Crawford's grand slam helps Rays sweep Cubs

[June 20, 2008]  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- Carl Crawford's second career grand slam was the big blow in a seven-run, seventh-inning rally that carried the Tampa Bay Rays to an 8-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs and a three-game sweep of the team with baseball's best record Thursday night.

The Cubs had been the only major league club that hadn't lost more than two games in a row this season. It looked as though it would remain that way when they chased Rays starter James Shields and took a 3-1 lead in the seventh.

But reliever Carlos Marmol (1-2) opened the door for Tampa Bay's biggest inning of the season by walking the first two batters he faced, then hitting the next two with pitches to force in a run and depart with the bases loaded.

Crawford hit Scott Eyre's second pitch into the right-field stands, putting Tampa Bay ahead 6-3.

And the Rays weren't finished. B.J. Upton tripled and scored on Eric Hinske's double, then Hinske stole third and trotted home on Evan Longoria's sacrifice fly.

Grant Balfour (2-0) pitched 1 2-3 scoreless innings to get the win as Tampa Bay set a club record for victories (43) before the All-Star break and climbed 14 games over .500 (43-29) for the first time in franchise history.

It was the Rays' third sweep of a first-place team. They also took three straight at home from Boston April 25-27 and the Los Angeles Angels May 9-11.

Sean Gallagher pitched six strong innings for the Cubs, allowing an unearned run and four hits before the bullpen let the game get away. Mike Fontenot hit an RBI double off Shields, and run-scoring singles by Kosuke Fukudome and Ryan Theriot put Chicago ahead 3-1.

Shields, returning from a six-game suspension for his role in a bench-clearing brawl at Boston on June 5, allowed three runs and seven hits in 6 1-3 innings. He walked two and matched a season high with nine strikeouts.

The Rays' opening day starter has not won since beating the Angels with a one-hitter on May 9. He's 0-3 in seven starts since, including a 6-1 complete-game road loss to the Angels in the only other start he's made since the fight.

The Rays scored an unearned run in the second when Willy Aybar grounded into a double play. Gallagher kept Chicago close by not allowing any more damage in the inning, then wiggling out of bases-loaded jam by getting Crawford to ground out to end the fifth. 

The Cubs broke through in the seventh, when Micah Hoffpauir had a leadoff double and Mark DeRosa walked. After Henry Blanco failed to get down a sacrifice bunt, Fontenot's ground-rule double bounced over the wall in left-center, tying the game 1-all and finishing Shields.

Fukudome's bloop single off Trever Miller drove in the second run of the inning, and Theriot's RBI single off Balfour put the Cubs up 3-1.

Notes: The Rays signed high school SS Tim Beckham, the No. 1 pick in this month's baseball draft, to a minor league deal that included a $6.15 million signing bonus. The 18-year-old from Griffin, Ga., took batting practice before the game and threw out the ceremonial first pitch. ... Cubs RHP Carlos Zambrano, who left Wednesday night's loss to Tampa Bay because of discomfort in his right shoulder, will miss his next scheduled start Tuesday against Baltimore. He was initially set to have an MRI exam Thursday, but the Cubs decided to instead schedule an MRI arthrogram, a test in which dye is injected into the problem area to provide a more detailed look. ... Rays SS Jason Bartlett fouled a pitch off his left foot during batting practice and was scratched from the lineup. Rookie 3B Longoria made his first major league start at shortstop.

[Associated Press; By FRED GOODALL]

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