 0 Ivan Nova pitched a six-hitter for his second career shutout, Eduardo Nunez hit a two-run home run and host New York kept pace in the AL wild-card chase with a victory over San Francisco. Alfonso Soriano hit a home runs for the second consecutive day and Robinson Cano had an RBI single in a three-run third against Ryan Vogelsong (3-6), helping New York win for just the third time in eight games.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
CUBS 3, BRAVES 1 Dioner Navarro hit a tie breaking single in a three-run eighth inning, and host Chicago beat Atlanta to keep the Braves on the brink of the National League East championship. Starlin Casto singled off Kris Medlen with one out in the eighth, pinch-hitter Donnie Murphy singled against Scott Downs (4-4) and Anthony Rizzo hit a tying double down the left field line. Navarro singled in the go-ahead run against David Carpenter, and Nate Schierholtz added a sacrifice fly. Carlos Villanueva (7-8) relieved Travis Wood (Bryant) with two on and no outs in the eighth after Justin Upton doubled and Freddie Freeman walked.
CARDINALS 7, BREWERS 2 Matt Carpenter broke Stan Musial’s team record for doubles by a left-handed batter in a season, Lance Lynn won for the first time since early August and visiting St. Louis beat Milwaukee. Carpenter’s fifth-inning double was his 54th of the season, one more than Musial’s total in 1953. Lynn (14-10) allowed 1 run, 4 hits and 4 walks in 6 1/3 innings with 7 strikeouts. He had been 0-5 with a 5.44 ERA in 8 starts since winning at Cincinnati on Aug. 4. Yovani Gallardo (11-10) gave up2 runs and 4 hits in 7 innings and dropped to 1-11 with a 6.46 ERA in 17 career starts against St. Louis.
PIRATES 4, REDS 2 A.J. Burnett (North Little Rock, Central Arkansas Christian) scattered four hits over seven strong innings to lead host Pittsburgh over Cincinnati. Burnett (9-11) struck out a season-high 12 as the Pirates moved a game in front of Cincinnati for the top spot in the NL wild-card race. Jason Grilli worked the ninth for his 31st save, his first since going to the disabled list with a strained right forearm in July.
METS 5, PHILLIES 4 David Wright and Daniel Murphy hit home runs and visiting New York beat Philadelphia in a game called in the top of the seventh inning because of rain. The teams played in the rain before the game was halted, and it was called after a delay of 1 hour, 28 minutes.
DIAMONDBACKS 7, ROCKIES 2 Matt Davidson homered and drove in three runs, Gerardo Parra had three hits, and visiting Arizona beat Colorado. Chris Owings also had three hits for the Diamondbacks.
DODGERS 4, PADRES 0 Clayton Kershaw struck out 10 in seven dominant innings, Yasiel Puig and A.J. Ellis hit two-run home runs, and NL West champion Los Angeles defeated San Diego. Kershaw (15-9) lowered his major league-leading ERA to 1.88. He held San Diego in check on three hits after losing to the Padres in three other starts this season.
Saturday’s games NATIONAL LEAGUE Chicago Cubs 3, Atlanta 1 Pittsburgh 4, Cincinnati 2 NY Mets 5, Philadelphia 4, 7 innings Miami at Washington, ppd., rain St. Louis 7, Milwaukee 2 Arizona 7, Colorado 2 L.A. Dodgers 4, San Diego 0 AMERICAN LEAGUE Tampa Bay 5, Baltimore 1 Oakland 9, Minnesota 1 Cleveland 4, Houston 1 Detroit 7, Chicago White Sox 6, 12 innings Texas 3, Kansas City 1 Toronto 4, Boston 2 Seattle at LA Angels, (n) INTERLEAGUE NY Yankees 6, San Francisco 0
Sports, Pages 23 on 09/22/2013