St. Petersburg, FL – Luke Scott's go-ahead leadoff homer in the sixth inning lifted the red-hot Tampa Bay Rays to a 5-4 win over the Seattle Mariners in the third test of a four-game set.
James Shields (5-0) fanned 11 and became the first MLB pitcher to reach five wins despite allowing four runs on five hits and four walks in six innings.
Sean Rodriguez smacked a two-run homer for the Rays, who have won 10 of their last 11 games.
Kyle Seager belted two homers and drove in four for Seattle, which has dropped five straight.
Blake Beavan (1-3) gave up five runs on seven hits and two walks in 5 1/3 innings.
The game was tied 4-4 in the sixth inning but Scott, aided by a bit of luck, put the Rays ahead with a solo shot.
Scott blasted one to deep center field and Michael Saunders made a valiant attempt in trying to make the catch. As Saunders leapt at the warning track, the ball glanced off of his glove and cleared the wall, giving the home team a 5-4 advantage.
"I got a bit of the ball," Saunders said of the play. "I don't know if I was going to catch it before I hit the wall, I don't know if the ball was already over the wall. I don't know."
Seattle put runners on the corners with one out in the eighth, but Joel Peralta came on to put out the fire. Alex Liddi popped out to catcher Jose Molina in foul territory and Justin Smoak flied out to right field to end the frame.
Peralta then retired the side in order in the ninth to pick up his first save of the season.
"The bullpen, what can I say, they where phenomenal tonight," Shields said.
The Mariners touched Shields for three two-out runs in the first inning. Ichiro Suzuki worked a walk, Jesus Montero singled and Seager golfed a three- run shot into the seats in right-center field.
Tampa Bay, though, took the lead after plating two runs apiece in the third and fourth innings.
In the third. Rodriguez laced a two-run homer into left-center field to cut the deficit to 3-2 and Molina shot one into the right-center field gap for a two-run double in the fourth, giving Tampa Bay a 4-3 lead.
Seager belted a solo shot to tie the contest in the sixth.
Game Notes
Shields won his fifth straight start for the first time in his career...The Mariners have lost six straight games at Tropicana Field...Seattle has totaled just nine runs during its five-game losing streak.
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