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Rally in 8th ends starter's 7-game skid in Rays' 5-3 win over Phils.
By MARC TOPKIN
© St. Petersburg Times, published June 14, 2001
ST. PETERSBURG -- Bryan Rekar refused to give in to the zero.
As ugly as it looked in the win column next to his name, he didn't change his manner or his routine and only changed his shoes because the old ones wore out. He was going to keep doing what he was doing, and pitching the way he was pitching, figuring that somehow, some way, he'd get his first victory.
"The way things were going," Rekar said, "I figured it would come in a game when I was getting rocked around, a five-and-dive where we won 20-15 or something."
Instead, it came Wednesday in a game in which he pitched extremely well and the Rays rallied to beat the NL East-leading Phillies 5-3. Though it came in the relative obscurity of the smallest Tropicana Field crowd in Rays history, an announced 10,539 for a game that was not on local television.
Rekar celebrated the end of his seven-game losing streak with a hug from Albie Lopez and high-fives from the rest of his teammates, and the joy was palpable throughout the clubhouse.
The Rays, who had seven wins in May, have won five of seven, their most successful stretch of the season. Having lost 12 consecutive series, they now have won two straight. And, at 4-1, they have made this the most successful homestand of the season no matter what happens in today's matinee finale.
"Hopefully," Greg Vaughn said, "this is a feeling we can keep."
Rekar had pitched well enough to win several times on the way to becoming what manager Hal McRae called "the best 0-7 pitcher in the game." And he seemed headed for another hard-luck, minimal-run-support loss when the Phillies took a 3-2 lead in the eighth.
This time, his teammates pitched in. The Rays rallied for three runs off reliever Ricky Bottalico, who offered the succinct explanation as the free-falling Phillies lost for the eighth time in 10 games: "I pitched like crap."
Rookie Damian Rolls started the rally with an infield single, beating out a grounder between second and third. Newly anointed starting centerfielder Jason Tyner, who made a spectacular leaping catch in the second, battled Bottalico and got down a perfect two-strike bunt. Randy Winn then sent Rolls home with a sharp double to left, tying the score.
Then Vaughn, who has been sizzling since returning to leftfield, put the Rays ahead to stay, driving a 3-and-1 pitch into the leftfield seats. In 20 games in left, Vaughn is hitting .389 with nine homers and 25 RBI. In 44 games at DH, he hit .214 with eight homers and 21 RBI.
A second-inning double by Ben Grieve, which probably would have been a home run had it not hit a cable attached to the B-ring catwalk, and a fourth-inning home run by Fred McGriff, who is on a 31-for-75 tear, led to the first two Tampa Bay runs as the Rays continued to flex their muscles.
"The big guys are swinging well and hitting the ball out, and the little guys are getting on base," McRae said. "I like the way we're playing. We know we have to continue to play this way. It's fun to watch."
The entire game, played in a brisk 2 hours, 27 minutes, was enjoyable, with both teams making strong defensive plays and Rekar and Phillies starter Bruce Chen -- who had nine strikeouts, six on called third strikes -- throwing well.
Rekar allowed nine hits, but he struck out seven and didn't walk anybody, relying on a cut fastball that had late movement and a favorable reception from home plate umpire Bill Miller.
"Tonight worked out well," Rekar said. "I'm happy, but it's just one win. Now I have to do what I can to get another."
Rekar didn't say much, only that he tried not to think too much about his 0-7 record or what marks of futility he might match, such as the 14 consecutive losses to start a season by Oakland's Matt Keough (now a Rays scout) in 1979 or the 0-13 record posted by Minnesota's Terry Felton in 1982. He admitted he at times would find himself pressing.
"You wonder if you're ever going to win a game," pitching coach Bill Fischer said. "Then you get close and something happens, and it looked like the same thing tonight when they tied it up.
"Now he should have some weight off mentally and hopefully he can run off a streak of four or five."