SEATTLE (AP) - Carl Crawford had four hits and Evan Longoria had three to back the strong pitching of rookie Jeff Niemann, and the Tampa Bay Rays finally scored big without a home run in a 9-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday night.
Making his fifth career start, the 6-foot-9 Niemann (1-2) allowed just three hits and two earned runs before tiring noticeably and leaving with one out in the sixth.
Carlos Pena and Longoria each had two RBIs as last season's darling team won for only the second time in eight games.
Longoria's double in the fourth gave him 100 career RBIs, in the 2008 AL rookie of the year's 135th game. The only active players to get to 100 RBIs more quickly were Ryan Braun (118 games) and Albert Pujols (131).
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