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Kazmir Dazzling In Rays Victory

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By MARC LANCASTER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 16, 2007

SEATTLE - Carl Crawford's return to the lineup certainly made a difference for the Devil Rays, but Scott Kazmir's pitching was the decisive factor as Tampa Bay finally held on for a victory.

Kazmir was dazzling in a ballpark he has always owned, driving the Rays to a 6-2 win that snapped a four-night run of bullpen-blown games.

Buoyed by an early offensive onslaught, the young left-hander plowed closer to the American League strikeouts title by fanning 11 Mariners in six innings of work. He improved to 3-0 lifetime at Safeco Field, where he has posted a miniscule 1.11 ERA. The only run he allowed Saturday was unearned, and he surrendered just three hits.

A 32-pitch sixth inning got Kazmir out of the game perhaps an inning earlier than otherwise would have been the case. He walked two batters in that frame (his only free passes all night) but recorded strikeouts for all three outs. He struck out the side in order in the fourth.

In the 10-year history of the franchise, Rays pitchers have recorded 26 double-digit strikeout games. Kazmir has half of them, with five of those 13 games coming this season.

Kazmir (13-8) entered the day trailing Minnesota's Johan Santana by four strikeouts as both chased down Baltimore's Erik Bedard, who is done for the season with 221 strikeouts. Santana struck out seven Tigers Saturday, so Kazmir was able to make up the difference. Both lefties are sitting at 220 heading into the season's final two weeks.

Speaking of statistical titles, Crawford continued to pull away as he seeks his fourth AL stolen base crown. The second inning saw Crawford swipe his 50th bag, making him the 23rd player since 1900 to record four 50-steal seasons. Juan Pierre and Kenny Lofton are the only other active players to have done it.

That steal didn't have an effect on the game, but Crawford was right in the middle of the Rays' latest offensive outburst as he returned from a two-game suspension. He recorded hits in his first four at-bats, including a single in the four-run Rays first that blew it open immediately.

The first four Tampa Bay batters to come to the plate against Mariners starter Horacio Ramirez reached base, and Seattle manager John McLaren was in no mood to watch things play out - he yanked Ramirez from the game right then, summoning Jorge Campillo. Ramirez's night tied the second-shortest start in Mariners history, and his four batters faced represented the shortest start against the Rays that didn't involve an injury.

Of course, Campillo didn't do much to help the situation, allowing a two-run single to Delmon Young and an RBI single to Jonny Gomes - the first of four consecutive hits by the Rays' designated hitter. Gomes would add a run-scoring double in the third and Brendan Harris homered leading off the fifth to round out the Rays' scoring.

Though Kazmir left three innings to pick up, the bullpen was up to the task at last. Scott Dohmann and Gary Glover pitched scoreless innings before Juan Salas allowed the Mariners' first extra-base hit of the game, a homer by Raul Ibanez leading off the ninth. A subsequent walk was enough to make the Rays a bit uneasy, so Al Reyes had to come on to finish things off.

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