ST. PETERSBURG - It was as if everything the Devil Rays have dreamed of all came true in one night - they scored a stunning win over the Yankees, they played in a packed and rollicking Tropicana Field, and they took over first place in the American League East.
Having spent the winter and spring talking about being better, and having gone halfway around the world to Tokyo and back to start the season, the Rays came home to put on quite a show Tuesday.
They rallied from a four-run first-inning deficit to beat the Yankees 9-4 before the first Tropicana Field sellout crowd since the 1998 opener. And, as odd as it sounds, the win left them alone in first later into a season (April 6) than they've ever been there before.
"All things considered," managing general partner Vince Naimoli said, "it may well be the best night in the history of our franchise."
The announced crowd of 41,755 saw a little bit of everything the revamped Rays have to offer - exciting play, clutch hitting, solid defense, quality relief work - and some adventurous starting pitching.
"It was a big win for us, it really was," manager Lou Piniella said. "We had a big crowd, an enthusiastic crowd, and we treated them to a good ballgame. ... I couldn't be more pleased."
Down 4-0 after Victor Zambrano gave up first-inning home runs to Alex Rodriguez and Gary Sheffield - "It got awfully quiet then," Piniella said - the Rays came roaring back and didn't stop until they'd beaten Yankees ace Mike Mussina for the second time in a week on two continents.
"The opening-day win in Japan was real nice, but this tops it to do it in front of your home crowd," Aubrey Huff said. "We showed the people of Tampa Bay this is a legitimate team; we're going to be competitive; we're going to play with a lot of the good teams in this league."
Julio Lugo had a tying homer and a team-high three RBIs, but everyone in the lineup had a hand in the victory. Jose Cruz Jr. had four hits and a key catch at the rightfield wall; Carl Crawford had three hits, including the go-ahead RBI, and some key baserunning moves; and Toby Hall knocked in a pair of runs and caught Jason Giambi trying to steal for an inning-ending double play.
Zambrano was not sharp, throwing 90 pitches - 51 for balls - over five innings while walking a career high seven, and hitting another.
That wasn't a particularly effective approach against a Yankees lineup so deep that Jorge Posada, who was third in the AL MVP voting after hitting 30 homers and 101 RBIs last season, was batting eighth, but it was enough to get the Rays through five innings with a lead, and Lance Carter, Chad Gaudin and Danys Baez did the rest, allowing just two the rest of the way.
The crowd - as usual at the Trop - was divided among the teams, but by the end of the night most of the Yankees fans had either left or undergone a conversion, because they stood and cheered as Baez struck out Rodriguez for the final out.
"I always find it interesting that a lot of the people cheer for the Yankees and when we go ahead they cheer for us," Naimoli said.
The players just like the cheers.
"That was pretty cool," Hall said. "Everyone standing up for the last out, that was pretty electric.
"Hopefully the fans realize we feed off that and their support. I've always said I don't care if they show up in Yankees outfits as long as they show up."
Now the Rays have to hope they'll keep showing up.
"Hopefully we keep playing well and the crowds will keep coming," Tino Martinez said."
The game featured several key moments.
In the second, a 4-1 Yankees lead looked like it might become 7-1 when Zambrano walked Derek Jeter and Rodriguez and Giambi crushed a ball to right-center, but Cruz made the catch at the wall.
In the fourth, the Rays cut the margin to 4-2 and Lugo, who won 1-million yen, a color printer and a ceremonial samurai helmet as MVP of the March 30 opener in Tokyo, delivered the tying blow, a two-run homer to left.
In the seventh, the Yankees were trying to close a 6-4 deficit with one on, one out and Rodriguez at the plate, and Gaudin, a 21-year-old rookie, came in and calmly got Rodriguez to pop out.
"He's A-Rod, but what can you do?" Gaudin said. "You've got to get him out, too."
Fans lined up waiting for the ticket windows to open at 9.
When the gates opened at 4:30 p.m., Rays players were in the rotunda to shake hands and hand out schedule magnets. There was, however, a sign of things to come - the first fan through the doors was wearing an A-Rod Yankees jersey. As big of a night as it was, Piniella insisted on keeping it in perspective.
"I think you all are overstating this win," he said. "It was a good game for us. But, believe me, as we grow as a franchise we're going to have a lot more meaningful wins than this."
