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Bullpen spoils it for Rupe, Rays

Starter's strong outing is wasted in 8-2 loss to Boston, Tampa Bay's fifth straight.

By JOHN ROMANO

© St. Petersburg Times,
published June 21, 2001

ST. PETERSBURG -- This is the worst part about being a reliever. This is what hurts the most when the lights go out.

It is not the loss. Heaven knows, there will be enough of those throughout the season. It is not the obscene statistics. Even a rookie knows those things have a way of eventually evening out.

What truly pains Travis Phelps this morning is knowing he played a part in ruining what had been a superb performance by Ryan Rupe on Wednesday night.

Entering a tie game with two runners on in the eighth, Phelps gave up a sacrifice fly, a walk, two singles and a home run. Rupe was charged with the loss in Boston's 8-2 victory, but Phelps claimed the responsibility.

"I feel worse for Rupe than I do for myself," Phelps said. "You don't give up the other guy's runs. That hurts. Especially when Rupe pitched the way he did tonight. He was outstanding.

"To give it up the way I did tonight, it eats you up inside."

And so the Rays remain perfect against the Red Sox. Perfectly awful.

Eight games in 2001 and eight losses. Just to accentuate the negative, Boston has outscored Tampa Bay 60-16.

It did not have to be that way Wednesday night. Rupe pitched well enough to win. Fred McGriff hit a two-run homer to put the Rays in position to win.

But -- and this is a familiar theme -- the Rays hurt themselves too much.

Rupe, riding his best streak of pitching since his rookie season in 1999, was furious with himself despite a glowing review from manager Hal McRae.

The normally unflappable Rupe clearly was agitated in the dugout after he was taken out in the eighth, and he remained that way in the clubhouse 30 minutes later. The subject of his ire was his own lack of control.

Rupe walked three batters in seven-plus innings, and all three scored.

"To have it in your grasp and make some bad pitches? That hurts," Rupe said. "I got some key outs, but the walks killed me."

Rupe was particularly impressive against the heart of the Boston order. He faced Carl Everett and Manny Ramirez six times and recorded six strikeouts.

Sent to Triple A after a string of horrible outings in early May, Rupe has gone 2-1 with a 4.03 ERA since rejoining the rotation May 28.

"Rupe pitched a heck of a game," McRae said. "He took us into the eighth and gave us an opportunity to win the game. He was brilliant. We let it get away."

The Rays also contributed further to McRae's greatest pet peeve. After three wild pitches Tuesday night led directly to two runs in a 5-4 loss, a wild pitch by Rupe in the fourth set up Boston's first run Wednesday.

"Sometimes you have to look at it and say, 'This is what we did. This is why we lost,' " McRae said of the wild pitches before Wednesday's game. "You can't bury your head in the sand."

So which is the fluke?

The sustained brilliance displayed by the Rays when they humiliated the first-place Phillies in a three-game sweep last week?

Or the other 67 games this season, in which the Rays have won 18?

You decide.

Not only have the Rays negated the minor statistical gains made last week, they have obliterated the feel-good memories of the Phillies sweep by losing the next five games.

"We can't stop to feel sorry for ourselves," McRae said. "We have to play through this thing."

After showing signs of an offensive resurgence, the Rays have suddenly taken some major steps backward.

During its losing streak, Tampa Bay has been shut out in 39 of 45 innings. The Rays are averaging, essentially, one rally a game.

Wednesday, that rally was provided by McGriff.

After 15 years of waiting, McGriff finally went deep against veteran David Cone. Although they have played much of their careers in opposite leagues, McGriff had 27 career at-bats against Cone. And very little to show for it.

He was 4-for-27 without any home runs when he drilled a 3-and-2 pitch in the sixth for a two-run homer. The shot came within a dozen feet of hitting the stadium facade in rightfield and was measured at 427 feet.

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