Bullpen comes through in win

By MARC TOPKIN
Published August 7, 2005

	[AP photo]
	HIGH-FIVES AND LOW-FIVES: Teammates congratulate Julio Lugo after scoring on Aubrey Huff's third-inning sacrifice fly. Lugo also drove in runs in the first and fourth with singles.

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Angels manager Mike Scioscia described the Devil Rays as a group of "young cowboys" because of how hard they play.

Saturday, the Rays rustled up an early lead, hung on like they were riding a bucking bronco and rode out of Angel Stadium with a 6-4 victory that dropped the Angels into a first-place tie with the surging Oakland A's.

The Rays worked hard to take an early 6-1 lead on Angels rookie starter Chris Bootcheck, a 1997 Tampa Bay draft pick. But the credit for the victory, which improved their post-All-Star break record to 15-7, second only to Oakland in the majors, goes to their relievers.

"It was a ballgame that we wanted to hold on to," manager Lou Piniella said. "The bullpen was the story."

After starter Mark Hendrickson allowed four straight hits to open the sixth, Chad Orvella, bouncing back from a rough outing Thursday, and Trever Miller calmed things down, no easy feat with a sellout crowd of 43,909 screaming at the sight of the bouncing Rally Monkey on the video boards.

Joe Borowski, working in the seventh inning instead of his customary eighth, uncharacteristically walked two in the seventh (he had walked only two of 33 batters over his first 10 games) but worked out of it. He came back out for the eighth, his first multi-inning appearance since joining the Rays, and posted another zero, giving him 111/3 scoreless innings since joining the Rays.

"It wasn't pretty," Borowski said. "But the end result is what matters."

All-Star closer Danys Baez worked the ninth for his 23rd save. He allowed a leadoff single to Chone Figgins then had a wardrobe malfunction when his belt broke. He got a replacement from Eduardo Perez, taking his role as utilityman to a new level, and it worked because Baez got Orlando Cabrera to hit into a double play. After Juan Rivera reached on an infield single, Baez got Vladimir Guerrero to ground out for the final out.

"It snapped," Piniella said. "I turned to (hitting coach) Lee Elia and said - "Watch it happen.' "

The Rays, who had lost seven straight at Angel Stadium, built their lead slowly. They got one in the first when Carl Crawford, after an impressive 13-pitch at-bat that included eight consecutive foul balls, doubled and Julio Lugo singled. They got one in the second when Travis Lee doubled and Toby Hall blooped a single. And they got another in the third when Lugo singled and came around to score on Aubrey Huff's sacrifice fly.

Then they added three in the fourth. Jonny Gomes with dozens of friends and relatives cheering for him, led off with a single. With two outs, Joey Gathright tripled, Crawford doubled and Lugo singled to extend the lead to 6-1.

"Our speed played big early in the game," Piniella said. "The outfielders made some nice plays defensively and causes a little havoc on the bases.

Hendrickson was relying on mental preparation and visualization in an attempt to repeat his season-best performance in his last outing. He got through the first five innings relatively well but he couldn't have seen the sixth coming.

The Angels started double, double, double, and Hendrickson was in all kinds of trouble. Orvella and Miller eventually calmed things down, but the Angels had cut the lead to 6-4.

"That," Baez said, "was a great win."

[Last modified August 7, 2005, 01:58:02]