ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ The Rays didn't really care about the details.
So it was OK that Blake Snell wasn't as sharp as he had been. That the infielders made a couple of early errors. That the offense was more dinks and dunks and infield outs than a power show.
When you'd lost eight straight, and for the second time in the first 2 { months of the season, you take a win however you can get it.
And that the Rays did Saturday afternoon, 7-3 over the same pesky Mariners who have been tormenting them, for their first win since May 30 in Oakland, Calif.
Snell was nowhere near the lights-out form he showed last Sunday pitching in front of 30-some relatives and friends at Safeco Field, when he struck out the first seven and 12 total in allowing two hits over six scoreless innings.
Saturday was more of a battle over six innings. He allowed seven hits. Struck out only one and walked two. Threw a pair of wild pitches. Hit a batter for the first time in the big leagues. Broke too late off the mound on one play, and missed a comebacker on another.
But, he did enough, as manager Kevin Cash said before the game, to give them a chance to win.
Which they did by scoring seven runs, their most in a game since May 27.
The first run came with an asterisk, as it started with the first major-league hit of Jake Bauers career after an 0-for-8 start, and off longtime Mariners ace Felix Hernandez no less. Bauers laced a double to right-center and Matt Duffy followed with another double to even the score after Snell's messy first.
Then they took the lead, their first after a complete inning since last Sunday, with three in the second.
Ground ball singles by Mallex Smith and Christian Arroyo got them started, then Rob Refsnyder blooped in a single that shortstop Jean Segura misplayed on the bounce to score a run. Then they got two more on ground outs on Jesus Sucre and Daniel Robertson.
They turned the 4-1 lead to 6-1 the next inning when Carlos Gomez, walking up to the SpongeBob SquarePants music, drew a two-out walk, and Mallex Smith followed with a drive to right that clanged off something at the top of or beyond the fence.
The umps first ruled it in play, as Smith stopped at third as Gomez scored. Then they huddled and decided it was a home run, and sent Smith in. Then Mariners manager Scott Servais challenged the call, and the replay showed, in just 1:15, it was in play after all, so Smith was sent back to third. Arroyo made it a moot point by singling in Smith.
The Rays provided some excitement in the seventh when Bauers went back from first base and Gomez came over from right in pursuit of a foul pop-up near the bullpen bench. They collided and ended up tangled on the ground, but Gomez hung on to the ball.
Having beaten the Mariners for the first time in six games this year, and just the second time in the last 13, they will look to make it two in a row on Sunday. Nathan Eovaldi takes on Seattle ace James Paxton.
