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Rays stay on beaten path

By MARC TOPKIN

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 10, 2001

TORONTO -- The Rays began the process of changing the faces Monday, getting rid of starting second baseman Bobby Smith and adding Rusty Meacham to the bullpen, but the overall look remained the same.

Sloppy. Lethargic. Detached.

And, of course, defeated.

The Rays lost 8-1 to Toronto, extending their losing streak to six and their worst-ever start to 1-6. That's also the worst record in the majors, and there is no debating the Rays have earned it.

Since beating Toronto on an opening night that seems weeks ago, the Rays have been outscored 50-15, outhit 68-41, outhomered 11-2. They have made 11 errors in the six games, accounting for 14 unearned runs.

"You've got to be concerned," manager Larry Rothschild said. "It's basically in every facet of the game. It can turn as quick as it starts, but you still have to be concerned about it. ... It's not one thing. You can't put your finger on one thing. If you could, you'd take care of it right now, but we can't."

Monday night was more of the same. Two Rays errors led to five unearned runs. Three Rays pitchers allowed 15 men on base. Twelve Rays baserunners managed just one run.

"It's unreal," leftfielder Steve Cox said. "It's like once again nothing's clicking as a team. Nothing's going the way it should. We need to do something fast."

In contrast the Jays, who have the best record in the American League, rewarded their home-opening crowd of 48,115, their largest since July 1998: a crisply played game, including three double plays; a couple of highlight-show catches; a quality start by pitcher Joey Hamilton; and opportunistic offense.

Good thing, since the new owners had designated the game a "Guaranteed Win Night," meaning free tickets to another game for all fans had the Jays lost.

The Rays entered the game leading the majors with nine errors and promptly added to their total. Gerald Williams made a good run for leadoff hitter Shannon Stewart's fly to deep centerfield, but the ball bounced off his glove as he appeared to sneak a glance at the wall.

Stewart got to second on the error, advanced to third on a ground out and scored on a sacrifice fly by Carlos Delgado.

Rays starter Paul Wilson got two quick outs in the second inning, then created problems of his own that led to another Toronto run. He gave up a single to Jose Cruz, hit No. 9 hitter Ryan Freel and allowed a run-scoring single to Stewart.

It is too early in the season to be thinking this way, but the Rays could at least find some good in the way Wilson pitched during part of the game.

After giving up Stewart's single and getting a visit on the mound from Rothschild, Wilson retired 10 straight, with only one ball leaving the infield. His teammates, meanwhile, pulled within 2-1 when Williams led off the sixth with a double to center and scored on a single by Cox, the team's top hitter.

Wilson's streak came to a crashing end, however, when Raul Mondesi hit the first pitch of the sixth over the left-centerfield wall, and any hopes the Rays had for victory soon went with it. By the time the inning was over, the Jays had five more runs (four unearned) and Wilson was replaced by Meacham.

The big play was a one-out error by third baseman Vinny Castilla on a somewhat routine grounder by Brad Fullmer. Wilson struck out Tony Batista but in succession gave up a run-scoring double to Darrin Fletcher, a walk to Cruz and a two-run double to Freel.

One thing that came out of the game is the potential for some hostilities between the teams. There were some hints of that last week when Rays reliever Ken Hill accused Batista of using a corked bat. Jays manager Buck Martinez said such a charge was an insult.

It continued Monday when Meacham hit Delgado, the Jays' main attraction, in the backside with a pitch in the seventh. Paul Quantrill responded by throwing the first pitch of the eighth behind Cox.

Rothschild argued vehemently with home plate umpire that Quantrill did so on purpose, but there was no action taken.

"There was no question about it," Rothschild said. "C'mon."

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