One hit redeems Vaughn

RAYS 4, A'S 3 (13): Slugger delivers winner after failing twice when challenged.

By KEVIN KELLY, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published May 31, 2002

ST. PETERSBURG -- Greg Vaughn's pride was insulted. He thought his body was injured.

But eventually he found his way through the distractions and grasped redemption with one swing in the 13th inning Thursday.

Certain he broke his left ankle after fouling a pitch off it in the third (X-rays were negative), Vaughn dismissed the pain, then failed to help his team when the A's twice walked Steve Cox to pitch to him in his second and third at-bats.

"I wasn't ready to hit," Vaughn said. "I told Hal (McRae, Rays manager), "That won't ever happen again.' That's the first two times in my career that I ever had it done twice in one game and I didn't answer the bell."

He did in his seventh at-bat, stroking a run-scoring double to left-centerfield to give the Rays a 4-3 win against Oakland before a fraction of the season-low 10,130 fans at Tropicana Field.

"It's a lot of satisfaction," said Vaughn, who was batting a major-league-low .120 through Wednesday. "I just wish it was three or four innings earlier. But it still worked out."

The victory, the Rays' first in eight games against Oakland, was aided by a season-high 17 hits and slowed by a club-record 18 runners left on base.

"It was like pulling teeth," McRae said. "But we got it done."

A's manager Art Howe twice intentionally walked Cox, in an 0-for-11 slump entering the game, to get to Vaughn early.

The same had happened twice this season, against the Tigers on April 2 and against the Blue Jays on April 14. Vaughn got the winning RBI against Detroit and walked in the Toronto game.

"It's no disrespect," Vaughn said. "It's baseball."

But both times the A's chose to walk Cox, they did so with runners on yet walked off unhurt by Vaughn.

He struck out in the third and grounded out to third in the fifth.

"It was testing both of us," McRae said. "How long would I do it and how long would they get him out? That's what (Oakland) is saying. How long are you going to (send Vaughn to bat)? They're challenging me and they're challenging Greg."

Vaughn stranded six total in his first three at-bats, and the Rays didn't score until Ben Grieve homered to rightfield in the sixth to make it 1-0.

Aubrey Huff added his second homer in as many nights in the eighth to tie the score at 2.

Starting pitcher Paul Wilson cruised through the first six innings against an Oakland club that scored six off him May 24.

He came out strong and got better as the game progressed, retiring 13 straight from the second to sixth innings. By the end of the sixth, Wilson had allowed one hit, a single to Eric Chavez, while walking one and hitting another.

Wilson was taken out after the eighth with the Rays trailing 2-1. He allowed two runs on three hits while walking two and striking out five.

"These guys always had my number," Wilson said. "It didn't really matter that I was facing them again, only that I did poorly last outing and I just wanted to rebound and get back to what I've been doing."

After Huff's homer, the A's regained the lead in the ninth, and Tampa Bay tied it at 3 after Cox led off the ninth with a double. Felix Escalona pinch ran for Cox and scored when Vaughn laced a single off A's closer Billy Koch.

Rays reliever Esteban Yan pitched a perfect 10th. The offense began its half with a walk by Brent Abernathy and a single by Randy Winn.

Pinch-hitter Russ Johnson was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Vaughn.

The A's replaced Koch with Chad Bradford and set up a five-man infield (three on the left side, two on the right).

Vaughn lined out to Chavez at third for the second out, and Chavez shoveled the ball to Miguel Tejada, who forced out Winn at second to end the inning.

"It's a situation where they made the play," Vaughn said. "I was still trying to stay positive. I hit it good and it just didn't work out."

Johnson doubled to lead off the 13th and Vaughn, the next batter, stroked a 1-and-1 pitch to left-centerfield to allow Johnson to score easily.

"Over the course of my career, that's where I want to be," said Vaughn, who finished 3-for-7 with two RBIs. "When the guys are out there and the game is on the line."