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RAYS 9, YANKEES 7: Tampa Bay rally assures New York won't clinch on visit.

By MARC TOPKIN, Times Staff Writer

© St. Petersburg Times
published September 18, 2002

ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays haven't had much reason to celebrate this season. But after rallying to beat the Yankees 9-7 Tuesday, they seemed to enjoy knowing they won't have to watch the New Yorkers celebrating a division championship while they're here.

"You don't want anybody to do it on your home field," said catcher John Flaherty, who doubled in the winning run in the eighth. "It's not a pleasant feeling."

[Times photo: Chris Zuppa] Randy Winn, left, gets a high-five from Carl Crawford after Winn's three-run homer cut the Yankees' lead to 5-4 in the fifth.

After their loss and a Boston win, the Yankees have a magic number of four. And with the Red Sox off Thursday, it will be Friday at the earliest before the Yankees can clinch their fifth straight American League East title, preserving the sanctity of the Tropicana Field visiting clubhouse.

"You never want to see champagne being opened up in your stadium," second baseman Brent Abernathy said. "That's more just a pride thing than anything else. It's never a good feeling to see anybody else celebrating."

With a second straight 100-loss season secured and rumors circulating of significant change, the Rays wouldn't seem to have much to play for.

But appearances, at least Tuesday, can be deceiving.

With a Tropicana Field paid crowd of 14,797 seemingly split between the teams, the Rays rallied from an early four-run deficit and a late three-run gap, scoring four in the eighth against the heralded New York bullpen, giving Lance Carter his first major-league win.

"It's probably one of the positive notes for us this whole year," said Aubrey Huff, whose eighth-inning single tied the score. "We want to come in here against these teams, New York and Boston, and play well. This is pretty much our postseason right now. You want to go out there and beat the best.

"As a team that's not going anywhere this year, you want to go out there and make this like a postseason."

The Yankees had leads of 4-0 and 5-1 against Paul Wilson early, but Randy Winn got the Rays back in the game with a three-run homer off Orlando Hernandez in the fifth.

"We don't see too many three-run (homers)," manager Hal McRae said. "It was a welcome addition to the things we do each night."

Wilson showed flashes of his early season sharpness, but the Yankees rebuilt their lead to 7-4 with a two-run triple by Bernie Williams in the seventh. Then they turned the game over to their bullpen, which hadn't missed a beat, or blown a save, since closer Mariano Rivera went on the disabled list in mid August.

But the Rays chipped away with a run in the seventh, on a triple by Winn and a double by Huff off Mike Stanton, then scored four in the eighth off Ramiro Mendoza and Steve Karsay, proving that the Yankees may indeed need Rivera to get where they want to be.

"Those guys have done a good job, but it's going to be a nine-inning game for them now," McRae said.

The winning rally started with a bunt single by Brent Abernathy, who went to second on Alex Arias's throwing error, and a single by Felix Escalona. After a strikeout, they got one run on a fielder's choice grounder by Carl Crawford. After Winn walked, they got three more.

Huff, who is hitting .330 needs 55 plate appearances over the final 12 games to qualify for the AL batting race, greeted Karsay with a single to right, scoring Crawford with the tying run.

"You want to go up there and clutch-up against the Yankees," Huff said. "They've got so many fans out there rooting for them at your own place so you really want to kind of shut them up too, so that felt good. Anytime you beat them at your house, it's a good feeling."

After Steve Cox walked to load the bases, Flaherty doubled down the leftfield line, scoring two more.

"It just wasn't a good night for us," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "I don't care how many games you win or where you are in the standings, when you have the lead late in the game you really want to put the lid on it, and we couldn't do it. They were pesky and kept coming at us doing little things."

The Yankees also had some concern about star shortstop Derek Jeter, who left the game with a bruised right wrist after being hit by a pitch but is expected to play tonight.

But they know they have better days ahead.

As Huff said, "They'll just clinch somewhere else."

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