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Wilson gets wild in loss

Right-hander hits three and walks six as Rays surrender 2-0 and 3-1 leads to Orioles and lose 9-5.

By KEVIN KELLY

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 11, 2001

ST. PETERSBURG -- When pitcher Ryan Rupe melted down in two straight relief appearances -- the most recent on Wednesday -- three fresh faces from Triple-A Durham quickly appeared in the clubhouse to replace him.

Paul Wilson won't experience the same fate, but Rays manager Hal McRae might be getting worried about his No. 2 starter.

The right-hander hit, walked and generally served up another erratic outing in the Rays' 9-5 loss to the Orioles before an announced 11,089 on Thursday at Tropicana Field.

Wilson was relieved in the seventh inning, after he hit three batters, walked six and gave up five runs. The Rays bullpen then gave up three more runs.

The Orioles have won eight of 13 against Tampa Bay this season. The teams don't play again until July 31.

The Rays scored two runs in the first inning off Baltimore starter Pat Hentgen, who pitched six innings. First baseman Fred McGriff doubled home Russ Johnson and Ben Grieve. Grieve finished with two doubles.

McGriff, who was 3-for-7 with one home run and three RBI in the first two games of the series, then gave the Rays a 3-1 lead in the third with a sacrifice fly to left that allowed Johnson to tag from third.

Despite being held hitless in the first three innings, the Orioles scored once in the second thanks to Wilson's control problems.

He walked the leadoff batter, got designated hitter Greg Myers to pop out and hit the next two batters to load the bases. Second baseman Jerry Hairston made Wilson pay with a sacrifice fly to left that scored Chris Richard.

Wilson's struggles continued in the fourth inning with a leadoff home run by Richard. He then gave up a double to Myers and walked Melvin Mora.

Catcher Fernando Lunar hit a two-run double to right that gave Baltimore a 4-3 lead. The Rays tied it when designated hitter Greg Vaughn scored on a sacrifice by catcher John Flaherty.

Wilson was pulled after walking leftfielder Delino DeShields and giving up a single to third baseman Jeff Conine to start the seventh. He threw 109 pitches -- 56 were balls.

Wilson has eight of the Rays' major-league leading 28 hit by pitches. The Rays have led the AL in that department in the team's first three seasons. No AL team has done it four years in a row. Jeff Wallace came in and got two outs before he was replaced by Rusty Meacham, who got the last out. DeShields scored from third on Wallace's second out to make it 5-4. The run was charged to Wilson.

The Rays tied the score in the bottom of the inning when Grieve doubled home Gerald Williams.

Meacham (1-2), who got his first win since 1996 on Tuesday, gave up two earned runs in the eighth that allowed Baltimore to take the lead for good.

Lunar reached on a single advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Hairston. Meacham fielded the ball and threw to McGriff, who dropped the ball.

Lunar scored on another sacrifice bunt, this time by Mike Bordick, to give the Orioles a 6-5 lead. Bordick then scored on a double by DeShields.

The Rays had a chance to tie or take the lead in the eighth inning. But with runners on first and second, Johnson struck out looking to end the inning.

Baltimore reliever B.J. Ryan (1-0) was credited with the win.

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