Tempers flare in ugly loss

Three hit batters, Rothschild's bumping of umpire mar Braves' 8-2 rout of Rays.

By MARC TOPKIN

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 19, 2000

ST. PETERSBURG -- With Jose Canseco rejoining the lineup for the first time since late May, it was just like old times at Tropicana Field on Tuesday.

The "Hit Show" fizzled. The starting pitching stunk. And the Devil Rays lost 8-2 to Atlanta.

The most excitement, at least for the Devil Rays fans among the announced 31,354, came in the ninth inning when Atlanta ace Greg Maddux hit Canseco with a pitch.

Canseco had words for Maddux. Maddux responded. And by the time the squabble was over, both benches had emptied, Rays shortstop Felix Martinez had accused Maddux of being "a dirty guy" and Tampa Bay manager Larry Rothschild faced a possible suspension for making contact with umpire Laz Diaz after being ejected.

"(Maddux) hit Canseco on purpose, and he stayed in the game," Rothschild said. "I think it's clear, according to the rules, that if you hit somebody on purpose, you are supposed to be out of the game. The umpire told me he was just throwing inside, and I have a hard time believing that."

The game was over early, the Braves building an 8-1 lead in the fifth off starter Bryan Rekar. But the drama was just beginning. Rekar hit two Braves in the second, but this storyline seemed to unfold when Maddux, apparently annoyed at how long Martinez was taking to get in the batter's box, hit the Rays shortstop on the back in the fifth. "I don't know why he hit me," Martinez said. "I think the guy's a dirty guy."

Tampa Bay reliever Tanyon Sturtze, who pitched four hitless innings, responded by hitting Braves shortstop Walt Weiss in the eighth, and according to usual baseball protocol, that should have been the end of it.

But Maddux, one of the game's best control pitchers, plunked Canseco on the back of the thigh to open the ninth. Maddux said the ball slipped -- "I was just trying to come in, and it got away," he said -- but the Rays were convinced it was intentional.

"It doesn't take the brains of Einstein to figure it out," Canseco said. "I was completely startled, to tell you the truth. I just said, 'Don't do it again,' and he just kind looked at me and kind of apologized to me. If he did hit me on purpose -- which he probably did -- it wasn't a call on his part. It was called for by the manager for sure."

Players spilled onto the field, but no punches were thrown. Rothschild waited for things to become calm, then got worked up, incensed that Maddux had not been ejected.

Rothschild, who had to be restrained by his players and coaches, clearly made contact with Diaz, spinning the umpire around with his left hand. "It was not incidental," Diaz said. "He was on my side. But he did bump me."

Major League Baseball officials likely will review videotape of the incident and mete out punishment within a few days. "I can't control that," Rothschild said. "I'll take it as it comes."

The Rays were excited to get back Canseco, who missed 46 games with a left heel injury, but they didn't do much to celebrate his return. It was the first time since May 24 the Rays fielded a lineup with primary sluggers Greg Vaughn, Fred McGriff, Canseco, and Vinny Castilla, but the big four were a combined 2-for-13.

Rekar had been the Rays' best starter for the past month and a half, but he was off his game against an opponent that doesn't allow much margin for error. "You need your pitcher to keep you in the game," McGriff said.

Rekar gave up a two-run homer to Chipper Jones in the first, but his biggest problems were two-out mistakes. He was one strike from getting out of the second when he hit No. 8 hitter Weiss and Fernando Lunar, loaded the bases on an infield chopper and gave up a two-run single to Andruw Jones. Then he had two out and two on in the fifth and allowed three straight hits that led to four Atlanta runs and an 8-1 lead.

"I had them a pitch or two away in each of those innings and just left the ball too much over the plate," Rekar said.

The Rays had basically one chance to get Maddux. Down 2-0 in the first, they quickly mounted a counter-attack, with Gerald Williams on third and Steve Cox on second with no outs.

But they netted just one run, on McGriff's sacrifice fly, and by the time they threatened again, they were down by seven. "You know he's not going to give up too many," Vaughn said of Maddux, "so you have to take advantage of all your opportunities."

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.

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