This victory is fundamental

RAYS 2, O'S 1: Pitching, fielding and clutch hitting come together as Tampa Bay avoids series sweep.

By KEVIN KELLY, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 22, 2002

ST. PETERSBURG -- Quick. Crisp. Clean.

Not exactly the adjectives one might use to describe the majority of Rays games this season.

But Sunday they fit just right.

Facing a three-game sweep and a trip to the American League East basement with a loss, the Rays put together one of their best games in a 2-1 come-from-behind win against the Orioles.

The 2-hour, 32-minute game marked the quickest for the Rays this season.

"A flawless game today," manager Hal McRae said. "We played it to perfection. We pitched, played good defense, clutch hitting, two-out hitting. It was one of our better ballgames."

Rightfielder Ben Grieve singled in the eighth to put the Rays ahead, and Tampa Bay's much-maligned bullpen contributed 31/3 innings of scoreless relief after starter Delvin James left with a minor hip injury.

Both Rays runs were two-out rallies before 13,091 at Tropicana Field.

"It's just a good feeling," said leftfielder Jason Tyner, who started the game-winning rally in the eighth with a single. "We got the clutch hit today rather than them. You gain a lot of confidence, and hopefully we can get on a little roll."

Pitching was key.

Making his second major-league start, his first at home, James pitched well before leaving with two outs in the sixth because of a slight muscle strain in his right hip.

James, recalled from Triple-A Durham on Monday when Wilson Alvarez went on the disabled list and Paul Wilson's start was pushed back, first hurt himself in the spring. He aggravated the hip fielding a David Segui grounder back to the mound and throwing awkwardly across his body to first.

"It feels good," James said. "On that bunt play I kind of tweaked it a little bit. It wasn't a big deal. It ... felt like a little cramp."

Seven pitches later he was relieved, having allowed one run on three hits with four walks and three strikeouts. In two starts James is 0-1 with a 2.53 ERA, six strikeouts and five walks.

"Two outings don't mean anything," James said. "You can go out and have two great outings and then stink up the whole field. You've got to stay on an even keel.

"All I want to do is not be too high or too low, go out and give quality innings and have quality outings and hopefully be better more times than not."

After James' abrupt exit, reliever Jesus Colome warmed up on the mound instead of in the bullpen.

Shaky of late -- 12 hits, 11 earned runs in his past 41/3 innings -- Colome was solid over two innings. He struck out Tony Batista to end the sixth, retired the Orioles in order in the seventh and faced four batters in the eighth before Doug Creek relieved him.

"My slider was working good," Colome said. "My fastball had a lot of movement. I felt good today."

Creek came in with two outs to face Jay Gibbons, who was hitting .323 with five homers and eight RBIs in his previous seven games. Gibbons grounded out to first, and Creek got his first win of the season.

Closer Esteban Yan pitched a perfect ninth for his third save.

"He pitched good today," McRae said of Yan. "He got the first batter, which he normally doesn't do. Three up and three down. Maybe a new trend developing."

The Rays couldn't do much with Baltimore starter Sidney Ponson. He didn't allow a runner past first until the fifth when rookie second baseman Felix Escalona doubled home Bobby Smith to tie it at 1.

Though he came out before Grieve's winning single, Ponson allowed two singles to start the eighth. Erik Bedard pitched to Grieve, who lined to right.

"Everybody sort of pitched in and did their job today," McRae said. "'Nobody did a lot, but there were little things ... that each guy did that was significant at the time."

The win improved the Rays' record against Baltimore, Toronto and Detroit to 7-7. Seventeen straight games against playoff contenders Minnesota, Boston, and New York await.

"It shows what we're capable of doing if we play consistent baseball, if we play team baseball and play alert baseball," McRae said. "These are the things that can happen. We're not doing them enough, and we're not winning enough. But it's nice to win today."