Upton, Cobb lead Rays over Mariners

SEATTLE – Justin Upton hit a two-run homer and Alex Cobb pitched seven strong innings to help the Tampa Bay Rays to their season-high seventh consecutive win, 4-1 over the Seattle Mariners on Monday night. Cobb (7-8) allowed a run and four hits. He struck out five and walked two in his fourth consecutive quality start and third consecutive win. His ERA is 1.93 over his last four outings. Fernando Rodney recorded his major league-leading 37th save in 38 tries by pitching a scoreless ninth that extended his club record to 22 consecutive saves. The Rays have won 10 of their last 12. Seattle’s Blake Beavan (7-7) pitched six innings, allowing eight hits and four earned runs. Beavan allowed all four runs on five hits in the third inning. Upton’s two-run shot to the upper deck in left field put Tampa ahead 3-0. His 13th homer was followed by a single from Matt Joyce and a double by Ben Zobrist to make it 4-0. Sam Fuld singled and stole second before Desmond Jennings’ single drove him in for Tampa Bay’s first run. Beavan allowed five consecutive hits during his 43-pitch third inning. He struck out Carlos Pena looking to end it. After three innings, Beavan had recorded nine outs and allowed seven hits. Meanwhile, Cobb was cruising. Mixing a curveball with a low-90s fastball, he retired the first eight Mariners before Brendan Ryan lined a single up the middle in the third. Cobb quickly disposed of Dustin Ackley with a grounder to second to close the inning. Eric Thames’ single through the right side in the fifth scored Trayvon Robinson, who had led off with a triple, to make it 4-1. But Thames was picked off first base by catcher Jose Molina after a pitch in the dirt bounced straight up to him and Thames had taken a few steps toward second. Chone Figgins walked, then Ryan and Ackley grounded out to end the inning. Hard-throwing Mariners rookie reliever Carter Capps made his home debut in the seventh inning. Capps walked three and struck out one. Zobrist had three hits and manager Joe Maddon said he will continue to play shortstop, where he started Monday.