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A win with a message

Vinny Castilla is pulled after poor at-bat in Tampa Bay's much-needed 4-3 win over O's.

By MARC TOPKIN

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 9, 2001

ST. PETERSBURG -- Tuesday's Rays game featured good-enough starting pitching from Tanyon Sturtze, excellent relief work by Rusty Meacham and two others, and several timely hits, including a winning home run by Fred McGriff in the eighth.

Tampa Bay's 4-3 victory over Baltimore also came with a message.

In what will be an ongoing -- and perhaps accelerated -- process, manager Hal McRae made it clear he expects the Rays to play the game properly and, perhaps more important, that there will be consequences if they don't.

In other words, after three weeks on the job, he has seen enough.

After watching a poor at-bat by Vinny Castilla in a key situation, McRae pulled the veteran third baseman from the game, and he plans to keep him on the bench tonight.

McRae held a closed-door meeting with Castilla after the game, then made a point to not say anything negative about him or even specify why he was removed from the game.

"Out of respect for my players, I don't want to give a reason," McRae said. "I think it's my job to get my point across and protect them in the process, so I'm going to leave it at that. I think we're on the same page.'

[Times photo: Michael Rondou] Gerald Williams, left, and Wade Boggs greet Fred McGriff at the dugout after McGriff's 8th inning home run gives the Rays a 4-3 lead.

Given McRae's emphasis on unselfish play, it seemed obvious. With the score tied at 3 in the sixth and McGriff on second after a leadoff double, Castilla swung at the first pitch and grounded to shortstop rather than make an attempt to advance the runner by hitting the ball to the right side.

Castilla, already benched once this season for poor play, was surprised and upset.

"It's ridiculous. I can't understand that," Castilla said. "I'm frustrated. It feels like I'm under a microscope everything I do. He said I didn't move the runner over and there was a lack of effort, so he took me out of the game. That's ridiculous. I've never seen a decision like that."

When Castilla was benched earlier this season and Aubrey Huff installed as the starter, Castilla asked the Rays to trade or release him. He ended up back in the lineup when McRae replaced Larry Rothschild five days later.

How long this benching lasts -- and how the situation gets resolved -- remains to be seen.

The victory was important for the Rays, not just because it snapped a three-game losing streak and was their first at home since April 25, but because it was the kind of game the Rays are supposed to win, one against an equally mediocre opponent.

In 15 games against American League heavyweights Boston, Toronto and Cleveland, the Rays are 2-13. Perhaps more concerning is that in 17 games against the struggling Tigers, Royals and Orioles, they are 8-9.

"The schedule is giving the second-division clubs the opportunity to get off to a decent start," McRae said. "We'd like to gain some momentum. That's the thing we haven't been able to do, play good for 7-10 days and win more than our share of ballgames to gain some momentum."

The players would like to think Tuesday's win could get things going. "This is something that could build momentum for us," Meacham said.

They jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first against Jose Mercedes, with Greg Vaughn and Jose Guillen getting the key hits.

But the Orioles chipped away against Sturtze, who made his first start after six weeks in the bullpen. Sturtze, who pitched well over five innings, allowed single runs in the second and fourth, then saw victory slip through his fingers -- well, off his glove, anyway -- in the fifth when Mike Bordick's grounder squirted by, allowing Brady Anderson to score the tying run.

"I couldn't believe I missed it," Sturtze said.

Doug Creek got the first two outs of the sixth. Meacham got the next seven in impressive fashion, and Esteban Yan roared through the ninth, the slowest of his nine pitches clocked at 95 mph.

"Our relievers," McRae said, "did a great job."

Mercedes had settled into a groove, allowing one runner as far as second over six-plus innings. But with two outs in the eighth, he left a 2-and-1 fastball over the plate, and McGriff knocked it over the leftfield fence.

"We've got to win ballgames," McGriff said. "We got off to a bad start, and now we're in for a fight. We'll try to keep it going."

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