St. Petersburg, FL (Sports Network) - Kelly Shoppach went 3-for-4 with a solo home run to lead the Tampa Bay Rays to a 5-3 win over the San Diego Padres in the finale of a three-game interleague set.
Three Rays Go Deep As Tampa Salvages Series Against San Diego
B.J. Upton and Carlos Pena each had a solo home run while Willy Aybar donated a two-run single for the Rays, who came into the game having lost six of their last seven.
Matt Garza (8-5) got the win as over eight innings of work he was charged with three runs on six hits. He added five strikeouts to win for the third time in his past four starts.
Oscar Salazar hit a two-run home run while Jerry Hairston Jr. drove in the other run for the Padres, who had a three-game winning streak stopped. Wade LeBlanc (4-5) was tagged with the loss as he gave up four runs on 11 hits over 5 1/3 innings.
Tampa struck in the first when Upton clubbed a 1-1 pitch over the left field wall for a 1-0 lead.
San Diego, though, responded in the second to take the lead. With one out, Will Venable singled and promptly stole second. A single from Hairston tied the game and Salazar followed with a shot over the left field fence for a 3-1 lead.
The Rays loaded the bases with one out in the second, but Upton hit into a double play to end the frame.
Tampa tied the game in the fifth. With one out, back-to-back singles from Ben Zobrist and Evan Longoria were followed by a groundout from Pena that put both runners in scoring position. Aybar then smacked a single to left that brought home both runners.
Shoppach led off the sixth by drilling the first pitch he faced over the wall in left for his first home run of the season and a 4-3 lead.
In the San Diego seventh, Venable led off with a single and was awarded second base when Garza was called for a balk, which led to Joe Maddon being ejected for arguing with second base umpire Gary Cederstrom. Hairston then hit a grounder that resulted in a double play as Venable was tagged out in a rundown and Hairston was then thrown out trying to reach second base.
Pena gave Tampa an insurance run in the seventh with a solo homer, his 16th of the season.
Rafael Soriano worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his 17th save of the season.
Tampa left fielder Carl Crawford left the game in the third inning with a sore left shoulder...San Diego had won four straight against Tampa coming into the game...San Diego starts a three-game set in Florida on Friday...Tampa hosts Arizona for a three-game set beginning Friday.
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