A'S 5, RAYS 4: The young starter lasts four innings to fall to 0-10 all time away from the Trop.
By TOM JONES
Published August 29, 2004
OAKLAND, Calif. - Maybe he should bring a few pictures from his house and hang them in his hotel room. Maybe he could bring a favorite pillow. Hey, here's a thought: Maybe he could just sleep at home and fly in on the days he pitches.
Something, anything he can do to make life on the road a little better. Make that a lot better.
It's something so bizarre that there seems to be no logical explanation, but Devil Rays pitcher Dewon Brazelton is not the same pitcher on the road as he is at home. Not even close. His road struggles continued Saturday in a 5-4 loss to the Athletics in front of a sellout crowd of 48,099 at Network Associates Coliseum.
Most of the huge crowd came to see the postgame fireworks, but fill in your own punch line about how the A's started the game against Brazelton.
Just six days ago, Brazelton beat the A's 2-1 - at home, of course. But, on the road Saturday, he could not get past four innings. He gave up two homers and five runs to put the Rays in a 5-0 hole they couldn't climb out of.
"I felt like I went out there and things just happened," Brazelton said. "I did the best I could."
It wasn't good enough. Nor was the Rays offense, which produced only four hits.
The Rays did generate one rally, cutting Oakland's lead to 5-4 against one of the best pitchers in baseball, Tim Hudson. But the rally came up short and Brazelton suffered the 10th loss in 10 career decisions on the road.
That's right: Brazelton has never won a game away from Tropicana Field. At home over his two-season big-league career, the 6-4 right-hander has compiled a 7-2 record with a 2.76 ERA. On the road, though, Brazelton is now 0-10 with an ERA just over 7.00.
This season the numbers are even more startling: 6-1 with a 1.60 ERA at home, 0-4 with an ERA of 8.20 on the road.
"I don't know what to tell you," Brazelton said. "It's not like I go out there and say, "Oh, God, I'm on the road.' It's not like that. I go out there and give the best effort I can at home and on the road."
Brazelton's troubles started right away Saturday. The third batter, Eric Chavez, cracked a two-run homer, and the Athletics tacked on another run when Erubiel Durazo singled home Jermaine Dye, who had doubled. Through one inning, Brazelton had allowed three runs on four hits.
He settled down after that, retiring eight in a row, but a double by Durazo and a two-run homer by Eric Byrnes made it 5-0 and sent Brazelton out of the game.
Meantime, Hudson was sailing along with a no-hitter into the fifth until second baseman Mark McLemore paved the way for a big inning by booting an easy ground ball. The Rays followed with three consecutive hits, including a two-run double by Brook Fordyce. Before the inning was over, the Rays had pushed four across and trailed 5-4.
That was it, though, and Brazelton was saddled with another road loss.
Before the game, Rays manager Lou Piniella said maybe Brazelton's road woes are simply due to the fact that the Rays overall are better at home. What did Piniella think after the game? Who knows? Piniella had no comment about Brazelton or anything else. He declined to speak to the media, making his 61st birthday a forgettable affair. For him and, of course, Brazelton.
