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The old Rays reemerge, they hope not for long

Brutal defense, flaccid bats undermine Albie Lopez and lead to a 10-0 loss to the Mets, ending hopes of a series sweep.

By MARC TOPKIN

© St. Petersburg Times,
published June 11, 2001

ST. PETERSBURG -- The brooms scattered throughout Tropicana Field on Sunday were quickly rendered useless -- except to clean up after the Mets fans who seemed to make themselves right at home.

The Rays lost 10-0, and played badly in doing so, before 19,994, dousing any thoughts of their first three-game winning streak or series sweep of the sorry season. But having just played what may have been their best four-game stretch, winning two straight and three of four, the Rays left the Trop hoping Sunday's litany of misplays, miscues and mistakes was a one-day bug and not symptomatic of a return to their earlier woes.

[AP photo] A frustrated Albie Lopez, right, chats with John Flaherty in the second inning Sunday, when the Mets scored three unearned runs.

"I'm sure this won't affect anything," manager Hal McRae said. "We know that we've played well and we're starting to get some positive results. This is just a game that we lost and we didn't play well. It doesn't mean anything other than that.

"We beat a team we were supposed to beat, and we won the series. Two out of three ain't bad."

The Rays started the day looking to make it 3-for-3, which would have left the Pirates as the only big-league team without even that limited measure of success.

They were hoping starter Albie Lopez, who showed some signs of returning somewhat closer to his early-season form in his last start, would take them there.

But there was only so much he could do.

Shortstop Andy Sheets fumbled a toss on what should have been a double play in the second inning, and his error led to three unearned runs.

Centerfielder Gerald Williams misplayed a Mark Johnson line-drive single in the third, and his error led to another unearned run on Joe McEwing's squeeze bunt.

Rightfielder Jason Tyner dropped a line drive after a long run in the sixth, and his error led to two more runs.

"When you give an opponent more than 27 (outs), bad things happen," McRae said. "When you're on defense when you should be on offense, bad things happen. The first runs they scored, we should have been hitting, but they were hitting."

Lopez, whose career-worst seven-game losing streak has dragged him from 3-1 with a league-leading 1.66 ERA to 3-8, 5.60, said he felt pretty good about the way he pitched, save for the two-run homer he allowed to Johnson in the fifth. The lingering pain from groin and thumb injuries has dissipated, and Lopez's ability to get the ball where he wants it seems to have resurfaced.

"The last two times out, I felt like I've done what I've had to do; it's just the results weren't what I want," Lopez said. "I feel like I'm hitting my spots. I just think it'll turn. It's got to turn."

Lopez's biggest problem Sunday wasn't necessarily the pitches he threw, but how many he had to throw: 124 in 51/3 innings.

"It would have been great for Albie to go out there and follow what the other starting pitchers have done, but we made some plays early in the game -- or didn't make some plays early in the game -- that kind of made him work extremely hard," catcher John Flaherty said. "He needs one of those games where you can put it on cruise control and gain some confidence again. Unfortunately, today wasn't one of those days."

Offensively, the Rays didn't do much of anything against Mets starter Kevin Appier, who came into the game with unimpressive numbers (3-5, 4.58 ERA) but dazzled the Rays with a late-breaking slider, allowing four singles over seven innings while striking out nine.

Between Appier, the defensive wizardry of Mets shortstop Rey Ordonez and an interference call on Williams that short-circuited the Rays' bid for a rally in the third, no one in a Rays jersey came close to scoring until some children crossed home during the post-game run-the-bases event. It was the American League-leading sixth time the Rays have been shut out, the fourth time in 31 home games.

After today's off day, the Rays continue interleague play with three games against the NL East-leading Phillies on Tuesday, expecting they can resume their improved play.

"Hopefully before a day off you play good baseball and keep the momentum going," Flaherty said. "It just didn't happen today."

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