Rays LHP David Price gets first regular-season win, Tampa Bay beats Minnesota 5-2

Price gets first regular-season win for Rays

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — David Price struck out 11 to earn his first regular-season win in the majors, and Evan Longoria got his 55th RBI of the season to help the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Minnesota Twins 5-2 on Saturday.

Price (1-0), who started the season at Triple-A Durham and was recalled Monday, gave up one run, five hits and two walks over 5 2-3 innings in first start at Tropicana Field.

The first overall pick in the 2007 amateur draft was the winner out of the bullpen in Game 2 and picked up the Game 7 save in last year’s AL championship series against Boston.

Longoria had an RBI single during a four-run third for the Rays, who have won two in a row after a season-high five-game skid. Carl Crawford had two RBIs, including a solo homer in the seventh, and Randy Choate earned his second save.

Minnesota left-hander Francisco Liriano (2-7) allowed four runs and seven hits in four innings. He has lasted just four innings in three straight starts.

The Twins are 5-16 on the road this season. Minnesota was hitless in nine at-bats with runners in scoring position and are 1 of 20 overall the past two games.

Joe Dillon hit a solo homer, Crawford had an RBI infield single, Longoria hit a run-scoring single and Ben Zobrist drove in a run on an infield single to give Tampa Bay a 4-1 lead in the third.

Justin Morneau put the Twins ahead 1-0 on an RBI grounder in the third. He has driven in 28 runs this month.

Price worked out of a self-induced, second-and-third, two-out jam in the second by getting a grounder to third from Alexi Casilla. With Joe Crede on first after an earlier walk, Price fielded a routine grounder by Carlos Gomez and proceeded to lob a throw well over first baseman Carlos Pena’s head that put the two runners in scoring position.

Crede left in the fourth after fouling a ball off his left knee. X-rays were negative and he is day to day.

Grant Balfour pitched 2 2-3 innings before being replaced by Choate with two on and one out in the ninth. Choate got two outs, including an RBI grounder by Casilla.