Longtime Blue Jays scout joins Rays

ST. PETERSBURG - The Devil Rays made a big signing Wednesday, someone who could help them for years to come.

But it wasn't a player.

The Rays named Tim Wilken a special assistant to the general manager. Wilken will have his hand in several areas of scouting and player development. He also likely will head a yet-to-be-formed professional scouting department. His duties begin immediately. Starting today, Wilken will take a tour of the Rays' minor-league system.

"(We) are pleased to add someone of Tim's experience and integrity to our organization," Rays general manager Chuck LaMar said.

Wilken, a Dunedin High graduate, spent 25 years with the Blue Jays, most recently as vice president of baseball. As one of their top scouts, including a stint as scouting director, Wilken, 49, was heavily involved in signing major-leaguers Billy Koch, Vernon Wells, Shawn Green, Roy Halladay, Jimmy Key, Pat Borders, Derek Bell and others.

"I'm very happy," Wilken said. "It's a real good situation to get on board with all the parts they've brought in here, on the field and off the field and, hopefully, this is the beginning of a gradual, good incline."

Wilken needs to look back no further than his experiences with the Blue Jays to see hope for the Rays. The Rays are in their sixth season, the same age the Blue Jays were when they started their climb to becoming one of the top organizations in the majors.

"We had a little inkling we were going to be a better club in 1982 when (manager) Bobby Cox came in," Wilken said. "You could just feel the momentum starting to build. You can see a little bit of that here. ... You can see the makeup of this club is improving all the time. Hopefully I'm on board for a lot of good things to come."

Wilken resigned this summer after a difference in philosophy with Toronto's upper management. Several teams were interested in Wilken, but he said he liked the Rays' situation, and working for the Rays gave him more chances to see his 10-year-old daughter, Karis, who lives in Palm Harbor.

"He's a good professional baseball man, and he'll add a lot," manager Lou Piniella said. "We're always happy as an organization to hire good baseball people and he certainly is. He's well-respected in this industry."

STOLEN MOMENTS: The Rays came out running Wednesday and never stopped.

They stole six bases to set a club record for steals in a game. The record was five, which had been done three times.

"Those guys can fly," Orioles manager Mike Hargrove said. "We pitched out and we still couldn't get them."

Carl Crawford had three to tie the team record by one player in a game. Brent Abernathy also had three July 18, 2002. Crawford leads the American League with 37 steals.

GONZALEZ LABORS: Starting pitcher Jeremi Gonzalez admitted he was a little tired. Who could blame him? He was coming off consecutive games of 100-plus pitches and had a nasty flu bug earlier this week.

Still, he left with two outs in the sixth leading 5-4.

"I was a little tired, but that's no excuse," Gonzalez said. "The main thing is that we won."

MISCELLANY: The Rays are 21-16 since July 3, the best 37-game span in franchise history. ... Centerfielder Rocco Baldelli picked up two hits and now owns the rookie franchise record for a season with 140. Miguel Cairo had 138 in 1998. ... Aubrey Huff extended his hitting streak to 10 games with his 20th homer in the first inning. That snapped a 55 at-bat homerless streak.

15 - Wins needed in remaining 43 games to avoid 100 losses.