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MARC TOPKINRANGERS 9, DEVIL RAYS 0: Paul Abbott gives up eight runs, including three home runs, in the first inning in Texas.
ARLINGTON, Texas - When the Devil Rays gave up seven runs in the first inning of Thursday night's game in Boston, they thought they couldn't get off to a worse start.
That was last week.
Monday, the Devil Rays found out quickly just how good the Rangers are, giving up a team-record eight runs in the first inning - on three home runs off Paul Abbott - in a 9-0 loss that erased any progress they'd made.
"I've told you guys I'm the supreme optimist," Abbott said. "I can give up nine runs and say, "I found my changeup today and I can't wait for the next one.' But I can't say anything about today. Just a horrible day."
Abbott's problem was that he left pretty much all his pitches up, and the Rangers hit them out.
Alfonso Soriano, the third batter, hit a two-run homer to right-center. David Dellucci, the seventh batter, hit a three-run homer to center. Michael Young, the 10th batter of the inning, hit a three-run homer to left.
"He left a lot of stuff over the plate," catcher Toby Hall said. "They're aggressive, and they hit mistakes, like they did today.
"A rough one."
Abbott, who has lost two straight after starting 2-1, said he didn't have any physical problems but admitted he may not have been focused enough, especially against the hot-swinging Rangers.
"You've got to handle them with care and keep the ball down," Abbott said. "I didn't do that and paid the price."
Manager Lou Piniella wasn't happy with what he was seeing, but knowing the Rays are in a stretch of 14 games in 13 days, didn't do anything about it, leaving Abbott in the game.
"I don't think I could have gotten a guy warmed up quick enough, No. 1," he said. "And we've got six more games on this road trip, so we've got to save the pitching staff a little bit."
The Rangers have been one of the surprise stories in baseball, compiling a 17-9 record A.A. - After A-Rod - that is the best in the big leagues. They have done it mainly with the game's most prolific offense, hitting a major-league high .311 as a team (some 20 points higher than the next team) and a whopping .350 at home while averaging 7.5 runs.
"They freakin' hack," Rocco Baldelli said. "They take good swings every at-bat. Up and down the order everyone in their lineup is swinging it.
"There's no breaks."
The Rays had shown signs over the weekend of breaking out of their own offensive slump but didn't do much against Plant City product Kenny Rogers, managing a grand total of four hits off the 39-year-old offspeed specialist.
"Slop," Hall said.
"Good slop, though. Makes his fastball look like 110 (mph)."
They had an infield single from Carl Crawford in the first, a pair of singles by Rey Sanchez and Jose Cruz in the third, and a double by Cruz to lead off the ninth. In between, they went more than five innings with one baserunner - when Baldelli was hit by a pitch in sixth. It was the 14th time in 24 games they scored three runs or fewer.
Rogers' success against his hometown team was not unexpected. He has taunted the Rays with his assortment of offspeed pitches in nine games and is 7-1 with a 2.22 ERA. "I'd like to see us put together a couple games in a row where we swing the bats," Piniella said.
"He pitched a good ballgame; give the guy credit.
"But I've said that a few times early in the year.
"A few too many times actually."