IT'S HORRID

Joe Maddon aptly describes a ninth-inning meltdown by the Rays as the pen ruins Sonnanstine's promising debut.

By EDUARDO A. ENCINA
Published June 6, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [AP photo] Rays' Andy Sonnanstine makes his major league debut against the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday.

TORONTO - Joe Maddon made the decision long before gametime. Having used Al Reyes three straight days, there was no way he was making the Rays closer available to pitch against the Blue Jays on Tuesday night at Rogers Centre.

The Rays manager wasn't going to bend, even as a seemingly safe win disintegrated before his eyes. He tried his best to tinker with his bullpen without his best reliever.

And needing just three outs to preserve a five-run lead and a win for Andy Sonnanstine in his major-league debut, the task didn't seem overwhelming.

Instead it was just flat-out humiliating, as the Blue Jays scored six in the ninth to win 12-11, the winner coming on a bases-loaded walk by Tim Corcoran to Aaron Hill.

No blame could be placed on the Rays offense, which rapped out a season-high 17 hits and had seven starters with multiple hits. They battered one of the game's best pitchers, chasing Toronto ace Roy Halladay by the fourth inning.

"To give up a game like that with that kind of a commanding lead, that's just not good," Maddon said. "It's horrid. They're all well rested. There's no reason for any of them to not be effective tonight. It just shows the importance of the good bullpen, the importance of having a guy at the end of the game who knows how to do that stuff."

Maddon used four relievers in the ninth with little success - all after the bullpen seemed to be working out of a season-long funk. Rays relievers issued five walks - two intentional - and gave up four hits, three for extra bases, in the inning.

"It's not a positive by any means," said Corcoran, who intentionally walked two batters to load the bases before facing Hill. "It's a flat-out negative. You've got that many runs, you should win the game 100 percent of the time."

After Rays reliever Gary Glover retired the side in the eighth, Toronto sent 10 batters to the plate in the ninth, beginning with a leadoff walk to Hill by Chad Orvella. Orvella then allowed back-to-back doubles to Adam Lind and Jason Phillips.

Shawn Camp walked Howie Clark. After Clark was forced at second on an Alex Rios grounder to second, Vernon Wells doubled to left-center to score two.

Casey Fossum then yielded a Matt Stairs double to left-center to score Wells, tying it and leaving the game in the hands of Corcoran.

Corcoran intentionally walked Frank Thomas, and a passed ball moved the runners up a base and left first open to Troy Glaus for another intentional walk. Hill then worked the count to 3-and-1 before taking a pitch in the dirt for ball four.

"I've been through it," Rays outfielder Carl Crawford said. "As you can see, I don't look surprised. ... We were definitely thinking we could win it, but in the back of your mind and you've gone through this for six years, naturally you think it's going to happen again."

The Rays pounded Halladay for eight runs - seven earned - on 12 hits over 3 1/3 innings. B.J. Upton and Crawford hit back-to-back homers in a four-run fourth and each ended up just a triple short of hitting for the cycle.

In a four-run third inning, Tampa Bay rattled off four straight one-out hits off Halladay, beginning with a double by Upton to right-centerfield.

Sonnanstine showed flashes of domination early. Ten of his first 11 pitches were strikes and he had four strikeouts through the first three innings. He allowed six runs - three on Lind's homer in the fourth inning - on eight hits over seven, giving the Rays their third straight start of at least seven innings.

But it was far from enough. The Rays clubhouse was silent after the game, some players' eyes fixed on the TVs in the clubhouse, watching the collapse unfold as if they couldn't believe it themselves.

"I don't know what to say about a game like tonight," Crawford said. "You're just speechless afterward.

"I'm not going to say it's about Reyes not being available. We've got to depend on the other guys, too."

[Last modified June 6, 2007, 01:28:33]