Rays blow up, then don't blow it

RAYS 10, YANKEES 7: Six-run first, 9-0 lead just enough to finally win in New York.

[AP photo] Toby Hall, right, and Greg Vaughn greet Chris Gomez after scoring on Gomez's homer in the first, giving the Rays a 6-0 lead.

By KEVIN KELLY, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published May 16, 2002

NEW YORK -- Amid the newspapers, scouting reports and other clutter scattered atop his desk, Hal McRae rooted around until he uncovered the list he sought.

Rays batters vs. Orlando Hernandez.

Whether to prove a point or to assure himself he wasn't dreaming, McRae scanned down the starting lineup and relayed out loud how his players had fared against Hernandez before Wednesday's 10-7 win against the Yankees.

Russ Johnson, 1-for-2 lifetime against the Yankees starter, was the only Rays player with an average above .167.

"You can't even pull a lineup out of a hat and come up with something different," McRae said. "You just hope that your luck changes ... because that's an ugly matchup."

Hernandez was 8-1 with a 1.25 ERA lifetime and had held the Rays to a .040 average this season.

But McRae's wish for improved luck was granted in the first two innings Wednesday at Yankee Stadium, when the Rays scored eight off Hernandez and knocked him out of the game after 56 pitches.

"You never know what might happen if you show up," McRae said. "We showed up. My guys showed up and played hard and scored some runs."

Just enough runs.

"We just had too high a mountain to climb," Yankees manager Joe Torre said.

Trailing 9-0 when it came to bat in the fourth inning, New York scored seven before Rays first baseman Steve Cox collected his fourth RBI on a double to rightfield in the eighth inning before 26,571.

"They're a good team and they came back," Cox said. "All of a sudden it was crunch time again. It worked out in the end. Everything worked out."

It marked the first time this season the Rays, who have won three of four, had scored 10 in a game and the fourth time in 38 games they had scored eight or more.

This is a ballclub, after all, that ranked last or second-to-last in 11 offensive categories including average (.233), runs scored (140), hits (295) and on-base percentage (.292) through Tuesday.

"Baseball is crazy," Cox said. "Even though our team is not doing well, we're all in the big leagues and we all have hit before this season. Any given day, guys just get hot.

"We did it as a team tonight. That's one thing we haven't been doing pretty much all year. The whole team hasn't hit at the same time. Tonight we did."

The offensive bounty gave starter Joe Kennedy and relievers Doug Creek, Victor Zambrano and Esteban Yan enough of a cushion.

For Kennedy, it was a unique position.

"When you have a big lead, you have to make yourself focus," he said. "It's something I'm still learning. ... Maybe next time when they give me a six-run lead I can go out there and put seven or eight zeros on the board."

Kennedy did not allow a run until Bernie Williams smacked a home run to make it 9-1 in the fourth inning.

The left-hander, who allowed five runs and struck out five, got into trouble the next inning but escaped. Having allowed one run already in the fifth, Kennedy struck out Jason Giambi with the bases loaded to end the inning.

McRae pulled Kennedy with two on and two out in the sixth, and as they waited for Creek to jog in from the bullpen, McRae finally caught a glimpse of Kennedy's black eye. The origin remains unexplained.

"He said, "I've been avoiding you,' " McRae said.

Creek immediately allowed a three-run homer to Nick Johnson to make it 9-6, and the Yankees scored again in the seventh on a wild pitch and throwing error.

Cox's hit, his third of the game, stopped the bleeding.

The Rays' leading hitter finished 3-for-5 with four RBIs and two homers. Shortstop Chris Gomez, who scored the 10th run, also homered and was 2-for-5 with three RBIs.

The runs were a season high for the Rays, who had not scored that many since Oct. 2 against Boston. The victory was the first in eight games against the Yankees this season.

"Each day we feel we can win a ballgame," McRae said. "We're going to feel that way regardless of what happens.

"The only thing that gives us a chance is the belief that we have a chance to win a ballgame each night, regardless of how many games we lose and regardless of how many games we win. You have to feel that we've got a chance to win."

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