ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ The Rays got another strong start from rookie Josh Fleming and another big hit from Michael Perez to post another win over the Marlins, 5-4, Friday.
Fleming joined Jeremy Hellickson and Jake Faria as the only Rays to start and win their first three appearances in the majors. Fleming worked five innings, allowing four runs on seven hits.
Perez delivered three runs with a two-out double in the fourth, giving him an unusual stat line for the season _ nine hits but 10 RBIs.
With the win, the Rays improved their American League-leading record to 27-12 and maintained a five-game East Division lead over the Blue Jays and Yankees, who both won the opening games of their Friday doubleheaders.
The Rays took a 1-0 lead in the second on Yoshi Tsutsugo's sixth homer, then the Marlins tied it when former Ray Corey Dickerson looped a ball over the short fence in the left-field corner. A homer in the fourth by another ex-Ray, Jesus Aguilar, made it 2-1.
The Rays retook the lead, and seeming control, with a four-run fourth, Perez delivering the big hit with his bases-clearing double.
They had loaded the bases in the inning off Marlins starter Pablo Lopez on a leadoff single by Joey Wendle, a walk by Austin Meadows and a one-out single by Tsutsugo. With two outs, Kevin Kiermaier took a high full-count fastball to force in one run. Perez then lashed a ball to the left-center-field gap, scoring three to make it 5-2.
But the Marlins quickly the closed the gap on Fleming with a two-out rally in the fifth.
It started at the bottom of their order, with singles by Nos. 8 and 9 hitters Jorge Alfaro and Lewis Brinson. Jon Berti then drilled a ball to the right of center that Kiermaier raced for and tried to make a spectacular leaping catch. But the ball ticked off the top of his glove, allowing two runs to score.
Fleming got the Rays out of that inning, and the bullpen took it from there. Ryan Thompson struck out the side in the sixth, Pete Fairbanks worked around a pinch-hit double by ex-Ray Matt Joyce and a walk in the seventh, and Diego Castillo zipped through the eighth.
Then Nick Anderson, in his first outing since Aug. 19 due to an injured list stint for forearm inflammation, battled through a tough ninth. He started it by issuing a rare walk to Miguel Rojas, just the second free pass of the season by Anderson. Then shortstop Willy Adames couldn't get a handle on a throw after gloving a ground ball that should have led to at least one out.
But Anderson rebounded, getting a ground ball to third for the first out and an infield popup for the second. He then got Berti looking at a 95-mph fastball to end it for the save. In 12 outings, Anderson has not allowed an earned run.
