Rays-Angels: Tampa Bay Powers Its Way Past Saunders, Angels

Entering Monday's matchup between the Los Angeles Angels and the Tampa Bay Rays, fans were looking for some clarification: Either Angels starter Joe Saunders was playing above his head, or maybe the entire Rays team was.

The Rays resumed their soaring season and knocked Saunders down a few pegs, riding an offensive onslaught led by 10 total bases and walk from Evan Longoria to a 13-4 victory in Anaheim.

The Rays carried baseball's fifth-best record into the game, while Saunders was trying to continue his hot start, which consisted of a 9-1 record and 2.63 ERA going into the matchup.

Both teams came into this three-game set playing very well, with L.A. having won seven straight series and Tampa Bay ten of its last thirteen. The Rays came into Angel Stadium sporting a record that was an unbelievable 18 games better than their record this time last season, and grabbed onto the game's first lead in the second inning.

Saunders—who, in his only other start against the Rays, had allowed one run in six innings of work—ran into trouble when he faced the No. 5, 6, and 7 hitters of Tampa in the second frame. Evan Longoria, Willie Aybar and Dioner Navarro each connected for home runs in consecutive at-bats to become the first trio of Rays to ever hit back-to-back-to-back homers, which put the Rays up, 3-0.

However, just as Cleveland's Cliff Lee became MLB's first 10-game winner of the year in a game against Detroit, L.A's offense woke up to back Saunders, who was also trying to reach that plateau. The Angels chipped away at the three-run deficit in each of the next three innings, beginning in the second, when designated hitter Vladmir Guerrero, who entered the game in a 4-for-25 slump, ripped a double off the top of the center field wall to lead off the inning. He scored three batters later on a Gary Matthews Jr. single, making the score 3-1.

In the top of the third, it looked like Carl Crawford, who had walked to lead off the inning, had his 18th steal of the season, but it was revoked because Longoria was called for interference as he walked across home plate after striking out, thus impeding upon Jeff Mathis' ability to throw out Crawford. Mathis, who had been called for catcher's interference earlier in the game, sold the interference very well to home plate umpire Eric Cooper, ending the Rays' threat.

Mathis and Maicer Izturis led off the home half of the third with back-to-back singles, and Mathis moved over to third on a fly ball off of the bat of Howie Kendrick. With one out, Garrett Anderson hit a fly ball to center field, which Justin Ruggiano caught with ease and then fired to Navarro, trying to get Mathis at the plate, but Navarro cut it off early, conceding the run to Mathis, and gunned down Izturis at second, who, upon seeing the throw go all the way through to the catcher, had tried to tag up and advance to second base.

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