Rupe gives parents quite the present

By JOHN ROMANO

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 23, 2000

NEW YORK -- The proper gift for a 25th wedding anniversary is silver. For the 50th is gold. For the 32nd? How about a first-ever trip to New York and a victory celebration at Yankee Stadium?

For his parents' anniversary, Ryan Rupe flew them here from Texas this weekend. Then the right-hander went out and threw six strong innings to beat David Cone and the Yankees 12-4.

It gave Rupe back-to-back victories after a six-game losing streak.

"I made the pitches when I needed to and the defense played great behind me," Rupe said. "It was mostly (catcher John Flaherty) calling the game. He's got the experience and he guided me through."

Devil Rays manager Larry Rothschild suggested Rupe's last outing against Atlanta was a turning point for a young pitcher who had been struggling all season.

"To me it just looked like he finally breathed a sigh of relief, and it probably happened the last game," Rothschild said. "That's something that's not unusual for a young pitcher. The biggest thing is that he learns from it."

TEMPER, TEMPER: At a key point in the seventh, reliever Mark Guthrie struck out Bernie Williams. Then he ticked him off.

Williams complained to the umpire on a couple of the strike calls during the at-bat and Guthrie said something as they were leaving the field. Williams took exception and began shouting and moving toward Guthrie before umpire Terry Craft held him back.

Guthrie said he was shouting something to the umpire and Williams must have misunderstood.

"I'm sorry it happened," Guthrie said. "It was nothing I enjoyed doing."

Yankees manager Joe Torre suggested that, in the future, Guthrie should head to the dugout and keep quiet.

"That's not worth me commenting on, now is it?" Guthrie said.

CLOSE CALL: Outfielder Jose Guillen tweaked the hamstrings in both legs while running the bases and was taken out of the game. Guillen, who went in as a defensive replacement and made a fine running catch in right, said he did not have time to stretch his legs earlier. After drawing a walk and hitting a single in a seven-run eighth, he felt the hamstring muscles tighten.

"That's when you can really hurt yourself, so I said, "No, I got to get out of here,' " Guillen said. "That's the right thing to do."

Guillen said he expects to be fine today.

OUT OF CONTROL: He has given up fewer walks than Steve Trachsel or Albie Lopez, yet it is Esteban Yan's control that continues to cause him grief. It is not that he is throwing too many balls, rather he is throwing too many strikes in places where batters can hit them.

"It's the control within the strike zone," Rothschild said. "There's no consistency there."

Yan, 26, is getting too many pitches high in the strike zone because he is rushing through his windup. The Rays have worked with his delivery to keep pitches down, but say it is difficult for Yan to master from the stretch. Yan lost his seventh game on Friday.

STILL MENDING: Vinny Castilla was out of the lineup for the second day in a row with a bruised right hand. He's expected to miss today's game.

FOR U.S. OR FOR US?: Durham third baseman Aubrey Huff is a candidate for the U.S. Olympic team, which could force the Rays to let him go to Australia or bring him up to the big-league club in September.

Huff, hitting .306 with 17 home runs and 64 RBI, is in only his third year of pro ball after being drafted in the fifth round out of the University of Miami in 1998. If the Rays believe Huff can make the big-league team out of spring training next year, they probably will bring him to Tampa Bay in September to get some experience in the majors.

HERE AND THERE: The Aug. 2 game against the Indians at Tropicana Field has been moved from a 7:15 p.m. start to 7:05 p.m. It is the ESPN backup game and will be shown in the Chicago and Texas markets. . . . First-round draft pick Rocco Baldelli is starting to get hot for Princeton. Baldelli is 5-for-8 with three RBI in his past two games, improving his average from .222 to .268.

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.

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