Carl Crawford and B.J. Upton each drove in a run and the Tampa Bay Rays were able to conquer Los Angeles Angels ace Jered Weaver in Wednesday’s 4-3 victory.
David Price (5-1) went 6 1/3 solid innings, allowing three runs - two earned - on seven hits to become the American League’s third five-game winner.
Four relievers bridged the gap to closer Rafael Soriano, who worked a perfect ninth for his ninth save.
Weaver (4-2) was a hard-luck loser as he struck out 12 batters in seven innings, but was let down by sloppy defense in allowing four runs - one earned - on six hits.
Tamp Bay’s first two runs in the opening frame were unearned as Kevin Frandsen made a throwing error that led to a run and catcher Ryan Buddle allowed one on a passed ball.
Jason Bartlett scored on another passed ball by Buddle in the fifth and Upton singled in Evan Longoria in the sixth to make it 4-1.
The Angels chipped away at the lead on Howie Kendrick’s RBI double, one of his three hits, and Bobby Abreu’s sacrifice fly in the seventh.
Tampa Bay | LA Angels | |
David Price | Player | Jered Weaver |
Win | W/L | Loss |
6.1 | IP | 7.0 |
6 | Strikeouts | 12 |
7 | Hits | 6 |
2.84 | ERA | 1.29 |
Tampa Bay | LA Angels | |
Carl Crawford | Player | Howie Kendrick |
2 | Hits | 3 |
0 | RBI | 1 |
0 | HR | 0 |
2 | TB | 4 |
.400 | Avg | .750 |