Promising start meets fitting end

WHITE SOX 4, RAYS 3: Victor Zambrano looks sharp, but pen blows lead as bats go quiet.

By MARC TOPKIN, Times Staff Writer

© St. Petersburg Times
published August 6, 2002

ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays moved struggling reliever Victor Zambrano into the rotation Monday and he gave them a good start, pitching six strong innings against the White Sox.

Then he found out what it has been like to, well, have Victor Zambrano come into the game.

Relievers Jesus Colome and Esteban Yan wasted Zambrano's efforts and a two-run lead, spoiling the Rays' bid for a rare winning homestand by giving the White Sox a 4-3 victory.

"When I'm a reliever and I go into a game, I try to do the best I can do," Zambrano said. "Yan and Colome tried to do the job. It's a baseball game and a lot of things can happen. It doesn't bother me or anything like that."

The Rays lost the lead when Colome put the first three on to open the eighth. They got Willie Harris out at the plate after Colome's wild pitch but gave up one run when Yan bounced a pitch past catcher Toby Hall and another run on Paul Konerko's two-out single.

They lost the game when Mark Johnson's one-out drive to rightfield kicked off a side wall and eluded Jason Conti long enough for Joe Crede, who reached on an infield single, to score from first.

"It's a game we let get away because we had a lead going into the eighth inning and we let it get away," manager Hal McRae said, "but it wasn't a poorly played ballgame."

It was, however, a disappointing end to a season-high 11-game homestand, which they finished 5-6, and another lost chance to win a series, which they haven't done since June. With one transaction made (Wilson Alvarez activated, Luis De Los Santos sent down) and others perhaps pending as players clear waivers, the Rays clubhouse wasn't the most comfortable place.

Afterward, there was some debate over what really cost them the game.

Most obvious were the wild pitches. Even though Hall's impressive play nabbed Harris, Tony Graffanino moved up to second, then went to third on a flyout and scored when Yan bounced a split-finger fastball out of Hall's reach.

"It's a pitch he's been successful with so you sort of just live with that," McRae said. "That's going to be a part of it. You just hope the catcher can keep it in front. But he has to throw it. He's been doing well with it and he has to throw it."

Ultimately, McRae laid the blame on the offense. The Rays started the game with a pair of singles and a three-run homer by Aubrey Huff off Jon Garland, then didn't get another hit until Andy Sheets singled to open the eighth.

"Three runs wasn't enough," McRae said. "How many hits did we get? Five? Six?" Four, he was told. "That's why we lost."

Yan took some blame for the wild pitch but said Conti should have gotten to Johnson's ball more quickly and thrown Crede out. "Sometimes you can't do it by yourself," Yan said. "You need to have a defense too and they need to hustle more. I think that's what happened today."

Conti said the ball took an odd bounce off the wall, but his slight bobble didn't make a difference because Crede was well on his way home. "It's a little bit of relief for me as an outfielder to think I didn't mess that whole play up because when I turned around he probably was going to score anyway," Conti said.

The best thing that came out of the game was the performance of Zambrano, who had struggled mightily in the bullpen, earning three blown saves and four losses while posting a 7.21 ERA, allowing 87 baserunners in 48 2/3 innings.

The move to the rotation may have been a last resort before sending him back to the minors. Zambrano, who turns 27 today, earned a reprieve -- though McRae stressed it was only one good game -- as well as another start Saturday in Kansas City.

The biggest difference was that he threw more strikes by emphasizing his fastball and concentrating more on location than velocity.

"All we asked him to do was throw what Toby put down and where Toby set his glove," pitching coach Jackie Brown said. "It's that simple. What I was trying to do is show him how good his stuff is, that he doesn't have to go out there and pitch and trick and finesse and go through all the things that we hear that all these great pitchers do.

"Location is the name of the game. We've been brought up on the radar gun and I'm sick of the radar gun. All they know is "Fire, Fire.' It's all about location, and Victor proved it today. Toby put his glove up and he hit it all day long."

Zambrano, who hadn't started since Double-A ball in 1999, said he will do whatever the team wants, but he liked starting.

"I was really comfortable there," he said. "The big difference is concentration. I organized everything I was going to do before the start, and I felt really good."