Rays mastering the comeback

RAYS 4, BLUE JAYS 3: Rocco Baldelli drives in winner as Tampa Bay erases 3-0 deficit.

By MARC TOPKIN, Times Staff Writer

© St. Petersburg Times
published April 24, 2003

ST. PETERSBURG -- They were down and they had another man out, Damion Easley helped off the field after a worse-than-it-looked collision, but that wasn't going to stop the Devil Rays.

The Comeback Kids came back again Wednesday, rallying from a three-run eighth-inning deficit to beat the Blue Jays 4-3 before an intimate paid gathering of 9,221 at Tropicana Field.

[Times photo: Michael Rondou] The ball eludes Rays second baseman Damion Easley as Orlando Hudson steals second in the fifth.

It was the sixth time they've won at home and the sixth time they've come from at least two runs down to do so. Rocco Baldelli was the star, singling in Marlon Anderson with two outs in the eighth to cap the four-run rally.

"No matter what the score, no matter what the inning, I think we've shown we're going to be there until the last out of the game," Baldelli said. "I think tonight was a great example of that."

Baldelli is 21 and barely needs to shave, so it seemed especially odd as he sat at his locker wiping off the shaving cream from the "pie" Anderson delivered during a postgame interview, one of the few things that has staggered him.

Through 21 games Baldelli has a .372 average, and his 32 hits are the second-most by a rookie over the past 35 years.

"You never know how a young man is going to respond especially after coming out of really A ball last year, with interval stops in Double A and Triple A, but he had a very respectable spring," manager Lou Piniella said. "He's certainly not fazed by the situation. He goes up there and battles. Once in a while he chases some bad pitches, and that's understandable.

"I'll tell you, he's been very clutch for us."

Anderson deserved to participate in the celebratory activities. He went into the game when Easley left in the sixth with what appears to be only a right kneecap bruise (and a short absence), and he ended up delivering the second biggest hit of the night.

A one-out single by Javier Valentin and a two-out hit by Carl Crawford started the eighth-inning comeback, and Terry Shumpert brought the first run in with a double to left.

Anderson, a left-handed batter facing 6-foot-9 Toronto left-hander Mark Hendrickson, went down 0-and-2 but battled back to 2-and-2 and slapped a double to right-center, scoring both to tie it.

[Times photo: Michael Rondou] Leftfielder Carl Crawford, left, catches Chris Woodward's drive in the fourth despite running into centerfielder Rocco Baldelli.

"I've always hit against lefties," Anderson said. "I faced Randy Johnson last year and he's not tougher than Randy Johnson, I promise you."

Anderson went to third on a wild pitch by reliever Kelvim Escobar and scored when Baldelli, who also was down 0-and-2 and worked the count back to 2-and-2, singled up the middle.

"Just a good win," Piniella said.

It also was a much-needed good outing by Victor Zambrano.

Having allowed 21 walks and 21 hits in his first 22 innings, including an eight-run inning Friday in Baltimore, Zambrano went into the start knowing he had to pitch well to stay in the rotation.

He did extremely well for 3-2/3 innings, retiring 11 of the first 12 batters. He hit a rough spot in the fourth, allowing home runs on consecutive pitches to Carlos Delgado, whose 21 homers against the Rays are more than anyone, and Josh Phelps, who hit the D-ring catwalk 70 feet above the leftfield seats, but that was it.

In 5-1/3 innings he allowed six hits and only one walk.

"Every game I pitch I try to get better," he said. "When I had that inning in Baltimore, I learned a couple things about myself."

Piniella used the bullpen craftily, and Lance Carter picked up his third save.

"The kids played hard," Piniella said.

Today's lineup

Rays