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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- No matter who was on the mound for Tampa Bay, the Detroit Tigers kept on scoring. "What can you say when you have a night like that?" Tigers manager Phil Garner said after Juan Encarnacion and Jose Macias led a 19-hit attack that carried Detroit to an 18-2 victory over the Devil Rays on Friday night. "I could use about six of those (runs) tomorrow. I'd save a few of them, but you do like to see your guys get hits." Encarnacion homered for the third straight game and drove in four runs. Macias went 3-for-5 and also drove in four runs in support of rookie right-hander Victor Santos. Santos, making his second major league start, extended his streak of consecutive innings without allowing an earned run to 27 1/3 before the punchless Devil Rays broke through for two runs in the sixth. The streak was the longest for a pitcher at the start of a career since Fernando Valenzuela didn't allow an earned run in his first 34 innings for the Dodgers over the 1980-81 seasons. Santos (1-0) gave up two runs, two walks, three hits and struck out eight in six innings. He allowed one hit in six innings in his first big league start against Anaheim last Saturday. The 24-year-old Santos said he wasn't disappointed to lose his scoreless streak. "I wasn't really thinking much about that, especially now that they're putting me in the starting rotation," he said. "You don't want to give up any runs, but you don't want to go out there thinking: 'Oh, I haven't given up a run in 20 innings,' so you try to be too fine. That's how you get in trouble." The Tigers scored three runs in the first, nine in the fifth and six in the eighth for their biggest output since they scored 18 last June 20 at Toronto. "There's not much to say," Devil Rays manager Hal McRae said. "We had our heads handed to us tonight. An old-fashioned whuppin' is what we got." Encarnacion's three-run homer chased Tanyon Sturtze (1-3), who allowed nine runs and nine hits in 4 2-3 innings. The Tigers scored their last three runs in the fifth off reliever Dan Wheeler. Encarnacion added an RBI double in eighth, when Macias also delivered a two-run single. Roger Cedeno, Robert Fick and Javier Cardona all drove in two runs for Detroit. Santos, who moved into the Tigers' rotation after making seven relief appearances, gave up a double to Gerald Williams to drive in Tampa Bay's first run. Fred McGriff grounded out to drive in the other run off the rookie. Santos didn't allow a hit until the sixth inning in his first start last Saturday. The Tigers beat Anaheim 4-1, but the right-hander was not involved in the decision -- leaving after allowing one hit, two walks and striking out three. The nine runs and nine hits allowed by Sturtze and Wheeler in the fifth tied Devil Rays' single-inning records. It was the Tigers' biggest inning since Aug. 22, 1997, when they scored 11 in the seventh inning at Milwaukee. The loss was the fourth straight and eighth in nine games for the Devil Rays, who have hurt themselves with poor pitching, poor fielding and a lack of timely hitting. "Tonight means nothing. What led up to tonight is the disturbing part," McRae said. "I'm upset about the way we have gone about our business. We've been very unprofessional in the way that we've done things." Game notesThe Devil Rays have allowed eight or more runs 17 times in 41 games. They've allowed double-digits eight times ... Tigers 2B Damion Easley extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a second-inning single. ... At 11-30, the Devil Rays are off to the worst start by an AL team since the 1994 Oakland Athletics. Friday night began a stretch in which Tampa Bay will play 22 of 34 games at home ... Cedeno and Macias both tripled for Detroit, giving the Tigers 16 this season -- tied with Minnesota for the most in the majors.  Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
| OTHER GAMES Baseball Scoreboard Detroit Clubhouse Tampa Bay Clubhouse RECAPS Baltimore 7 Minnesota 2
Detroit 18
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