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Kazmir Shines, And Rays Hitters Tee Off On Texas

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Rays shortstop Jason Bartlett tags out Texas' David Murphy on an attempted steal of second in the second inning of the Rays' 12-4 win on Friday.

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By MARC LANCASTER

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 7, 2008

ARLINGTON, Texas - The Rays got back to baseball Friday night and found it agreed with them.

If not completely forgotten, the extracurricular activity of the previous two evenings at Fenway Park at least was pushed to the side for a few hours. Scott Kazmir saw to that with another sparkling performance that was backed by four long home runs as the Rays rolled past the Rangers 12-4.

"Everybody's going to look at how we scored a bunch of runs, but it was all about Kaz tonight," said Rays manager Joe Maddon. "We could not have done that without him. The way he pitched tonight against that ballclub was spectacular."

Kazmir was pitching before about 20 friends and family members in his home state - a total that did not include his father, Eddie, who was celebrating his birthday Friday. Superstition kept the elder Kazmir at the team hotel watching on television as his son tallied a season-high eight innings. The left-hander allowed only a run on a sacrifice fly in the second inning and a two-out solo homer by Ian Kinsler in the eighth.

Of course, the way Kazmir has been pitching, those numbers would be considered disappointing - he had allowed only two runs in his previous five starts combined. Even if his final pitching line downshifted from eye-popping to merely outstanding, Kazmir gave the Rays exactly what they needed. In doing so, he became the first Rays pitcher to pick up a win in six consecutive starts despite his ERA rising from 1.22 to 1.40.

At the same time, the Rays' hitters were getting warmed up again after a long dry spell that had seen them tally just 15 runs in their previous seven games combined.

It was Evan Longoria who got it going back in the fifth, though, leading off the inning with a monster home run off Texas starter Vicente Padilla. The ball carried an estimated 442 feet into the distant second deck at Rangers Ballpark - a spot reached by only one other visiting hitter since the stadium opened in 1994. That would be Mark McGwire, who put one there July 5, 1997.

"That was the farthest one I've seen here - me, personally," said Maddon. "Not even in batting practice have I seen that. When it left it was zero-gravity - it was just going to keep going. It was crushed."

Longoria's shot tied the game at 1, but the Rays would soon pull away. B.J. Upton launched a 407-foot shot to center with two out in the sixth - his first homer since April 29 - to give Tampa Bay the lead for good.

Upton would show off the speed aspect of his game two innings later, stealing second and third base after a walk to position himself for what at the time was a valuable insurance run on an Eric Hinske sacrifice fly.

Things got out of hand shortly thereafter, with Dioner Navarro slamming a homer off the facing of the second deck in right field for a 6-1 Rays lead. After Kinsler got one back in the bottom of the inning, the Rays made the Rangers pay for a pair of errors by piling up five hits - including a Hinske drive off the right-field foul pole - for six unearned runs, turning it into a laugher.

Which was exactly what they needed after Thursday night.

Reporter Marc Lancaster can be reached at (813) 259-7227 or mlancaster@tampatrib.com.

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