Garza Owns O's

ST. PETERSBURG - The Rays playing at home with Matt Garza pitching against the Orioles. It's a winning formula even Aubrey Huff couldn't crack.

Not that Baltimore's noted tormentor of his former team didn't try Friday, but the Rays had a bit of help in keeping him from yanking another game from their grasp. A controversial call in the eighth inning negated what might have been a game-tying double by Huff, who then grounded into an inning-ending double play before the Rays tacked on a run in the bottom half to secure a 2-0 victory.

It was Tampa Bay's 17th win in 25 home games this season and kept Garza unbeaten in six career starts against the Orioles. And in Huff's opinion, if not others', it was also a pretty good argument to bring instant replay to baseball.

The pivotal moment Friday came just after Garza departed to an ovation after a season-high 71/3 shutout innings, one out short of matching the longest start of his career. The Rays led 1-0 as Trever Miller entered the game to face Huff, who was sporting a .330 average against his longtime team.

Huff's leadoff triple in the second inning might have led to an early Orioles run, but Garza managed to wriggle free of that mess with some help from Carlos Pena, who threw home on a grounder in time for Dioner Navarro to tag Huff out at the plate and keep it scoreless.

This time, Huff stepped in with Nick Markakis on first after a one-out walk issued by Garza. The designated hitter ripped a 2-1 offering from Miller down the first-base line for an apparent double, but umpire Ed Hickox ruled it foul. A furious Huff protested to no avail, held back from the umpire by first-base coach John Shelby as Orioles manager Dave Trembley trotted out for what appeared more a discussion than an argument.

Once order was restored, Huff went back to the plate and topped Miller's next pitch to Akinori Iwamura for a double play.

"It was a ball I've hit a thousand times - an automatic double," said Huff. "The game changes right there. The first inning if that happens, no big deal. It just can't be missed in that situation."

The Rays were noncommittal on where they thought the ball bounced before careening down toward the Tampa Bay bullpen.

"It was a close call, but I think he got it right," Pena said without much conviction, "and I was obviously happy that he called it foul."

Rays manager Joe Maddon said he didn't have a good angle from which to see it.

"We got the ground-ball double play and I'll take it right there," he said.

Trembley said he "obviously" thought it was a fair ball. While he was calm after the play initially happened, he had some words for home-plate umpire Ed Rapuano from the dugout in the bottom of the eighth and earned an ejection that sent him flying onto the field in a rage.

The damage was done by then, though, and the Rays capitalized in the bottom half. B.J. Upton collected a one-out single off Chad Bradford and moved around to third when Orioles closer George Sherrill came on and threw wild to first on a pick-off attempt. Pena then launched a drive toward the deepest part of left-center that went for just a sacrifice fly when Luke Scott laid out for a spectacular catch.

"It was like a Willie Mays," Pena said. "It was crazy. I couldn't believe he caught it."

They got another run out of it, though, and Troy Percival showed no signs of the hamstring tightness he felt while closing out Tuesday's game, mowing down the Orioles in the ninth for his 14th save.

Aside from Pena's sacrifice fly and Carl Crawford's RBI single in the fifth off Jeremy Guthrie, the Rays were put in position to win by an impressive bounce-back outing from Garza.

Coming off an ugly start at St. Louis in which he allowed 12 base runners and seven runs in 41/3 innings, Garza was locked in Friday. Once he escaped the second inning with help from Pena's prescient throw home to nab Huff, he cruised to the finish.

All of Garza's looks at the Orioles before Friday had come at Camden Yards, but the venue apparently doesn't matter. He's now 5-0 with a 2.80 ERA against Baltimore.