Rays work out late jam again after intentionally walking Cabrera with runners on 1st and 2nd

Rays overcame late jam for win over Detroit

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays got out of a seventh-inning jam for the second consecutive game after intentionally walking AL triple crown contender Miguel Cabrera with runners on first and second and two outs en route to a 7-4 win over the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday night.

Grant Balfour, who ended the late threat in Monday’s 3-2 win over the Tigers by striking out Brennan Boesch, this time retired the right fielder on a fly ball to preserve Tampa Bay’s 5-4 lead.

Rays starter Jeff Niemann (9-3) allowed four runs and eight hits in six innings. Evan Longoria hit a two-run homer in the eighth, extending Tampa Bay’s advantage to 7-4.

Cabrera got Detroit within 5-4 on his 25th homer this season, a solo shot during the sixth. He has 13 homers and 45 RBIs in 46 road games.

Johnny Damon also homered for the Tigers, which have lost nine straight road games and are 3-11 since the All-Star break. Detroit manager Jim Leyland served a one-game suspension stemming from his ejection for arguing a call in Monday night’s game.

Tampa Bay center fielder Ben Zobrist left after three innings with lower back stiffness.

Jason Bartlett hit a run-scoring single and Carl Crawford had an RBI grounder off Eddie Bonine (4-1) as the Rays took a 5-3 lead in the fourth.

Rafael Soriano pitched the ninth for his career-high 28th save.

After Damon made it 3-1 with a third-inning solo homer, the Rays tied it in the bottom half of the inning on Carlos Pena’s RBI single and a run-scoring grounder from Willy Aybar.

Damon drove in a run with a double and Jeff Larish had an RBI single to put the Tigers up 2-0 in the first. Tampa Bay got one run back later in the first on a run-scoring single by Matt Joyce.

Bonine gave up five runs and eight hits over 3 1-3 innings in his first start of the season. The right-hander made a spot start due to the Tigers playing a doubleheader last Sunday.

NOTES: Rays CF B.J. Upton (sprained left ankle) took batting practice and did light running on the warning track. “It was OK,” said Upton, who could return to the lineup this weekend. … Leyland went to the Tigers spring training complex in Lakeland to watch his son Patrick play for the rookie-level Gulf Coast League Tigers in an afternoon game. Patrick Leyland, a catcher, got two hits against the GCL Yankees. … Longoria had been hitless in 19 at-bats before a third-inning single.