Slew of factors has Rays lost at the plate

Saturday's no-hit loss magnifies a growing slump by an already light-hitting offense.

By MARC TOPKIN, Times Staff Writer

© St. Petersburg Times
published April 29, 2002

BOSTON -- If nothing else, the Rays hope the cold New England rain and resulting postponement of Sunday's game washed away any remnants of Saturday's no-hitter.

They jetted off early to Minneapolis safely assuming better days have to be ahead, but pondering how to bolster an offense that once again appears to be among the most feeble in the game, rendered especially helpless by quality pitching.

Manager Hal McRae said they must improve their major league-worst on-base percentage. Hitting coach Milt May said they have to be more aggressive, especially on pitches in the strike zone. Greg Vaughn said his poor performance has been a big part of the bigger problem.

"The only thing to do," first baseman Steve Cox said, "is to actually get it done. I don't know if there's anything you can do to get everyone going. I think it's an individual thing where you've got to push yourself to get it going.

"That's the individual part about this game. I can't hit for so-and-so, and they can't hit for me. You've got to do it yourself."

The individual struggles have been a major part of the collective problem.

When the Rays open a four-game series in Minnesota tonight, Vaughn is on an 0-for-25 streak and hitting .108 overall, the lowest average of any major-league regular.

Toby Hall is 0-for-his-last-18, and 1-for-26, dropping his average to .222. Brent Abernathy is 0-for-12, and 4-for-28. Ben Grieve, who carried the team the first three weeks, is 1-for-12. Chris Gomez 6-for-26. Russ Johnson 2-for-11.

That leaves only Jason Tyner, Randy Winn and Cox as any degree of hot. It's not enough for a team that has to manufacture runs to be successful.

"We need four, five, six guys hitting at the same time," Cox said. "A lot of teams can have three guys hitting well and still win, but we need more."

As a team, the Rays are hitting .242, which Sunday morning was 13th in the league. They rank in the bottom three in hits, runs, home runs, on-base percentage and other key categories.

McRae and May said the problems were magnified by quality pitching from Boston starters John Burkett and Derek Lowe, especially the way they changed speeds and kept the Rays off balance. In the two games, the Rays got five hits and scored two runs, both on a Cox homer.

"They pitched extremely well," May said. "They made a lot of good pitches location-wise, and they changed speeds very well. That's tough on any hitter, but for the young guys it's a little bit bigger adjustment.

"I think if there's one thing as a group it's that we need to be more aggressive. What tends to happen when guys are changing speeds is that you tend to be feeling for the ball and not taking aggressive swings, and I think that's what happened the last two days. We're taking an awful lot of pitches, taking a lot of strikes."

May wants them to swing more, but not take that too far or pitchers won't ever give them anything good to hit. What they have to do is find that middle ground, a selective aggressiveness that's hard to define.

"You look at the veteran teams, and they walk more," May said. "They're more patient and more selective, yet they maintain their aggressiveness when they get something to hit, and that's the combination you're after. That's something, I think, that comes with experience."

The Rays had better try something. After the Minnesota series, they play 28 consecutive games against the Red Sox, Yankees, A's, Mariners, and Orioles, which happen to be the five top-ranked teams in the league in staff ERA.

Realistically, there isn't much McRae can do, except juggle the pieces he has and hope. Unlike a football coach, he can't install a new offense to score more. Unlike a basketball coach, he can't order a fastbreak attack.

"The next 30 games are going to be tough," McRae said. "We have the right approach. We just have to keep guys fresh and play our game."

Sunday's postponement, McRae figured, couldn't have come at a better time, "a welcomed day off."

He said he didn't think there would be a hangover from Saturday's blanking, but he didn't seem sad at not having to find out on Sunday. "I hope there's not," he said. "It's water over the dam now. Don't let it happen again."

RAINED OUT: Sunday's Rays game vs. the Red Sox at Boston's Fenway Park was rained out and will be made up as part of a day/night doubleheader July 23.