Kansas City, Mo. — The Tampa Bay Devil Rays almost had forgotten what it felt like to win.
The Devil Rays came from behind twice Saturday night to beat the Kansas City Royals, 8-6, snapping a 12-game losing streak, the second-longest in team history.
"I didn't know what to do after we won," said Julio Lugo, who had three doubles. "I didn't know if we were supposed to smile or cry. It's good to get that out of the way."
Tampa Bay, which had not won since beating Seattle on Aug. 25, overcame deficits of 4-2 and 6-5, going ahead for good in a two-run seventh. Lugo hit his third double of the game and scored on a wild pitch by Jimmy Serrano (1-2), Aubrey Huff tripled, and Jose Cruz Jr. hit his second sacrifice fly. Carl Crawford added an RBI single in the eighth off Jaime Cerda.
Lugo leads the Devil Rays with 35 doubles and tied the team record for a game.
"It's very satisfying for me to get some hits," Lugo said.
Rob Bell (7-8) won despite allowing two runs and four hits in three innings, and Danys Baez pitched the ninth for his 26th save in 28 chances.
"It went back and forth the whole game," Tampa Bay manager Lou Piniella said. "We're fortunate that we came out on top. Let's see if this relaxes our team a little bit. Now we'll see if we can go out and play a little better."
Tampa Bay, which wasted leads of 2-1 and 5-4, stopped its skid three shy of the team record, set from April 25 to May 10, 2002.
John Buck had three hits and homered for Kansas City. Royals starter Jimmy Gobble allowed five runs and eight hits in five innings.
Tampa Bay starter Doug Waechter yielded four runs, six hits and three walks in three innings.
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