Shoppach's grand slam leads Rays' win

Kelly Shoppach hit his second career grand slam and a solo homer Saturday, leading the Tampa Bay Rays to a 7-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

Trailing 3-0 in the fourth, Sean Rodriguez had an RBI double before Shoppach hit his slam to make it 5-3. Shoppach's solo shot in the eighth was just his third extra-base hit since June 30.

"I was battling," Shoppach said. "I just wanted to make sure to get a ball up that I could hit in the air."

Tampa Bay's Andy Sonnanstine (3-1), making his second start for the injured Jeff Niemann, gave up three runs and three hits in five innings. Niemann, sidelined by a strained right shoulder, could rejoin the rotation within two weeks.

Adam Jones hit a three-run homer for the Orioles, who are 9-3 under new manager Buck Showalter. Brian Matusz (4-12) became the AL's second 12-game loser, along with teammate Kevin Millwood. Matusz allowed five runs and nine hits in four innings.

Shoppach's fourth-inning homer was the first by a Tampa Bay righthanded hitter since Jason Bartlett hit a pinch-hit grand slam Aug. 5 against Minnesota. The Rays won for the third time in 10 games.

Shoppach tied a career high with five RBIs in his fifth multihomer game.

Willy Aybar's fifth-inning run-scoring single extended Tampa Bay's lead to 6-3.- AP