Pena homers, Aybar delivers ninth-inning sacrifice fly to give Rays 3-2 victory over Marlins

Rays rally for 3-2 win over Marlins

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Carlos Pena hit his AL-leading 23rd home run and Willy Aybar broke a ninth-inning tie with a pinch-hit sacrifice fly, giving the Tampa Bay Rays a 3-2 victory over the Florida Marlins on Saturday night.

Jason Bartlett singled off Burke Badenhop (5-3) with one out in the ninth, stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch. He scored easily on Aybar’s fly ball to center field, as the Rays won their fourth straight to climb a season-best six games over .500 at 41-35.

J.P. Howell (4-2) pitched the ninth to earn the victory.

Brett Carroll homered for Florida, however the Marlins went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position and have gone 1 for 16 in those situations in dropping the first two games of the weekend Citrus Series.

Left-hander Scott Kazmir made his first start in over a month for Tampa Bay, allowing two runs and four hits in five innings. He threw 61 of his 92 pitches for strikes, walked one and struck out five, including Chris Coghlan three times.

Marlins starter Chris Volstad gave up Pena’s solo homer in the fourth and a RBI bunt single to B.J. Upton in the fifth. The right-hander yielded five hits in six innings, walked three and fanned five before leaving a 2-2 tie to the bullpen.

Kazmir, an All-Star last year after beginning the season on the DL, had not pitched in the majors since allowing seven runs in 4 1-3 innings of a loss to Oakland on May 20. He worked on pitching mechanics the past month and felt good about the adjustments he’s made following a pair of rehab outings in the minor leagues.

The first inning has been a problem for the left-hander, and he fell behind quickly again this time with the Marlins taking a 1-0 lead without getting a hit. Carroll’s third homer of the season made it 2-0 in the third.

Fifteen of the 30 walks Kazmir has allowed this year have come in the first inning, and the 25-year-old has trailed after one inning in his each of his four losses. Emilio Bonifacio drew an early pass Saturday, then stole second and third before scoring Florida’s first run when Hanley Ramirez grounded out.

Ramirez, who went 0 for 4 to end an eight-game hitting streak, has driven in 14 runs in his last five games.

NOTES: Tropicana Field is the only park in the majors where a home run has been hit in every game this season. … Pena’s homer was his 100th as a Ray and moved him ahead of Fred McGriff into second place on the club’s career list behind Aubrey Huff (128). … With Marlins closer Matt Lindstrom (right elbow sprain) out, manager Fredi Gonzalez said right-hander Leo Nunez and left-hander Dan Meyer could get some save opportunities.

(This version CORRECTS Rays 3, Marlins 2. SUBS 4th graf to correct to 0 for 6 sted 1 for 6)