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Rays let Rupe down

A stellar outing in return from minors is wasted in a 3-1 loss to the Angels.

By JOHN ROMANO

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 29, 2001

ST. PETERSBURG -- It was a strong pitch. High and hard, thrown with purpose. Probably the best one Rusty Meacham threw all day.

Unfortunately, it came in the clubhouse, a half-hour after another Devil Rays loss. With players packing their bags for the charter flight to Oakland, the Rays reliever angrily hurled his duffel bag halfway across the room.

In a span of five batters in the seventh inning, Meacham managed to undo all the good Ryan Rupe had accomplished Monday. Meacham turned a tie game into a 3-1 loss to the Angels in front of an announced 11,127.

"As you can see, I'm p----d off," Meacham said. "It's a loss. I hate to lose. I'm upset because I didn't do my job today. I come in with nobody on and one out and they score two runs. That can't happen."

And so the losing continues. It matters not that the Rays played 10 straight games at home. It matters not that they played 13 straight games against teams with losing records. Tampa Bay was 3-7 on the homestand and 3-10 in a stretch against lightweights Kansas City, Detroit, Texas and Anaheim.

The Rays begin a nine-game road trip today against a much more formidable set of opponents in Oakland, Seattle and Toronto.

"It's been tough for us here," manager Hal McRae said. "I don't think we can look at a road trip as being any tougher."

The Rays could at least take one positive out of Monday's game. Rupe's return to the big leagues, and to the Rays rotation, was about as good as could be expected.

The right-hander threw six innings of shutout ball before surrendering a leadoff home run to Troy Glaus in the seventh.

It was a complete departure from the last time Rupe was seen at Tropicana Field. He had lost his place in the rotation one month into the season and then lost his roster spot after two horrific relief appearances.

Sent to Triple-A Durham, Rupe rediscovered his changeup while working with Durham pitching coach Joe Coleman and minor-league pitching coordinator Chuck Hernandez. Rupe said Hernandez watched tapes of Rupe's strong rookie season in 1999 and suggested he needed to drop the angle of his arm in his delivery.

"I went down there and, fortunately, Chuck was in Durham at the time and he and Joe came up with a plan to get my hand extended away from my head as much as I could," Rupe said. "I went out and threw once on the sideline and there was my changeup. So maybe it was a blessing in disguise."

It had been nine days since Rupe's last appearance at Durham, and it was only his third start since May 3, so McRae said before the game that Rupe would be limited to about 90 pitches.

He had thrown 79 going into the Glaus at-bat, and McRae said the seventh would have been Rupe's last inning regardless of the outcome.

"He was not going to be allowed to screw up a good performance," McRae said. "I told him that when I went to get him."

After Glaus hit the home run off a catwalk in leftfield, McRae allowed Rupe to get one more out so he could take him out on a positive note.

"He found his changeup and his control was great. He was getting all three of his pitches over," pitching coach Bill Fischer said. "It's a crime we couldn't get a win for him because you can't pitch any better than that."

Tampa Bay hitters did not do Rupe any favors. The Rays left 11 runners on base and blew repeated opportunities to build on their 1-0 lead. Six of the first 10 hitters reached base, but the Rays failed to score in the first two innings.

By the time Meacham came into the game, the Rays had no margin for error.

Meacham had been one of Tampa Bay's best set-up men in April, but he has struggled the past three weeks. Travis Phelps has replaced him as the No. 1 set-up man in the eighth inning.

"I've got to start getting better," Meacham said. "I'm in a rut right now. I've been there before. It happens every year. The real professional is the one who knows how to pick himself up when he's down. Everybody loves you when things are going well, but you still have to come out here every day when things aren't going your way."

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