Mariners fall to Rays in 12th

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Tampa Bay Rays wrapped up the second-most successful April in team history with another one-run victory.

Filling in for the injured Evan Longoria, Elliot Johnson twice failed to deliver with men in scoring position before hitting an RBI single in the 12th inning to give the AL East leaders a 3-2, comeback victory over the Seattle Mariners on Monday night.

"I was just trying to hit the ball where someone wasn't playing one time," Johnson said following the first walk-off hit of his career. "I was just trying to put a nice easy swing on it, and luckily I didn't hit it too hard."

Playing before a crowd of just 9,458 - smallest at Tropicana Field since September 2007 - the Rays twice rallied from one-run deficits before winning it against Brandon League (0-2), who failed to hold a 2-1 lead the Mariners took on Jesus Montero's homer in the 11th.

J.P. Howell (1-0) pitched one scoreless inning for the win. Ben Zobrist drew a one-out walk in 12th, moved to second on Carlos Pena's single and scored when Johnson lined a 1-0 pitch that fell in front of Mariners left fielder Chone Figgins.

B.J. Upton's two-out, broken bat RBI single in the 11th wiped out the short-lived lead the Mariners took on Montero's homer off Wade Davis, the fourth of five Tampa Bay pitchers.

"I didn't do what I'm capable of doing, which is getting the ball on the ground," League said. "I missed with location, especially to Upton."

The Rays improved to 5-1 in one-run games, the second best record in the majors behind Cleveland's 6-1.

"We keep battling back," Rays manager Joe Maddon said after his team won for the eighth time in nine times, taking sole possession of first place in the division. "That's what I love about these guys."

Tampa Bay, which has made the playoffs three of the past four seasons, finished April with 15-8 record. They went 17-6 in the opening month of the season in 2010 and have the best April record in the majors over the past three seasons at 47-26.

"It's a great place to be at the end of April," Maddon said. "Now we've just got to keep pushing forward."

Miguel Olivo homered off Rays starter Jeremy Hellickson for Seattle's first run. Mariners starter Felix Hernandez struck out nine and walked four in eight innings while limiting Tampa Bay to Sean Rodriguez's second-inning RBI single and five hits overall.

Longoria left the game with what the Rays described as left knee soreness after sliding into second base on an attempted steal that end the third inning. The three-time All-Star remained on the ground before climbing to his feet and walking to the dugout without assistance.

Maddon said Longoria will be evaluated on Tuesday. His status is day to day.

Johnson struck out twice with runners in scoring position before coming up again with a chance to put his team ahead in the 10th. Teammates mobbed him in between second and third base after the winning hit.

"It was fun being the guy getting dumped on and almost de-pantsed," Johnson said of the celebration, "but that's the way we do it around here."

The Mariners lost Olivo with a right groin strain in the ninth, when the catcher picked up Upton's dribbler in front of the plate and threw awkwardly to first base before falling to the ground.

Hellickson, bidding to join James Shields and David Price in matching Tampa Bay's record for victories in April, scattered six hits over seven innings, walked none and struck out seven.

Seattle Tampa Bay

ab r h bi ab r h bi

Figgins lf 6 0 0 0 Zobrist 2b 3 1 0 0

Ackley 2b 5 0 1 0 C.Pena 1b 5 0 3 0

ISuzuki rf 6 0 3 0 Longori 3b 2 0 1 0

Smoak 1b 5 0 2 0 EJhnsn 3b 3 0 1 1

JMontr dh-c 5 1 1 1 Scott dh 5 0 1 0

Seager 3b 4 0 1 0 Kppngr pr-dh 0 1 0 0

Kawsk pr-ss 1 0 0 0 Joyce rf 5 0 0 0

Olivo c 4 1 2 1 Allen lf 3 1 0 0

Wlhlms p 0 0 0 0 Gimenz c 1 0 0 0

C.Wells ph 1 0 0 0 BUpton cf 5 0 3 1

League p 0 0 0 0 SRdrgz ss 5 0 1 1

MSndrs cf 5 0 1 0 JMolin c 3 0 0 0

Ryan ss 3 0 0 0 DJnngs lf 2 0 0 0

Jaso ph 1 0 0 0

Liddi 3b 1 0 0 0

Totals 47 2 11 2 Totals 42 3 10 3

Seattle 010 000 000 010-2

Tampa Bay 010 000 000 011-3

One out when winning run scored.

DP_Seattle 2. LOB_Seattle 10, Tampa Bay 11. 2B_C.Pena (5), Scott (6), B.Upton (2). HR_J.Montero (4), Olivo (3). SB_S.Rodriguez (2). CS_Longoria (3).

IP H R ER BB SO

Seattle

F.Hernandez 8 5 1 1 4 9

Wilhelmsen 2 1 0 0 1 1

League L,0-2 1 1/3 4 2 2 1 0

Tampa Bay

Hellickson7 6 1 1 0 7

McGee 1 1 0 0 0 1

Rodney 1 2 0 0 0 1

W.Davis 2 2 1 1 0 3

Howell W,1-0 1 0 0 0 1 0

Umpires_Home, Alan Porter; First, Ron Kulpa; Second, Jim Wolf; Third, Derryl Cousins. T_3:41. A_9,458 (34,078).