Rays/MLB

Two keys to Rays' future deliver now

B.J. Upton uses his bat and baserunning to help Seth McClung get a win in a stellar return to the majors.

By MARC TOPKIN
Published August 4, 2006

	[Times photos: Dirk Shadd]
	B.J. Upton distracts shortstop Carlos Guillen, left, and second baseman Placido Polanco by forcing a rundown after driving in the tying run with a single in the seventh, allowing Josh Paul to score the go-ahead run. Upton reached second safely.
	Seth McClung gets the final out of the seventh inning in his return to the Rays. McClung, back after converting to the bullpen upon his demotion to Triple-A Durham, got four straight outs, striking out two, to earn the win.
	Jonny Gomes, left, high-fives Josh Paul after Paul slide home with the go-ahead run on B.J. Upton's seventh-inning single.

Rays 2, Tigers 1

ST. PETERSBURG - B.J. Upton relied on his speed and athleticism to stage some evasive action on the basepaths in the seventh inning Thursday that led to the winning run in the Devil Rays' 2-1 victory over the Tigers.

He wasn't nearly as nimble a few minutes after the game.

As Upton stood in front of his locker, softly and humbly recounting the specifics of his line-drive single off Joel Zumaya that knocked in the tying run and his nifty maneuvering to stay in a rundown long enough for Josh Paul to score the winner, Tomas Perez snuck through the circle of reporters and shoved a towel full of shaving cream into Upton's face.

The prank has becoming something of a Rays custom when there is a star of that night's game, and Upton was certainly deserving.

He wasn't the only one, though, as the Rays (45-64), despite playing without Rocco Baldelli (potentially concerning hamstring soreness) and Carl Crawford (day off), earned a split of the four-game series with the Tigers, whose 72-36 record is still by far the best in baseball.

"We've played well against them all year," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "The effort was great."

Jae Seo, in his best outing as a Ray, pitched impressively into the seventh, though of some concern, he left with tightness in his left groin. And Brian Meadows waded through a five-batter ninth to get his seventh save.

But the most interesting contribution may have come from Seth McClung, who was rebuilt from struggling starter to successful reliever during a six-week stint at Triple-A Durham and looked the part Thursday.

McClung got the final out of the seventh, then breezed through a 1-2-3 eighth, striking out two, to earn the victory on his first night back.

"He looks different," Paul said. "He has a different air about him right now. He was in control, in control of himself. He looked great."

McClung walked into the clubhouse Thursday afternoon wearing dark sunglasses, symbolic perhaps given the spotlight he is about to step into. After breaking him in in the seventh and eighth innings, Maddon plans to put McClung in the closer's role and see, as the Rays try to plan for the future, how he handles it.

McClung said the key to his success at Durham - a 2.20 ERA in 14 games, a strikeout-walk ratio of 26-2 and five saves in five chances - was throwing strikes, and he hoped a similar approach leads to similar results in the majors.

After feeling a little "flat" in the seventh, he said he was more comfortable in the eighth, and though it was hard to tell, he was pleased with his performance,

"I'm just really trying not to get too excited," McClung said. "Just go in there and try to throw strikes. "

Seo's only mistake was a fifth-inning homer by Craig Monroe, leaving the Rays down 1-0. But Jonny Gomes, with his fifth hit since the All-Star break, doubled to start the seventh, Paul walked and Perez bunted them up a base.

Upton took a ball from Zumaya and squarely lined the next pitch, a 98 mph fastball, up the middle. Gomes scored, and as the throw from the outfield sailed toward the plate, Upton made a mistake and made a big turn for second. The Tigers had it played right to get him in a rundown, but he stopped and started enough that Paul made a well-timed break for the plate and slid home with the go-ahead run.

"Once I rounded (first) and turned around and saw the second baseman sneak in behind me I knew I was going to be in a rundown," Upton said. "So my main goal at that point was to stay in it as long as I could."

He didn't have such luck against Perez.

[Last modified August 4, 2006, 01:24:49]