Marlins' Alvarez tosses another shutout

MIAMI MARLINS pitcher Henderson Alvarez heard a teammate yell and realized he had been caught by surprise. Desperate for a run, the Tampa Bay Rays were attempting a delayed steal.

So Alvarez wheeled toward second base and threw yet another strike.

The righthander had good command all night long, needing only 88 pitches to toss an eight-hitter for his third shutout this year. He beat Tampa Bay, 1-0, last night, sending the reeling Rays home after a winless eight-game road trip.

"Henderson took that game over," Miami manager Mike Redmond said. "That was fun to watch."

The only run scored when Christian Yelich walked on a 3-2 slider by Chris Archer (3-3) with two out and the bases loaded in the fifth inning.

Alvarez (3-3) struck out five and walked none in his third consecutive scoreless outing, a stretch covering 19 innings. He retired his last five batters to close out the win in 2 hours, 10 minutes.

"My sinker was working, and thankfully the batters were swinging early," Alvarez said through a translator. "That determines the brevity of the game. I was attacking the strike zone, and they were attacking as well."

Alvarez' three shutouts lead the majors. He had been 0-5 in five previous career starts against the Rays, but this time he faced a team in a miserable slump.

The Rays' eight-game losing streak is their longest since 2009. They've lost 10 consecutive road games while being outscored 52-19.

Tampa Bay hit into three doubleplays - one on a sacrifice attempt - and had two runners caught stealing, including Yunel Escobar on the delayed-steal attempt in the fifth. He singled with one out and took off for second when Alvarez had the ball on the mound before the next batter stepped to the plate, prompting catcher Jeff Mathis to holler at his pitcher.

"Escobar caught me by surprise," Alvarez said. "What alerted me was Mathis' scream. An easy out. A gift."

Alvarez's past four victories have been shutouts, including a no-hitter on the final day of the 2013 season. He left his previous start last Wednesday after five innings because of a sore elbow, but he had only the Rays feeling any pain Tuesday.

In other interleague games:

* At St. Louis, Eric Hosmer hit a tiebreaking single off closer Trevor Rosenthal in the ninth inning and the Kansas City Royals beat the Cardinals, 8-7.

* At Atlanta, John Buck had three hits, including a two-run homer in the seventh inning that gave Seattle the lead, and the Mariners rallied to beat the Braves, 7-5, for their fourth straight win.

* At Milwaukee, homers by Josh Willingham and Brian Dozier lifted the Minnesota Twins to a 6-4 win over the Brewers.

A man was been carried off on a stretcher during the game after falling about 15 feet into the home bullpen. The Brewers say the fan was conscious and alert, and was being taken to a Hospital. Fans can watch the game from a dining area above the Milwaukee bullpen beyond the wall in left-center. The concourse, which is at least 15 feet above the bullpen, is lined with a metal railing roughly 4 feet high.

* At Houston, former Phillies prospect Jon Singleton homered in his major league debut as the Astros beat the Los Angeles Angels, 7-2. Josh Hamilton homered for the Angels in his return from the disabled list.

Angels star Mike Trout left in the second inning because of more trouble with his back. He had missed the previous two games with stiffness in his upper back.

* At Arlington, Texas, former Ranger Nelson Cruz celebrated his return with a three-run homer in Baltimore's six-run eighth inning as the Orioles beat the Rangers, 8-3. Cruz leads the major leagues with 21 homers.

* At Detroit, Brett Lawrie's three-run homer capped Toronto's five-run ninth inning that broke a scoreless tie and the Blue Jays withstood J.D. Martinez' three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Tigers, 5-3.

* At Cleveland, Michael Bourn hit a two-run double in the seventh inning to break a tie and the Indians won their season-high fifth straight, 5-3 over the Boston Red Sox.

* At New York, Brandon Moss' solo homer sparked a three-run ninth inning for Oakland in its 5-2 win over the Yankees.

* At Chicago, Nate Schierholtz' single with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning drove in the winning run as the Cubs beat the New York Mets, 2-1.

* At Cincinnati, Devin Mesoraco hit a two-run homer and Jay Bruce drove in a pair of runs to lead the Reds to their fourth win in a row, 8-3 over the San Francisco Giants.

* At Denver, Chris Owings went 3-for-4 with a homer and an RBI double to lead the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 4-2 win over the Colorado Rockies.

* Tampa Bay rightfielder Wil Myers is expected to be sidelined for more than 6 weeks because of a stress fracture in his right wrist.

* Texas lefthander Matt Harrison is recovering from spinal-fusion surgery that could potentially end his career. Harrison, 28, had a planned lumbar disk fusion in his lower back yesterday.

* The Chicago Cubs put catcher Welington Castillo on the 15-day disabled list because of a rib injury and designated relief pitcher Jose Veras for assignment.