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By MARC TOPKIN, Times Staff WriterRAYS 3, ANGELS 2: With no dye job as motivation, Tampa Bay nips defending champs for second straight.
ST. PETERSBURG - This time there's nothing to dye for.
When the Devil Rays last strung together three wins, manager Lou Piniella marked the occasion by having blond highlights added to his hair. If they do it again with a victory in today's matinee, it will be just to show their, um, true colors as an improved team.
Their past two wins, a crisp 3-2 victory over Anaheim on Monday following Sunday's 15-4 laugher against Texas, have been impressive. And their July performance, with a 9-8 record, a success.
"It's good to see," Piniella said. "Let's hope it continues."
There were all kinds of good things to see Monday.
Rob Bell pitching solidly into the eighth. Rocco Baldelli making a spectacular diving catch and generating what turned out to be the winning run with his speed. Travis Lee scooping throws and delivering a clutch hit. Travis Harper bailing out Lance Carter for a one-pitch save.
And the Rays smiling for a second straight day.
"Hopefully we can put a couple of these together," Lee said, "and maybe call it a winning streak."
Bell, the 26-year-old right-hander picked off the spring scrap heap, is doing a good job trying to prove he deserves a permanent rotation spot.
He allowed one run over 71/3 innings and retired 13 straight at one point Monday - "He certainly didn't hurt himself tonight," Piniella said - and is 2-0 with a 3.26 ERA over his past three starts.
Bell tends to talk in big words and complex theories - at one point Monday he actually said, "Sometimes you pitch more consequentially" - but knows the bottom line is getting batters out and has benefited from the addition of a sinker to his repertoire.
"It was a night when it was fun to pitch," Bell said. "I feel my last three starts have been a block to build on each time, be it each pitch as the game is going on or from start to start. In retrospect, I've felt good about the progress I've made."
Baldelli had an impressive night, making the defensive play of the game, a running-sliding-diving-left-arm-extended catch in the fourth, and almost single-handedly generating the winning run, bunting his way on with two outs in the seventh, his team-high 19th infield hit, then running on the pitch and scoring from first on Lee's double.
As usual, Baldelli had few words about his contributions.
The catch? "I was just reacting."
The bunt? "I'll take it."
The key score? "I was just going to keep running."
The 3-0 lead lasted until the eighth, when the Angels bunched two doubles for a run against Bell, who left to a hearty ovation from the paid crowd of 9,673. Al Levine, who earlier in the day finally got his Angels World Series ring, got the added satisfaction of quenching their rally with two quick outs.
Carter, the All-Star closer, took the 3-1 lead into the ninth and made it exciting, allowing a run on a one-out walk, a single and a sacrifice fly. Under Piniella's new "matchup" bullpen plan, Harper came in and ended the game with one pitch, getting Bengie Molina to ground out on a curveball, with Lee making another nice scoop on Damian Rolls' low throw, completing their first victory against Aaron Sele, who had been 7-0 against them in nine starts.
For the Angels, it was another step toward the end of their dream of repeating their improbable World Series championship: their season-high fifth straight loss (four at Baltimore, one here).
"It's always darkest before the dawn," manager Mike Scioscia said, "and we're in a bit of a dark spot right now."