Sports: Into the unknown: Rays show some O

Sunday, they got two doubles from Felix Martinez, who never had two extra-base hits in a game before. They got a two-run triple from John Flaherty, who hit only two others in his first 820 big-league games. And they got a seventh-inning game-winning grand slam from Greg Vaughn, who hadn't hit much of anything in the second half.

"I've been leaving so many guys on base it's crazy," Vaughn said. "I probably left half of St. Pete on since the All-Star break. It just felt good to get a hit."

By the conclusion of the 7-4 win over Texas, the Rays were all feeling pretty good.

The runs were two more than their total in the five previous games. The series win was their second of the season against an AL team. The 5-6 record since the break is one of their best extended stretches. The two-game winning streak is just the ninth time they have won consecutive games. The late-inning comeback was just the second time in 52 games they've won when trailing after six innings. The victory by Tanyon Sturtze was his fifth, tying Albie Lopez for the club lead.

The Rays leave tonight on a two-week road trip, with the possibility the makeup of the team may be significantly altered by the time it returns to Tropicana Field on Aug. 7. Whether or not the faces are changed, they'd like to think the formula for success will remain the same.

"Another good game for the good guys," manager Hal McRae said. "Tremendous ballgame. We pitched well, played well, made some good plays, got some key base hits.

"It's nice to win, we got a little momentum, we won another series; we haven't won that many. What I'm happiest about is the fact that we're playing well and we got some key base hits, some clutch base hits."

In their previous five games, the Rays scored five runs, batted .205 and went 3-for-32 with runners in scoring position. Combining their five runs with the 13 by their opponents, it was the lowest-scoring five-game stretch in the AL in more than four years.

"Today was big for us to take some pressure off our offense," Flaherty said. "We got a couple two-out hits to drive in some runs and that's what we haven't been doing."

Down 1-0 right away, the Rays went ahead 2-1 in the fourth. Randy Winn, on an 8-for-16 tear, doubled with two outs and Aubrey Huff, snapping an 0-for-10 skid, reached on an infield single.

Flaherty then lined a ball to right that skipped past a diving Randy Velarde, who was playing the outfield for the first time since 1995, and bounced into the corner.

"A lot of things have to work together for me to get a triple," Flaherty said. "Having an infielder playing the outfield didn't hurt."

Sturtze, battling without good control, allowed a leadoff double to Mike Young in the fifth that led to the tying run, then home runs to the Rodriguezes, Ivan in the sixth and Alex in the seventh.

Martinez started the Tampa Bay comeback with a two-out double to left-center, and Jason Tyner followed with a walk that ended starter Rob Bell's day.

The Rangers brought in lefty reliever Juan Moreno, but McRae stuck with struggling Ben Grieve, who has a .229 average and 30 strikeouts in 70 at-bats against lefties.

"I grabbed his bat and I said, 'Ben, I'm going to rub a hit into your bat, and there's nothing you can do to screw it up. It's baked in the cake,' " McRae said. "He played against a left-hander (Saturday), so I couldn't pinch-hit for him."

Grieve patiently worked the count full and drew a walk, loading the bases. The Rangers switched next to Pat Mahomes and Vaughn, who had knocked in one run since July 6, was waiting. He drove a 1-and-1 pitch over the right-centerfield fence, his first home run in 13 games.

"I thought it was awesome," said Sturtze, who was out of the game, to be replaced by Esteban Yan. "I was the happiest guy in the clubhouse."

"At this time, anything feels great," Vaughn said. "It's just a situation where I was happy to help. As a team we've been battling, and I've had chances since the break but I really haven't done what they pay me to do. It's no one's fault but my mine, and hopefully this gets me turned around."

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