An odd game, sure, but the win counts

An almost-rain delay and Fred McGriff's two homers are among the elements as Rays win 8-3.

By MARC TOPKIN

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 8, 2000

MIAMI -- Things were not exactly as they appeared Friday night.

There was a 33-minute pregame delay for rain that never fell. There was a career-high 11-strikeout performance by Florida starter Ryan Dempster that didn't matter. There was a boxscore line that didn't come close to reflecting how much it meant to have Greg Vaughn back in the lineup.

And in the end, there was an 8-3 Tampa Bay victory that the Rays said could turn out to be the start of something.

"It was," Vaughn said, "a good day."

The Rays took an early lead with a pair of homers by Fred McGriff, whose All-Star appointment has drawn criticism, including a landslide "victory" in a CNNSI.com poll asking what All-Star was least deserving. The Marlins struck back against Albie Lopez to take a 3-2 lead in the fifth, but the Rays rallied for three in the sixth to put the game away before an announced crowd of 13,007.

Plenty of offense was produced throughout the lineup, with the homers by McGriff, a double and a triple from Bubba Trammell, and run-scoring singles by Vinny Castilla and Felix Martinez.

But Vaughn, playing for the first time since a hamstring injury forced him to the disabled list in mid June, had the most impact.

"It was good to see him back," Lopez said. "It was huge to see him in the lineup and to have his presence there. Any time you have Greg in the lineup, you know you're going to score some runs."

After a groundout and a strikeout in his first two at-bats, Vaughn doubled to start the key sixth-inning rally. He later scored, delivered a two-out single to spark a seventh-inning uprising and advanced a runner with a ninth-inning groundout to set up another run.

"That's what he's going to do," manager Larry Rothschild said. "He comes up with big plays."

"It felt good," Vaughn said. "You couldn't tell the first two at-bats, but after that, it felt great."

Lopez pitched well for his first win in 21/2 weeks, and Rick White and Jim Mecir followed with their now-standard stellar performances.

Lopez's right calf began to tighten after he was struck by a ball in the fourth, and he had to leave in the sixth, having allowed four hits.

"I would liked to have seen him if he didn't get hit tonight because he was on his game pretty good," Rothschild said.

McGriff did his part to get the Rays going with two homers to virtually the same spot in right-centerfield, and he may have quieted critics in the process.

More than 10,000 fans responded to the CNNSI.com question asking which player "is least deserving of an All-Star spot."

McGriff was the runaway winner, with 5,157 votes, nearly 40 percent of the total. Houston's Shane Reynolds was second with 2,695 (20 percent), with Milwaukee's Bob Wickman third at 2,602 and Dempster fourth at 1,007.

"I'm not thinking about stuff like that; I'm trying to win some ballgames," McGriff said. "First base is a tough position, and the competition is always fierce. I've had years when I've had good numbers (and didn't get selected for the game). It's a tough spot."

McGriff had the 35th two-homer game of his career and his third of the season, and moved into a tie for 30th place all time with Duke Snider at 407 homers.

"He got us going against a good pitcher and took him out of the cruise-control, settling-in type of game he can have," Rothschild said.

The game turned in the Rays' favor in the sixth. Vaughn one-hopped the left-centerfield wall for a one-out double. With two outs, Trammell drove a ball into the right-centerfield gap for a triple. After hitting one triple in his first 745 major-league at-bats, Trammell has two in 16.

"Playing in bigger ballparks gives me more time to get there," Trammell said.

Castilla, 2-for-14 to that point since coming off the disabled list, followed with a run-scoring single, his first RBI since June 13. John Flaherty singled to extend the inning, and Martinez added one to expand the lead to 5-3.

The victory was the Rays' sixth against National League competition, more than in either of their two previous seasons.

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.

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