A sweep slips away

M'S 7, RAYS 3: Club takes little solace in winning 2 of 3 from West leaders.

By MARC TOPKIN, Times Staff Writer

© St. Petersburg Times
published May 24, 2002

SEATTLE -- The Rays weren't sure how to feel Thursday evening as they left Safeco Field. They were pleased to have won two of the three games against the first-place Mariners, but disappointed that the getaway day matinee got away, an early lead turning into a frustrating 7-3 loss.

"It's kind of a bittersweet-type thing," Brent Abernathy said.

Winning the series clearly was an accomplishment for the Rays, who match Kansas City for the worst record in the American League. "If you told anybody we'd come in here and take two out of three, they'd have been like, "No way,' " Greg Vaughn said.

But losing Thursday's game, after they led 2-0 in the first inning and 3-2 in the fourth, was a significant disappointment. "It's one that got away, one that we wish we'd gotten," Steve Cox said. "And leaving on a losing note is kind of bad."

The game was within reach until the eighth, when John Olerud hit a three-run home run off Doug Creek. But the mistakes the Rays made early were the ones that hurt the most.

And the ones from which they can learn the most.

"When you have the momentum you have to ride it out," Vaughn said. "We just can't keep letting good teams stay around. We have to develop that killer instinct, where we go for the jugular when he have a chance."

The blame could be spread equally.

The Rays jumped on Seattle starter James Baldwin, opening the game with back-to-back doubles by Abernathy and Randy Winn, but scored only two despite sending seven men to the plate. After John Flaherty singled in the second run, Baldwin got Jason Conti to fly out and struck out Chris Gomez.

And after Jared Sandberg opened the second with a home run into the upper deck, delighting 40-plus friends and relatives, the Rays didn't get another hit, going down 22 straight until Vaughn walked with one out in the ninth.

"We didn't score enough runs," manager Hal McRae said. "We got off to a good start, but Baldwin shut us down. I thought that was the major difference."

Pitcher Tanyon Sturtze did his part, too, handing the first-inning lead right back by allowing the Mariners to immediately tie, then giving up runs in the fourth to retie and the fifth to put the Mariners ahead for good.

"They gave me a lead early, and I kind of blew it," Sturtze said. "If I put up a zero in that first inning instead of letting them tie it up, I think everything changes around."

Sturtze, 0-5 with a 5.19 ERA through 10 starts, again was a victim of his own excess. He allowed nine hits and four walks in five innings and threw 118 pitches, six more than Joe Kennedy did in his complete game Tuesday night.

For the season, Sturtze has allowed 114 baserunners in 602/3 innings, the worst ratio in the league.

"I'm just in a bit of a rut right now," Sturtze said. "Things aren't working out for me."

McRae said the loss wasn't Sturtze's fault. "He kept us in the game," he said. "That's all we can ask of our starters, to give us a chance to win, and he did that."

McRae was more concerned with the lack of offense. "Four hits, or whatever we got, is not enough to win a baseball game," he said.

Baldwin made some adjustments after a brief but pointed visit to the mound by Seattle manager Lou Piniella, throwing his fastball with more movement and more velocity. The shadows that crept across the infield didn't help.

"He got better as the game went on," Flaherty said.

Still, the Rays were in the game until the eighth, trailing 4-3. Steve Kent got two quick outs but walked Mark McLemore and Bret Boone, and McRae replaced the rookie left-hander with veteran Creek. Creek, who hadn't pitched since Saturday, got ahead 1-and-2 but left a pitch over the plate that Olerud drove over the rightfield fence.

"My job is get that guy out," Creek said.

The task for his teammates is to keep playing well this weekend in Oakland. The Rays are 7-4 since ending their 15-game losing streak, and they want to think they have something going.

"We can't let this loss roll into tomorrow," Vaughn said.