SEATTLE — Carlos Pena hit his 21st home run and drove in another run and the Tampa Bay Rays increased their lead in the AL East to 3½ games with a 5-3 victory over the Mariners on Friday night.
Tampa Bay’s lead over second-place Boston is its largest since July 7.
Two days after his dramatic, game-ending home run capped a six-run ninth inning for the Rays, Pena made up for the absence of Evan Longoria, the team’s leader in home runs and RBIs. Longoria is missing at least one day of his team’s season-long, 10-game road trip because of a bruised hand.
Pena gave the Rays the lead in the second inning with his solo home run off Carlos Silva. He then singled home the final run of the decisive four-run third for the Rays, who won for the eighth time in 10 games and improved to 24-29 on the road. That’s where 28 of Tampa Bay’s final 47 games will be.
James Shields (10-7) flirted with trouble but allowed only three runs and nine hits in 6 2-3 innings. He struck out five and walked none.
Grant Balfour retired all four batters he faced before Troy Percival finished the ninth for his 25th save in 28 chances for Tampa Bay, which is one victory from tying the franchise record of 70 wins in a season.
Wladimir Balentien hit a two-run home run for Seattle, which sunk back to 26 games under .500 one night after stunning the Rays with a last at-bat home run.
Silva (4-13) allowed eight hits and five runs — four earned — in six-plus innings to take the AL lead in losses. The right-hander, signed to a $48 million, four-year contract as a free agent before Seattle’s lost season, still has won just once since April 17.
The Mariners gave the Rays half of their runs in the key third. With one out, No. 9 hitter Ben Zobrist, subbing for injured shortstop Jason Bartlett, singled. So did Akinori Iwamura. B.J. Upton singled home Zobrist to tie the game at 2. Then Carl Crawford hit a hard one-hopper that shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt snared, but Betancourt sailed his throw 10 feet over first base and into a camera well. The two-base error scored Iwamura and Upton to put the Rays ahead 4-2.
It was Betancourt’s 17th error this season, most of any AL shortstop.
Pena then singled home Crawford to make it 5-2.
Seattle got one back in the fourth when Bryan LaHair hit an infield single to score fellow rookie Jeff Clement, who had doubled with two out.
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