Rays find a spark in surprising Sheets

RAYS 4, INDIANS 3: A ninth-inning HR continues veteran's resurgence.

By KEVIN KELLY, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published August 16, 2002

ST. PETERSBURG -- In their perpetual search for a few good men to help a struggling ballclub, the Rays have stumbled onto a rare find.

He is a 30-year-old middle infielder. The Rays traded him once and sent him down another time. He spent most of this season in Triple A until the Rays surprisingly called him up last month.

The most striking difference in Andy Sheets, however, is his offensive rebirth and newfound confidence at the plate. Thursday, Sheets hit a two-out, three-run walkoff homer that gave Tampa Bay a 4-3 win against the Indians at Tropicana Field.

"He's just taking advantage of his opportunities," said shortstop Chris Gomez, a teammate of Sheets in San Diego in 1998. "He's a baseball player, and you can't say that about everybody.

"He's a professional. He goes about his business the right way. He doesn't complain and moan. If he's in there, he's going to play hard."

Sheets' home run before 10,778 was his third since Friday and prevented what was bound to be another disappointingly close loss for the Rays this season.

The victory came despite Rays starting pitcher Joe Kennedy and reliever Travis Harper failing to strike out a batter. It came despite a two-run homer by Cleveland centerfielder Karim Garcia that put the Indians ahead 3-1 in the ninth of what was Tampa Bay's shortest game of the season (2 hours, 5 minutes).

"We finally left someone on the field," Tampa Bay manager Hal McRae said. "We know how that feels. It's about time we got a little payback."

Fitting that it was Sheets who did it.

The Rays sent him to Durham out of spring training with a purpose.

"I remember almost verbatim what I told him," McRae said. "It was the same line I gave him last year when we sent him to Triple A ... go figure some things out offensively. And he did."

After hitting .196 in 49 games with the Rays in 2001, Sheets batted .294 in 98 games at Durham before getting a call-up July 20.

"I was surprised," Sheets said. "They had a lot of right-handed hitting infielders already so I figured they didn't need me here. Yeah, it was a shock."

As is what he has done since then.

A solid defensive player, Sheets has played himself into the starting lineup 17 times.

He is batting .306 with four homers and 19 RBIs after going 2-for-4 with the homer against Indians reliever Mark Wohlers with two on, two out and a 3-and-2 count.

"My mind-set is probably more different than anything," Sheets said. "I go up there looking for a pitch I can drive. Last year I started struggling late and started getting defensive and trying just to put it into play.

"Now I go up there and take my three hacks and be aggressive and see what happens. It's not anything physical. If anything, it's more mental."

And the Rays will take it, support it and encourage this quiet guy from Lafayette, La.

"He's a climber and I like that about him," McRae said. "It's a different attitude which allows him to put his ability into play. He's not trying to hold on to anything because he has nothing to hold on to."

Sheets' dramatics quickly turned a loss for Harper into his fifth win this season.

The right-hander came on in the ninth after Kennedy allowed one run and walked five in eight innings. Harper allowed a leadoff single before Garcia homered on the first pitch.

"It's usually disappointing giving up the runs," he said. "But then, within a few minutes, you're walking off the field with a great win."

Sheets' home run not only earned him another start today, it served to boost the morale of a team on the verge of its 81st loss this season and helped the Rays avoid their 12th sweep. The victory marked the fifth time this season Tampa Bay has avoided a sweep by winning the final game of a series.

"It felt good to win a game like that," Harper said. "As a team we've lost a lot of them like this."

Rays by the numbers

HOME/ROAD: 24-38/16-42

DAY/NIGHT: 10-22/30-58

GRASS/TURF: 14-33/26-47

VS. EAST: 17-35

VS. CENTRAL: 11-15

VS. WEST: 5-19

VS. NL: 7-11