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Loss means no joy in Gomez's debut

By MARC TOPKIN

© St. Petersburg Times,
published July 26, 2001

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- In one way, Chris Gomez looked Tuesday night as if he'd fit right in with the Rays, stroking a ground-rule double and a three-run homer in the 9-6 loss to Anaheim that featured his Tampa Bay debut.

But in another, it may take him a while.

"It feels good to get off to a good start, but we lost, so you can't really enjoy it at all," Gomez said. "It's all about winning, and nothing's more fun than contributing to a win, and we didn't win. If you don't win, it's all for naught."

The Rays, as Gomez quickly will find out, don't win often. But they are looking for players who will help them do so in the future, and Gomez is going to get a chance to show if he can.

"We're going to play him and see what he brings to the table," manager Hal McRae said. "There's no need to be judgmental. If you want to know something about a player, play him."

One question will be how much range Gomez has, especially after three knee surgeries in the past two years. Another will be how much offense he produces, and how consistently he does so.

Since hitting a career-high .267 during San Diego's 1998 NL championship season, Gomez hit .252 in 1999, .222 in 2000 and .188 this season before being released June 22. He had one home run in the 149 games.

He hit four in his 23 games for Durham and one in his fourth at-bat Tuesday, his first since Sept. 14, 1999.

"I'm trying to be more aggressive," he said. "I've hit home runs in the past, mostly when I was in Detroit five, six years ago (8 in '94, 11 in '95). I got away from that. ... Just before I left San Diego I was talking with (Padres manager) Bruce Bochy and said, 'Go ahead and try to drive the ball a little bit more, it makes sense.' I took that approach into Durham and hit a couple balls hard and drove the ball a little better."

JOSH GROUNDED: Top prospect Josh Hamilton is out indefinitely after being placed on the minor-league disabled list and sent back to St. Petersburg with continuing leg troubles.

Hamilton had a slow start with Double-A Orlando, missed more than two months with back problems, played four games for Class A Charleston (S.C.) and has been out the past week with what the Rays say is a left quadriceps strain.

Hamilton, who went into the season with a shot to reach the majors, will be working out at the minor-league complex.

EYES WIDE OPEN: Rays coaches continue to be pleased with the way rookie Joe Kennedy is pitching, even though he is 1-5 with a 5.48 ERA in his past eight starts, including Tuesday's loss.

The key is for the 22-year-old lefty to realize he has to make adjustments as hitters learn more about him. "His way might not be the right way every time," pitching coach Bill Fischer said. "He has to do some adjusting. He might be good, but he's not that good that he can tell them what's coming. You've always got to be improving, right until the last day you're pitching."

RAYS BITS: Andy Sheets, designated for assignment Sunday, will report to Triple-A Durham. ... Greg Vaughn is the guest on today's ESPN interview show Up Close at 5:30 p.m. ... Randy Winn went into Wednesday leading the AL in hitting for July at .403. ... Durham catcher Toby Hall hit his career-high 18th homer Tuesday. He leads the International League with a .335 average.

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