Rupe extends run of complete games

ST. PETERSBURG -- Another complete game. It's almost getting monotonous.

After 104 pitches, which earlier this season would have been a typical five or six innings' work for a Rays starter, Ryan Rupe had his second complete game of the season and Tampa Bay's second in two nights.

And it was the team's fifth in its past 22 games, most in the majors over that span. Until May 21, the Rays hadn't had one in a major league-record 194 straight games.

"Rupe did a real good job, very good job," manager Hal McRae said after the Dodgers won 4-2. "I like the way we're going about things. We need to continue to pitch this way and we're going to be okay."

He said Rupe settled down after a shaky first inning. By the sixth, he was in control. "He didn't lose anything. The last four innings were better than the first five," McRae said. "He maintained his stuff throughout the game. That's my main concern. I don't care how many innings they pitch. I care how many pitches they throw."

Rupe agreed he struggled in the first and said his changeup came around in the fifth. "I felt pretty good after that. ... Complete games are awesome but all we (starters) are attempting to do is keep us in the game.'

Shawn Green's first-pitch homer in the fifth stunned Rupe. He pitched Green up and in earlier and thought he had him set up for the low outside changeup. "He hit it like he knew it was coming. Flash (catcher John Flaherty) and I just laughed about it. ... It was unbelievable."

GOTCHA: Greg Vaughn got caught in a rundown for the third out of the third inning after Randy Winn took third on Vaughn's hit.

"We'd have had two runners on and (Steve) Cox coming up," McRae said. "We like to play aggressively but I think (Winn) made his move to third too soon. That was not the best decision."

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The Rays are taking their act on the road. They're boarding three buses for three games in Miami starting Friday night to open a nine-game trip. The remaining six games are split between San Francisco and Colorado.

"It's not that big of a deal," Flaherty said of the four- to five-hour trip. "If you're going to fly there it takes you time to get on a bus and go to the airport and get everything situated. It's probably the same amount of time."

The biggest difference? "You're not going to get that airplane food. You're not going to go hungry, but you're not going to have that first-class service," Flaherty said. "It's a teammate handing you a sandwich instead of a flight attendant. Other than that the setup's the same. Guys are going to be playing their card games or watching their movies, reading, whatever they do."

BATTERS UP: The Rays have reduced their pregame batting practice by 15 minutes. "We hit for an hour the first two months, then we go to the summer schedule," McRae said.

And with interleague play continuing, the pitchers are getting more time in the batting cage, much of it working on bunting, not surprising considering their collective batting average is .143 (10-for-70, including a home run by Esteban Yan in his only at-bat).

"One interesting thing will be their heart rates when they're batting (in a game,)" McRae said. "Their heartbeats are very slow now. The heart begins to tap dance when there's a guy throwing 90 (mph) and you don't know what's going to happen."

The only real difference in managing a National League game vs. one in the AL is the managing of pitchers, whether to let one bat or to pinch hit for him and making the double switch when he's taken out while on the mound. "It's the same game," McRae said. "It's just an added element."

GOING DOWN: The Rays have lost 10 of their past 13 games are are 5-15 since winning a season-high four in a row May 18-22. They're 12-18 since ending a 15-game losing streak.