Jered Weaver wins 3rd straight start as the Angels beat Tampa Bay 4-3

Jered Weaver wins 3rd straight start

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Jered Weaver allowed two runs over six innings to win his third consecutive start and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 on Tuesday night.

Weaver (6-2) gave up five hits, four walks and struck out six. The right-hander has been touched for four runs over 21 innings in his last three outings.

Vladimir Guerrero had an RBI single during a two-run first. Brian Fuentes pitched the ninth for his 16th save in 19 opportunties.

Ben Zobrist hit solo homer and finished with two RBIs for the Rays, who have lost three in a row following a four-game winning streak. James Shields (5-5) allowed four runs and 10 hits in 6 1-3 innings.

Guerrero hit a run-scoring single and Juan Rivera had an RBI grounder to put Los Angeles ahead 2-0 in the first. Rivera has four RBIs in last two games.

Howie Kendrick opened the fifth with an opposite-field triple off the right-field wall — which was confirmed after a video review by the umpires — and scored on Chone Figgins sacrifice fly that extended the Angels advantage to 3-0.

Tampa Bay got within 3-2 in the sixth on an RBI grounder by Zobrist and Matt Joyce’s sacrifice fly.

Bobby Abreu ended Shields’ night with an RBI double with one out in the seventh that gave the Angels a 4-2 lead.

The Rays loaded the bases — on a pair of hit batters and an intentional walk— against Darren Oliver in the seventh, but failed to score when Carlos Pena hit a hard liner that first baseman Kendry Morales turned into a double play.

Zobrist made it 4-3 on his 12th home of the season during the eighth.

Tropicana Field (28 games) and the new Yankee Stadium (29 games) are the only major league stadiums that have had at least one homer in every game this season.

Tampa Bay’s B.J. Upton, who appeared to be unhappy when a 3-1 pitch in the ninth was called a ball, was ejected by plate umpire Mark Wegner after later flying out. Upton was talking to Wegner while heading toward the dugout after the out and was thrown out of the game.