ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Brandon Belt got the previous three games off in Philadelphia for a mental break and work on his swing, and the first results were outstanding. Belt had three hits, coming within a double of hitting for the cycle, as the San Francisco Giants beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 on Friday night. "He looked great," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "We talked in Philly, and hes all in with trying to make a couple adjustments. Its not easy to do it for a day, so give three days to work on it. It was good for him." Belt has loosened the grip on the bat and is positioned deeper in the batters box. He called Fridays success a 60-40 split, with the higher percentage being for the batting work. "I think mentally Ive stayed in there pretty well," said Belt, who been mired a 1-for-19 slide. "Theres just some things that I need to work on to tap into my ability a little more." Madison Bumgarner struck out 11 in seven innings and Brandon Crawford hit a two-run homer for San Francisco, which was won three straight. The defending World Series champions are 10 games under .500. This was the first time since 2004 that the teams met. Tampa Bay has lost two in a row, including its first game in August. The Rays went 21-5 in July. Bumgarner (11-7) gave up one run, working around seven hits and three walks. He tied his season high for strikeouts. Bumgarners current nine-start stretch of allowing two earned runs or less and pitching at least seven innings is the second-longest in franchise history since records are available, behind the New York Giants Ferdie Schupps 12 in 1916-17. "Any time youre able to battle through when you dont necessarily have the command youre used to having, it makes it a tougher kind of battle," Bumgarner said. "Youre going to have games like that." Sergio Romo got two outs for his 26th save. After Belt hit an RBI triple in the seventh against Chris Archer (6-4), Crawford followed with his home run for a 4-1 lead. Archer allowed four runs and seven hits in seven innings. He had permitted just two runs -- one earned -- over 31 innings in winning his previous four starts. Belt got the Giants first two hits off Archer. He singled in the third and tied it at 1 with his homer in the fifth, which stopped a career-high stretch of 18 shutout innings for Archer. "Everything I threw, Belt saw," Archer said. "A fastball down and he kind of crushed it. Fastball first pitch, he went the other way for a base hit. So I figured Ill try a changeup, mix it up, but he saw that well, too (for the homer)." Ben Zobrist put the Rays ahead 1-0 with an RBI single in the third. Bumgarner, who had a 16-inning scoreless streak end, avoided a big inning by getting an inning-ending pop fly from Sean Rodriguez with the bases loaded. Bumgarner worked out of a two-on, no-out jam in the fifth by retiring Evan Longoria, Wil Myers and Rodriguez. "Just a tough competitor," Bochy said. "Going seven innings, one run, shows you how good he is. He was without his good command tonight." This is just the third series between the teams. When they last played in June 2004 in Florida, the Giants had Barry Bonds, and Jose Bautista was on the roster of the then-Devil Rays. NOTES: Struggling Giants LHP Barry Zito will not make his next scheduled start Sunday and will be replaced by RHP Guillermo Moscoso. ... Rays RHP Alex Cobb, hit in the head by a liner in June, is scheduled to pitch Saturday for Class A Charlotte. His first rehab start lasted just two pitches due to a blister. ... Tampa Bay LHP David Price (6-5) and San Francisco RHP Tim Lincecum (5-11) are Saturday nights scheduled starters. It will be just the second game in Rays history featuring former Cy Young Award winners. Price faced Toronto RHP R.A. Dickey on May 9. ... With Price pitching, the left-handed hitting Belt could be out of the lineup. Salomon Baratas Chinas . -- Aldon Smith believes he is on the path to being sober for good. Comprar Salomon Baratas . Jon Montgomerys gold medal in skeleton at the Whistler Sliding Centre and his subsequent auctioning off of a pitcher of beer in the village square elevated him to folk-hero status. http://www.baratassalomon.es/ .5 million, one-year contract on Friday. Hawkins, who turns 41 in December, will compete with Rex Brothers for the closers role at spring training. Salomon Baratas España . LOUIS -- Rookie Tavon Austin has missed another day of practice, lessening the odds hell be ready for the St. Zapatillas Salomon España . "I dont know that were close," said general manager Alex Anthopoulos. "I just think, right now, the acquisition cost just doesnt work for us right now. I dont know if I can quantify how far off or things like that that they might be but I would say we continue to have dialogue. ESPN rounds up the best soundbites from the Singapore Grand Prix as an unusual visitor to the circuit stole the headlines and Red Bulls Daniel Ricciardo nearly stole a victory from under Mercedes noses.?Theres so much traffic.? Yeah, its a street circuit mate. Well just have to deal with it.Red Bull is in no mood to deal with Max Verstappens complaints about traffic during Friday practice.What the f--- is Nasr doing? Just come out of the pits, hes using DRS and all sorts.? Yeah understood. I think you have to understand it is Felipe Nasr...Esteban Gutierrez felt Red Bulls wrath in Germany, and it was Felipe Nasrs turn in Singapore, becoming the subject of another scathing putdown from the teams pit wall in FP2.Woah! Theres a giant lizard on the track.... Yeah, Im not joking! Out of Turn 3.An amused Max Verstappen reports one of the most unusual sightings in recent grand prix history as a disinterested reptile tries to cross the street.Face to face with Godzilla there, mate. [Laughs] Yeah!The Red Bull pit wall and Verstappen see the funny side -- though its unlikely the actual Godzilla would have been enough to frighten the unflappable teenager.Can you keep me up to date, please? I have no clue what is going on.An F1 car can be a lonely place, as Lewis Hamilton discovers mid-way through his race, asking his team to keep him in the loop about the events developing around him.Come on, man!Another from Verrstappen, this time his complaint after being run wide by Daniil Kvyat during their intense battle early in the race.dddddddddddd Not sure if Verstappen will have many sympathisers on that one...You know how close its going to be, Kimi, we need everything perfect. Were racing, were racing...? What do you want me to do in pit lane, go faster!?It wouldnt be a Radio Ga Ga without some gold from Kimi Raikkonen. As he gets the encouragement to push on his out-lap as Ferrari attempts to undercut Lewis Hamilton, the Finn gets shirty with race engineer Dave Greenwood...At this rate, youll catch him with four laps to go...A dull race explodes into life as Red Bulls Daniel Ricciardo starts eating away at Nico Rosbergs lead after his pit stop. Sadly, the rate did not last as the Australians super-soft tyres lost performance, and we fell a few laps short of a genuine fight for the win.Gap to Ricciardo is 4.3.... Stop, stop, stop, stop telling me that!Rosberg tells Mercedes enough is enough as Tony Ross tries to tell him the gap to Ricciardo as he looms ever closer in the Germans mirrors.Yes, come on guys! Come on!Rosberg refuses to crack under pressure and shouts with delight after taking the chequered flag - and the lead of the championship - to cap his 200th F1 weekend in fine style. ' ' '