The Tampa Bay Rays snapped a four-game losing streak on Friday night, defeating the Detroit Tigers and Justin Verlander 4-2 at Tropicana Field. The Rays scored all four runs off the reigning Cy Young, with most of the damage coming via the long ball. While the Rays managed only six hits off Verlander, they made sure to make them count.
Luke Scott opened the scoring early, plating a run in the first inning on a groundout that scored Carlos Pena. After that, it was three solo shots that carried the Rays to victory. Desmond Jennings ripped one to left off Verlander in the third and Ben Zobrist then took him to right an inning later. Jennings crushed his second homer of the night in his next at-bat in the bottom of the fifth, clearing the left-field fence yet again.
With an early three-run cushion against the dominant Verlander, David Price came through to snap the losing streak with an impressive performance against the touted Tigers lineup. Price struck out seven Detroit hitters and allowed just two runs on five hits in seven innings.
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