Rays/MLB

Rays battle past Rivera, Yankees

Despite 14 walks issued, Tampa Bay stops a skid by beating the star closer.

By MARC TOPKIN
Published April 27, 2006

NEW YORK - With Jorge Cantu becoming the fourth key member of the Devil Rays lineup placed on the disabled list, much of the focus has been on the players who are not on the field.

Wednesday, the players who were did an impressive job.

The Rays rallied in the 10th inning against New York relief ace Mariano Rivera, then held off a typical Yankees comeback bid to snap a four-game losing streak with a confidence-boosting 4-2 victory.

"That's what happens when you run 11-12 gamers out there. We're all gamers," Jonny Gomes said. "It's a big win. Any time you beat the Yankees, it's a big win. Let alone beat them in the big house, and against the big boy."

Beating Rivera was a big enough deal, only the second time the Rays have done so in their history. And foiling the Yankees' last-ditch bid, with Shawn Camp relieving Dan Miceli with the bases loaded and two outs and getting Gary Sheffield on a hard-smash groundout, was something else.

But the Rays also had to overcome themselves, including a franchise-record 14 walks issued by their pitchers, seven in five innings by struggling starter Seth McClung. The Yankees left 16 men on base and were 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position.

"We got ourselves in some holes and fortunately we were able to dig ourselves out of," third baseman Ty Wigginton said. "You don't expect to win too many games when you walk that many, but our pitchers pitched their hearts out."

The Rays are the first team to win a game when walking 14 or more in 10 or fewer innings in 13 years, when the Phillies walked 14 and beat the Giants 9-8 on April 26, 1993.

The Rays led 2-0 early, the Yankees tied it on Sheffield's 453rd career homer in the fifth and it stayed that way until the 10th.

Joey Gathright singled to open the 10th off Rivera (who had a career 1.15 ERA against the Rays), Nick Green worked a walk, then Carl Crawford - who started the day at 6 a.m. in Houston, where he attended his grandmother's funeral - delivered the big hit, fighting off a classic Rivera cut fastball to tuck a double just inside the leftfield line. Gathright scored and Green went to third, then scored on Wigginton's sacrifice fly.

"We just kept battling the whole night," Crawford said. "Rivera's always going to be tough on us, and we know we have to keep battling."

The end was a battle, too, as Miceli walked Jorge Posada and Johnny Damon, then allowed a two-out single to Derek Jeter that loaded the bases.

With Sheffield, who is 6-for-12 against Miceli with three homers, next, manager Joe Maddon switched to Camp, and he got Sheffield to ground to third for the final out of the 3-hour, 56-minute game.

"He smoked it, but Wiggy was able to knock it down," Camp said.

Maddon was extremely pleased with their effort, including that of McClung, who allowed only three hits but walked a career-high seven for the second time in five starts and threw a staggering 114 pitches in five innings.

"I know we're missing parts, but the people that are here are coming to play everyday," Maddon said. "The work is good, really good. This is something nice to build off of, especially after getting beaten up pretty badly last night. ... I think it's a growth moment for our group."

[Last modified April 27, 2006, 02:50:55]