SEATTLE — Evan Longoria broke a 3-all tie with a 411-foot solo homer and Carlos Pena added a two-run shot in Tampa Bay’s 10-4 win over the Seattle Mariners on Saturday night, the Rays’ sixth victory in eight games.
Longoria’s 24th homer came in the fifth inning and gave Tampa Bay a 4-3 lead. Two batters later, Pena went deep off Seattle reliever Chris Jakubauskas for his 28th homer of the season. Tampa Bay then cushioned its lead with four runs in the eighth, highlighted by Jason Barlett’s two-run single.
James Shields (7-8) wasn’t near as sharp as his last outing when he took a no-hitter into the seventh inning. But the Rays’ righty lasted into the sixth and helped Tampa Bay rebound from Friday night’s stunning 7-6 loss in 11 innings.
Shields won for the first time since June 20.
Longoria’s homer came after Seattle rallied from an early 3-0 deficit and a meltdown by starter Ian Snell, who lasted just 1 1-3 innings and walked six batters. It was his fifth homer in the last 10 games.
After Ben Zobrist walked, Pena jumped on a 3-2 fastball from Jakubauskas (5-7) to give the Rays a 6-3 lead.
Seattle threatened in the sixth and knocked Shields from the game. Michael Saunders’ third hit, a double into the rightfield corner, scored Franklin Gutierrez, advanced Rob Johnson to third and ended Shields’ night.
Sidewinding lefty Randy Choate took over and got two huge outs, forcing Ichiro Suzuki to chop out to third and Russell Branyan to weakly tap back to the mound.
Choate got the first two outs of the seventh, and Grant Balfour retired the next four batters before Brian Shouse pitched the ninth. Tampa Bay moved within 1½ games of Boston in the AL wild card chase, while Seattle remained 5½ back.
Snell was making his debut at Safeco Field following a strong first start with the Mariners after being traded along with Jack Wilson to Seattle on July 30. It certainly wasn’t the first impression Snell was hoping to make on the home crowd.
Snell gave up four walks in the first inning — including a walk of Pat Burrell with the bases loaded — along with an RBI single to Zobrist. The second inning wasn’t any better as Snell walked Bartlett for a second time, allowed a double to Carl Crawford and saw Barlett score on Longoria’s infielder grounder. Seattle manager Don Wakamatsu saw enough when Snell issued his sixth walk on a 3-2 pitch to Zobrist. It matched the shortest start of Snell’s career.
Jakubauskas got out of the second inning jam with a double play and pitched 4 2-3 strong innings of relief, his only hiccup being the two homers allowed.
Gutierrez hit a two-run homer in the second off Shields, his 13th of the season, and scored on scored on Saunders’ double in the sixth. Gutierrez finished a triple shy of the cycle.<
NOTES: Seattle pitchers allowed a season-high 10 walks. Six of the 10 scored. … Snell lasted just 1 1-3 innings on May 14, 2006 against Florida while with Pittsburgh. … Seattle RHP Doug Fister made his major league debut in the ninth. Newly acquired C Gregg Zaun made his debut with the Rays. Zaun went 1-for-5.
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