ORIOLES 9, RAYS 1: Sidney Ponson extends funk that has led to six runs in five games.
By MARC TOPKIN
Published April 21, 2004
[AP photos]
B.J. Surhoff's drive to centerfield gets away from the Devil Rays' Rocco Baldelli for a double in the third inning. The Orioles scored three in the inning.
Luis Lopez congratulates starter Sidney Ponson, who threw 88 pitches in a four-hitter to hand Tampa Bay its third straight loss.
BALTIMORE - Manager Lou Piniella is right. The Devil Rays are going to hit better.
But that's only because they can't do much worse.
The Rays continue to be men without bats, losing 9-1 to the Orioles on Tuesday and looking bad in doing so. Sidney Ponson needed only 88 pitches for the complete game victory, and to make it worse, Mark Hendrickson pitched his way out of the Rays rotation.
They haven't hit since a 10-1 Easter feast, scoring six runs (and getting 25 hits total) in the five games since. They haven't had an extra-base hit since the second inning of Friday's game, an amazing span of 34 innings and 113 at-bats. They've scored an American League-low 43 runs in 12 games, including three runs or fewer in eight and one or none in five.
"We're not hitting; four hits tonight, two hits on Sunday," Piniella said. "Our hitting will get better. ... We're going to start hitting better."
Actually, just to start hitting would be good ...
Aubrey Huff is 1-for-19 since hitting his only homer April 11 and has a .156 average. Rocco Baldelli is in a 1-for-12 skid and hitting .200. Jose Cruz is 0-for-11. Toby Hall is 0-for-13. Tino Martinez is 2-for-14.
"I'm sure a lot of guys are pressing a little bit," said Robert Fick, who had two of the Rays' four hits Tuesday. "Lou's getting a little p---ed off. We've got to find a way, I guess.
"We've just kind of been getting down early these last few games and been flat after that. That wasn't the case early in the season. The Yankees scored four on us that one game and we came back, and we tried to come back against (Mariano) Rivera I think the next night. We were battling. Now we're kind of in a little funk. We ran into (Chicago's Esteban) Loaiza and now this guy, Ponson, and it can get tough."
Good pitching is part of it. The Rays have faced top starters Kevin Brown three times, Mike Mussina and Ponson twice and Loaiza once, with another meeting scheduled Friday.
But so is the Rays' glaring lack of production.
Baldelli has one RBI and no extra-base hits. Huff has one home run. Cruz has three RBIs. Hall hasn't driven in a run since April 6.
"We're not really stepping up right now like we need to," Baldelli said. "Me especially, I guess you could say. I've got to get on the ball and start hitting the ball a little better."
When the Rays got their sole run in the sixth Tuesday, they snapped a 16-inning scoreless streak. Worse, it was their first earned run in 30 innings, going back to the second inning Friday.
The funny thing is, they didn't really earn it. Carl Crawford was credited with an infield single when first baseman Rafael Palmeiro couldn't come up with a throw, went to second on Baldelli's single, went to third when second baseman Brian Roberts booted a likely double-play ball and scored on Fick's groundout.
Ponson's dominating performance didn't make it any easier: Of his 88 pitches, only 17 were called balls.
"Everybody who pitches against us seems to pitch a good game," Piniella said. "But the guy can pitch."
Piniella's unhappiness with the Rays offense may be increasing his frustration with the Rays pitching. Having already shuffled the rotation Tuesday afternoon by replacing Jeremi Gonzalez with Damian Moss, Piniella said after the game he had seen enough of Hendrickson and would ditch him, too.
"We'll try somebody else," Piniella said. "What I saw of the lefty tonight, I just didn't like. It's my decision, and we'll just go with it."
In his first two starts, Hendrickson made mistakes that led to big home runs. Tuesday, his biggest transgression was failing to close out the third after getting two quick outs.
Instead, he gave up a double to Miguel Tejada on a bad changeup, a single to Palmeiro, a single to Javy Lopez and a double to B.J. Surhoff that bounced off Baldelli's glove as he attempted a diving catch.
"I expect more out of myself," said Hendrickson, who is 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA. "I don't work as hard as I do the four days in between to go out there and be mediocre. That's probably the most frustrating part. But I'll just keep working at it and get better, I promise you that."
