McGriff Leads Devil Ray Surge in Seattle

Fred McGriff drove in four runs and hit his 13th homer, and reliever-turned-starter Albie Lopez pitched six strong innings as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays beat the Seattle Mariners, 10-3, Monday night at Seattle.

Jose Guillen and Bobby Smith also homered for the Devil Rays, who won for the fifth time in six games. McGriff, who went three for five, homered off Rob Ramsay in the eighth.

The Mariners lost the opener of a 10-game homestand after returning from a season-best 7-3 trip.

Guillen tied it at 2-2 in the fourth when he hit his third homer in seven games off John Halama (6-3). After singles by Felix Martinez and Randy Winn, Gerald Williams put Tampa Bay ahead to stay with a two-run double.

Smith hit his first homer of the season for the Devil Rays in the seventh.

Lopez (4-4) made his fifth start after 151 relief appearances and got his second victory in a row. In six innings, Lopez allowed two runs, one earned, on six hits and four walks. He struck out six.

Mark McLemore had an RBI single in Seattle’s second and Alex Rodriguez gave the Mariners a 2-1 lead in the third with his 20th homer.

The Devil Rays got a run-scoring single from McGriff in the first and increased their lead to 6-2 with two runs in the fifth. Russ Johnson singled in a run and Felix Martinez had a sacrifice fly. In the sixth, Williams scored from second on McGriff’s infield single.