ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., May 15 (UPI) -- B.J. Upton hit his first home run of the season to open the ninth inning Friday, completing a Tampa Bay rally and giving the Rays an 8-7 win over Cleveland.
Upton, who came into the game batting .179, hit a 3-2 pitch off Luis Vizcaino (0-1). Upton was the only batter Vizcaino faced.
Cleveland built a 7-0 lead through 3 1/2 innings and the Rays spent the rest of the game chipping away at their deficit.
Carlos Pena had a two-run single as part of a three-run fourth inning and Ben Zobrist eventually tied the game with a solo homer in the eighth.
Dan Wheeler (1-0), the last of five Tampa Bay pitchers, got the win by working out of trouble in the ninth.
Wheeler replaced J.P. Howell and inherited a runner on first. A sacrifice put the potential go-ahead run on second and Wheeler issued a two-out walk to Ryan Garko before getting Matt LaPorta to fly out.
