Waechter on start: Not bad, not great

By MARC TOPKIN, DAVE SCHEIBER
Published April 24, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - Doug Waechter didn't pitch all that well in his first start of the season Saturday. But he didn't pitch all that badly either.

Waechter labored through most of his five innings, giving up five runs on 10 hits, including a pair of long home runs to David Ortiz, and throwing 103 pitches.

But he seemed to improve as the game went on, and he kept the Rays close enough for them to come back and win.

"My overall assessment is that I felt like I should have done a little bit better," the St. Petersburg native said.

"I felt like I had to battle the whole time out there. I really didn't get into a great rhythm out there. That was something I was getting closer to toward the later innings. "Overall, it was something I had to battle through. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great."

PUMPED UP: Reliever Trever Miller couldn't conceal his excitement after striking out Mark Bellhorn with two on to end Boston's eighth-inning threat, pumping his fist and taking a small hop off the mound.

"Any kid that ever thought of doing drugs, just go out there one time and strike somebody out with second and third against the Red Sox," Miller said. "There's no better feeling than that. You know, you don't need alcohol or drugs for that kind of feeling."

ABOUT FRIDAY NIGHT: Eduardo Perez's walkoff pinch-hit homer was the second in Rays history. Five years to the day earlier, Bubba Trammell beat Anaheim on April 22, 2000.

Perez's shot was the first in the majors since May 5, 2004, when Cincinnati's Ramon Castro hit one against Milwaukee. It was, however, the second in his family. His father, Hall of Famer Tony Perez, hit one Sept. 1, 1984, for Cincinnati off Pittsburgh's Don Robinson.

GOING VERY DEEP: Ortiz's second homer was estimated at 455 feet, making it the longest ball hit to rightfield at the Trop, landing four rows from the back wall, which has never been hit. His first homer went 432 feet. They are the second and third longest homers at the Trop this season, behind Perez's 459-foot shot.

PITCHING IN: Reliever Jesus Colome (shoulder tendinitis) is eligible to come off the disabled list Friday, but manager Lou Piniella said the trainers are recommending a cautious approach. Colome may go on a short minor-league rehab assignment and probably won't be activated until May 6-7.

Mark Hendrickson (shoulder inflammation) is on track to be activated by the end of the week, and Piniella is "leaning toward" starting him Saturday.

DRAFT BREEZE: Piniella was asked whether he would have drafted a running with the fifth pick as the Bucs did.

"Coach ( Jon) Gruden knows exactly what he wants," Piniella said. "I would have taken a .300-hitting, home-run hitting, run-producing hitter."

SAUNDERS AWARD: Nick Sabella, a senior at Bradenton Manatee High, was awarded a $2,500 scholarship before the game as the winner of the Tony Saunders Courage Award.

Sabella, 17, battled back after surgery on a benign brain tumor in 2003 to start as a designated hitter in his junior and senior baseball seasons. "I went through some regressions and progressions, but now I'm doing pretty well," he said. "Just being out there playing was a heck of a highlight for me."

The scholarship/award is provided annually by the Rays of Hope Foundation, going to an area student/athlete "who best exemplifies the courage, character, competitive desire and fighting spirit of the former Rays pitcher," who twice broke a bone in his pitching arm. Saunders is attempting a comeback in the Orioles organization. "He's a great story," Saunders said of Sabella, joined by other finalists at the game. "It seems like every year this goes on the tougher it is to make the decision. The stories just get better and better."

MISCELLANY: The Rays logged their 12th game of 10 or more hits, most in the majors. ... The Rays gave $10,000 to the Hillsborough Education Foundation. ... Seminole's Brittany Lincicome, a rising LPGA star, was in the crowd Saturday. ... Both anti- Vince Naimoli Web sites, www.oustnaimoli.com and www.vincemustgo.com are selling T-shirts.

[Last modified April 24, 2005, 01:03:20]