Zambrano opening eyes

Converted reliever turns in another gutsy start, pitching into seventh though the Rays succumb to the Angels 7-3.

By KEVIN KELLY, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published August 28, 2002

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The move from the bullpen to the rotation initially was designed to help Victor Zambrano regain confidence in his abilities.

Now it might be turning into an audition.

The right-hander, so poor as a reliever earlier this season that was he sent to Triple A, has proven to be a pretty decent starter.

The Rays lost 7-3 to the Angels on Tuesday before 19,869 at Edison Field and are 5-20 against American League West opponents this season, 7-57 when scoring fewer than four runs.

But Zambrano again kept Tampa Bay in the game before coming out with a left hamstring strain in the seventh. In his second straight 62/3-inning outing, he allowed three earned runs on a season-high 12 hits.

Four came from Angels centerfielder Darin Erstad, who tied a career high with five hits overall and became the third player to get five against the Rays. Second baseman Felix Escalona committed two errors for the Rays, who held a players-only meeting after the game.

"Victor threw the ball well, but defensively we didn't get the job done," manager Hal McRae said. "We had chances to win the game, but we had some defensive lapses."

Zambrano, 1-2 with a 4.15 ERA since becoming a starter, allowed three runs through six, then loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh by walking Troy Glaus on a full count.

The other Angels runners reached on a single and an error by Escalona. Zambrano was taken out after facing Glaus and is day to day.

Travis Harper, who will start in place of Joe Kennedy on Saturday at Texas, came on and immediately allowed a bases-clearing double to rightfield by Scott Spiezio that had rightfielder Ben Grieve turning in circles in pursuit, making it 6-2.

The Rays got just two baserunners to second through six innings against Angels starter John Lackey. They finished with 12 hits but only one for extra bases and left nine on base.

Escalona hit a two-out double down the leftfield line in the third, breaking an 0-for-13 slump.

The Rays scored one each in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.

Shortstop Chris Gomez, a native Southern Californian, led off the sixth with a single to left. He went to second on a groundout by Escalona and scored on a single up the middle by rookie Carl Crawford to make it 2-1.

Crawford has hit in seven of his past eight games.

Zambrano worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the fourth by getting Alex Ochoa to pop out and David Eckstein to ground out to end the inning.

With a one-run lead going into the bottom of the sixth, Anaheim made it 3-1 on a single to centerfield by Ochoa. Rays centerfielder Randy Winn slid feet-first to try to catch the ball but couldn't hold on. He threw out Bengie Molina at third to end the inning.

The Rays again pulled within one in the seventh.

Grieve led off with an opposite-field single and advanced to second on a perfectly executed hit-and-run by catcher John Flaherty, who singled in the hole between the first and second basemen.

Gomez singled home Grieve to trim the Angels' lead to 3-2. First baseman Steve Cox added a sacrifice fly that made it 6-3 in the eighth before Gomez struck out with the bases loaded to end the threat.