Rays stay in a good groove

RAYS 3, MARINERS 2: Jason Smith's first homer backs solid pitching in Tampa Bay's fourth win in a row.

[AP photo] Tampa Bay Devil Rays relief pitcher Esteban Yan, center, is congratulated by catcher John Flaherty, right, and first baseman Steve Cox.

By MARC TOPKIN, Times Staff Writer

© St. Petersburg Times
published May 23, 2002

SEATTLE -- It was a night for things to go right. Minor-leaguer Gerardo Garcia pitched a no-hitter for Double-A Orlando. John Flaherty stole a base. Greg Vaughn hit a triple. Jason Smith hit his first big-league home run. Ryan Rupe snapped a four-game losing streak.

And the Rays scored a second straight impressive victory over the Mariners on Wednesday, this time 3-2.

The win was the Rays' season-high fourth straight and gave them a 7-3 record since ending their 15-game losing streak.

It also marked the first time they've won a series from the Mariners since the first meeting in May 1998, the first time they've won back-to-back series since last season and their first consecutive road series wins since July 2000.

"Things are looking up, things are getting better," manager Hal McRae said. "We just need to continue to play the way we've played the last week or so."

Rupe did a good job, holding the Mariners to five hits over six innings. Victor Zambrano pitched out of a jam in the eighth after the Mariners got the tying run to second with none out. Esteban Yan worked the ninth, giving up a two-out single to Dan Wilson before getting Desi Relaford on a grounder to second for his eighth save.

"The difference the last two nights was the pitching," McRae said. "They kept us in the game, and we managed to score enough runs to win."

McRae isn't planning to give Flaherty more playing time, but Flaherty is giving him something to think about. The veteran catcher had a hand in two of the Rays' runs as they won their sixth straight with him behind the plate.

Rupe wasn't dominating, but got enough outs, and some key defensive plays, when he needed them to win for the first time since April 24. The win was his 22nd as a Ray, moving him into second place on their all-time list.

By shutting out the Mariners through four, Rupe extended the Rays' scoreless streak to a team-record 22 innings, one better than the previous mark and the second-longest streak in the American League this season. Yankees pitchers threw 23 scoreless innings against the Rays in April.

In the second inning Jason Conti, filling in for Ben Grieve, laced a two-out double down the rightfield line to score Flaherty, who singled and stole second, his second theft since 1997.

Smith, who will get a share of the playing time at third base with Jared Sandberg struggling, hit the first pitch of the third inning off the rightfield foul pole for his first major-league home run.

The Rays looked primed for a big inning when Brent Abernathy followed with a double to right off Joel Pineiro. But with one out and No. 3 hitter Randy Winn at the plate, Abernathy made an unexpected dash for third and was thrown out.

It appeared to be an even more costly mistake when Winn followed with an infield single, Pineiro bounced a wild pitch and Steve Cox walked. The Rays didn't get anything out of it, though, when Vaughn grounded out.

The Rays added an unearned run in the sixth. Vaughn lashed a ball off the top of the leftfield wall and ended up with his first triple since May 13, 2000.

Flaherty got the run home with a hard grounder that third baseman Relaford booted.

Rupe gave up a run in the fifth, but he did a good job to mitigate the damage after the Mariners got the first two men on and loaded the bases with one out.

After striking out Relaford, he battled Ichiro Suzuki for nine pitches, then got a break when shortstop Chris Gomez made a diving stop of Ichiro's hard grounder. Ruben Sierra scored, but Gomez threw to third to catch Mike Cameron, who had rounded the bag.

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