Jose Cruz powers Rays to a 5-3 victory over Cleveland and their first consecutive wins.
By ROGER MILLS
Published May 22, 2004
ST. PETERSBURG - To the Rays, one was sweet. But two wins in a row, now that's downright delightful.
Such a savory taste has eluded Tampa Bay since opening day. The Rays were the third team in the past 72 years to go this deep into the season without consecutive wins.
Well, bust out the party favors.
Behind an incredible effort from Jose Cruz, some gritty relief pitching, solid defense and aggressive hitting, the league's worst team looked very much like a competitive one after beating the Indians 5-3 Friday night before an announced 10,213 at Tropicana Field.
"It's our first all year," said Cruz, who tied a team record with 10 total bases. "We would never have imagined, but we're happy for it. We can't change the past, but hopefully this will get us on a roll, get us some momentum and confidence."
Okay, so it's only win No. 12 out 40. But when you're being mentioned with the 1928 Phillies (who took 43 games to win two in a row) and the 1932 Red Sox (44 games), the Rays will take that double any way they can.
"It took a while," manager Lou Piniella said.
Cruz, who is surfacing from an early funk, homered, had three doubles, scored three and added two RBIs.
"It's a first for me," Cruz said. "I've never had a night like that. Never. Probably the last five days I thought I've been seeing the ball real well. Once you get things going, your confidence builds and you have success, it means the world to a guy who looks up at the scoreboard and it's reflective of what you think it should be reflective of."
Considered their main free-agent acquisition this offseason, Cruz showed in spring training that his bat could be menacing. Against everything the Indians had to offer, Cruz showed no mercy.
"What a night he had offensively," Piniella said. "Hopefully, we'll get him nice and hot for a while."
There were others. Leftfielder Carl Crawford had two hits and shortstop Julio Lugo cranked a run-scoring double in the fourth and lunged to grab a popup to retire Omar Vizquel in the ninth. The Rays, who had surrendered 27 runs to the Indians in a three-game sweep last weekend in Cleveland, had to man up on the mound as well.
Starter Paul Abbott didn't particularly handcuff the young Indians early, but solid middle relief from left-hander Trever Miller and right-hander Lance Carter and a sixth straight successful save by Danys Baez ensured victory.
The bats that roughed up the Red Sox on Thursday were still steaming Friday when they cracked two doubles, mixed with a walk, off starter C.C. Sabathia to give the Rays a 2-0 lead after one.
But Abbott, winless in his past four outings, never seemed to command the plate or the Indians. Casey Blake's two-run double in the third gave Cleveland a 3-2 lead. The Rays, playing with a touch more determination than they showed in Cleveland, responded in the fourth as Cruz belted his second double of the game and tied the score on Lugo's double.
Cruz set up the go-ahead run with a leadoff double in the sixth. He advanced on a groundout, then scored on Toby Hall's flyout to right when he kicked the ball out of catcher Victor Martinez's glove.
He gave the Rays insurance with a homer to left off Scott Stewart in the eighth. "We got two in a row," Piniella said. "Let's hope we get a good one from (Doug) Waechter (today) and keep it going."
