SEATTLE - The Rays' offense struck early and often, and Jeff Niemann led a more than adequate performance by the pitchers in a 9-3 drubbing of the Mariners late Wednesday night.

Whether the outburst, which came after a players-only meeting called by Carlos Pena before batting practice, was affected by the meeting is debatable.

quot;I was very happy with how everything worked out,quot; Pena said afterward.

The Rays scored three times in the first inning off Chris Jakubauskas, a 30-year-old making his second major-league start. Included in that uprising were four consecutive hits, keyed by a two-run Pena double to the gap in right-center. The Rays batted around in the frame, leaving the bases loaded when Jason Bartlett's bid for a grand slam came up a couple of feet shy of the wall in left.

That inning matched the Rays' best offensive output from any of their previous three games, but they weren't done. Tampa Bay tacked on one run each inning from the second through the sixth, with everyone in the lineup but Dioner Navarro recording at least one hit in the first five innings.

Carl Crawford finished with four hits, scoring three times, and Evan Longoria went 3-for-4 with three RBIs to reach 101 for his career.

Niemann allowed three hits and two earned runs before tiring noticeably and leaving with one out in the sixth.

Rays ? 9 Mariners ? 3

Rays AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

B.Upton cf 6 1 2 0 0 2 .241

Crawford lf 5 3 4 1 1 1 .270

Longoria 3b 4 1 3 3 1 0 .415

C.Pena 1b 5 1 1 2 1 2 .259

Burrell dh 4 0 1 1 1 0 .250

Zobrist rf 2 1 1 0 3 0 .313

Navarro c 5 0 0 0 0 0 .184

Iwamura 2b 4 1 2 1 1 0 .294

Bartlett ss 5 1 1 1 0 0 .373

Totals 40 9 15 9 8 5

Mariners AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

I.Suzuki rf 4 0 2 0 0 0 .276

En.Chavez lf 3 0 0 0 1 1 .351

Griffey Jr. dh 3 0 0 0 1 2 .171

Beltre 3b 4 1 0 0 0 1 .172

M.Sweeney 1b 0 0 0 0 0 0 .313

a-Cedeno ph-2b 3 1 0 0 1 0 .154

Jo.Lopez 2b-1b 3 1 1 3 0 0 .208

Ro.Johnson c 3 0 1 0 0 1 .269

F.Gutierrez cf 3 0 0 0 0 2 .205

Y.Betancourt ss 3 0 0 0 0 0 .306

Totals 29 3 4 3 3 7

Rays 311 111 001 - 9 15 2

Mariners 000 030 000 - 3 4 2

a-flied out for M.Sweeney in the 2nd.

E-Bartlett (1), Navarro (1), Beltre (3), Y.Betancourt (3). LOB- Rays 13, Mariners 2. 2B-B.Upton (2), Longoria (7), C.Pena (3), Iwamura (6), I.Suzuki (1). HR-Jo.Lopez (2), off Niemann. RBIs-Crawford (8), Longoria 3 (16), C.Pena 2 (17), Burrell (6), Iwamura (5), Bartlett (5), Jo.Lopez 3 (11). SB-Crawford (5), Zobrist (1), Iwamura (5). CS-Zobrist (1), I.Suzuki (1). SF-Longoria. DP- Rays 2 (Iwamura, C.Pena), (Longoria, Iwamura, C.Pena); Mariners 1 (F.Gutierrez, F.Gutierrez, Jo.Lopez).

Rays IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA

Niemann W, 1-2 5 1/3 3 3 2 2 3 86 5.40

Howell 1 2/3 0 0 0 0 3 25 2.57

Wheeler 1 1 0 0 0 1 17 11.12

Cormier 1 0 0 0 1 0 11 4.50

Mariners IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA

Jakubsks L, 1-2 3 1/3 10 6 6 3 1 86 7.11

White 1 2/3 1 1 0 1 1 28 0.00

Corcoran 1 1 1 1 2 1 22 5.14

Batista 2 1 0 0 2 2 46 1.29

M.Lowe 1 2 1 0 0 0 15 1.42

T-3:20. A-16,476 (47,878).

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