Fri May 9 11:01:18 2008

Comment | Email | Print

Rays try to extend home win streak vs. Angels

---

(Sports Network) - The Tampa Bay Rays try to match a franchise record by winning their seventh straight home game this evening when they kick off a three-game set with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Tropicana Field.

Tampa, which is 10-7 in its ball park this season, last won seven straight at home from June 9-26, 2004.

The Rays won in dramatic fashion on Thursday in Toronto, as Dioner Navarro's grand slam highlighted a five-run 13th inning to help Tampa pull out an 8-3 win at Rogers Centre.

Troy Percival, the Angels' all-time saves leader, blew his first save of the season for the Rays, as he served up a game-tying two-run homer to Vernon Wells. It was his first runs allowed this season.

J.P. Howell (1-0) got the victory after throwing three scoreless innings of relief.

Despite Thursday's big win Tampa will be more than happy to return to St. Petersburg, after going just 4-5 on its recent nine-game road trip.

Hoping to keep the Rays on the right track this evening will be right-hander James Shields, who will be trying to bounce back from a horrific outing in his last trip to the hill. Shields was tagged with the loss on Saturday in Boston, as the Red Sox battered him for seven runs and 10 hits in 3 2/3 innings, dropping him to 3-2 on the season, while raising his earned run average to 3.80.

Shields has faced the Angels four times and is 2-1 against them with a 3.55 ERA.

Los Angeles will counter with righty Jon Garland, who is 4-3 with a 5.08 ERA. Garland won for the third time in his last four starts on Saturday, as he held Baltimore to a run and three hits in eight innings.

Garland is an impressive 5-1 lifetime against the Rays with a 3.43 ERA in nine starts. He is also 3-0 with a 2.62 ERA in five starts at the Trop.

The Angels were denied a sweep in their three-game series with the Kansas City Royals, falling 9-4 in Wednesday's finale. The loss halted a four-game winning streak for Los Angeles, which is tied with the Oakland Athletics for first place in the AL West.

LA won six of eight from the Rays last season and is 13-4 against them since the start of the 2006 season.