The Tampa Bay Rays hammered the Philadelphia Phillies 10-4 on Thursday to take a small measure of revenge against their World Series foe.
The Rays, defeated by the Phillies over five games in October’s championship series, scored 10 unanswered runs to claim their second win of the three-game interleague set.
“I think our offense, after [Wednesday’s win] kind of erupted,” Rays infielder Ben Zobrist told reporters after hitting his 16th home run of the season in the first inning. “[It] just felt good to get things going. It’s nice to know that you come back after [being down] and you’re starting to chip away.”
PHOTO: AP
Willy Aybar tallied three of the team’s 15 hits and had three RBIs while Jason Bartlett extended his hitting streak to a franchise-record 19 games.
Tampa Bay (39-35) chased Phillies rookie starter Antonio Bastardo after just 3-2/3 innings, recording two home runs and six runs against the 23-year-old left-hander, who left with a shoulder sprain in the fourth.
Philadelphia (37-33) stormed to a 4-0 lead in the first inning against Rays pitcher Andy Sonnanstine, but Tampa Bay responded with three runs in the bottom half of the inning and scored three more times in the second to begin their charge.
Aybar, filling in for injured third baseman Evan Longoria, sparked the second-inning onslaught with a solo home run that tied the game 4-4.
He added a two RBI single against Phillies reliever Chad Durbin in the sixth where the Rays tacked on three more runs to take a 9-4 advantage.
Bartlett had an RBI single in the inning and surpassed the team-record hitting streak of Quinton McCracken, who hit safely in 18 straight in 1998.
Sonnanstine (6-7) settled down after the first and picked up the win after striking out seven batters in 5-1/3 innings.
“It took me a little bit to find my control, but once I got it, I felt good and confident and effective,” Sonnanstine said.
Despite playing below last season’s standard, the Rays are finding their form and have won 10 of their last 14 games.
Defending World champions Philadelphia have dropped 10 of 12 games and were without shortstop Jimmy Rollins, who was benched and has not managed a hit from his last 19 plate appearances.
YANKEES 11, BRAVES 7
At Atlanta, Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees hit his 563rd career home run in the Yankees’ victory over the Atlanta Braves to tie Reggie Jackson for 11th place on Major League Baseball’s all-time list.
It was just the third home run in the past month for Rodriguez, who has collected four hits in two games after having his batting average dip to .207.
Rodriguez, 33, trails only Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr, Sammy Sosa, Frank Robinson, Mark McGwire, Harmon Killebrew and Rafael Palmeiro on baseball’s home run list.
The Yankees won two of three games in their interleague series against the Braves at Atlanta’s Turner Field.
In other interleague games it was:
• Mets 3, Cardinals 2
• Tigers 6, Cubs 5
• Astros 5, Royals 4
• Twins 6, Brewers 4
• White Sox 6, Dodgers 5, 13 innings
• Mariners 9, Padres 3
• Pirates 3, Indians 2
• Reds 7, Blue Jays 5
• Nationals 9, Red Sox 3
Marlins 11, Orioles 3
Rangers 9, Diamondbacks 8
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