Fri May 16 23:13:32 2008

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Sonnanstine shines as streaking Rays clip Cards

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St. Louis, MO (Sports Network) - Andy Sonnanstine allowed one run over eight innings, and Akinori Iwamura went 3-for-5 with a run batted in, as Tampa Bay opened interleague play with a 3-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Sonnanstine (6-1) scattered eight hits, walked none and struck out four for the Rays, who have won eight of nine. Troy Percival pitched a perfect ninth to secure his 11th save.

Sonnanstine also had a pair of hits, along with Evan Longoria and Jason Bartlett. Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena each had an RBI for Tampa Bay, which pounded out 12 hits, but left 10 runners on base in the first contest of this three-game series.

Chris Duncan went 2-for-4 with a solo homer, while Troy Glaus had two hits, including a triple, but the Cardinals have now lost eight of 10.

Braden Looper (5-3) took the loss despite allowing three runs on 10 hits in six innings of work. Looper also finished 2-for-2 at the plate for St. Louis, which won all three of the previous games between the clubs -- a June series in 2005.

Sonnanstine helped his own cause by leading off the top of the third with a single. A wild pitch allowed him to advance to second, and Iwamura punched a single through the left side to put runners on the corners.

Crawford added another single that put Tampa Bay up by one, and Looper at last got an out in the inning by getting B.J. Upton to ground into a double play. Iwamura, though, advanced to third on that play and came home on a Pena single.

The Rays made it 3-0 in the fourth inning on another single from Iwamura that plated Dioner Navarro.

Sonnanstine continued to hold the Cardinals off the scoreboard and looked strong late in the game, as he set St. Louis down in order in the seventh. But the Cardinals finally broke through in the eighth, when Duncan ripped his fourth home run of the season to right field.

Sonnanstine, though, struck out Albert Pujols and got Rick Ankiel to ground out to end the inning. Percival closed out the game with three consecutive fly outs.

Game Notes

Of Sonnanstine's 98 pitches, 76 were strikes...The Cardinals left six men on base...Saturday's game features Tampa Bay's Matt Garza (2-1) and the Cardinals' Adam Wainwright (3-2).