Place an Ad Calendars Classified Forums Sports Weather

sptimes.com Text-only News sections Arts & Entertainment AP The Wire Business Citrus County Columnists Floridian Hernando County Hillsborough Letters Movies Neighborhood Times News Update North Pinellas North of Tampa Obituaries Opinion Pasco County South Pinellas Sports State Tampa Bay TV Times World & Nation  Find your local news section Weekly sections Brandon Times City Times Homes Outdoors Perspective Personal Tech Taste Travel Weekend Xpress Special Sections Arena football Buccaneers College football Devil Rays Lightning Police reports Schools Seniority Subscriber Services Subscribe Renew Help Advertise Place an ad In print Online Market Info Join Us Internships Scholarships Times Jobs Contact us

Nightmare ninth drops Rays

Esteban Yan gives up two-run lead as Luis Sojo rallies Yankees 4-3.

By MARC TOPKIN

© St. Petersburg Times,
published August 10, 2001

ST. PETERSBURG -- As dazzling and dominating as Jason Standridge was in his first major-league start, as often as he left the Yankees shaking their heads and his frenzied father raising his arms in joy, it was really going to take something to spoil the night.

And Esteban Yan did it.

Yan, aided by Aubrey Huff's throwing error, blew a two-run ninth-inning lead, ruining the storybook ending to Standridge's evening and allowing the Yankees to escape with an improbable 4-3 victory Thursday before 21,223 at Tropicana Field.

"Simply put, we have to learn to win," Rays manager Hal McRae said. "We're capable, but we really don't know how. We have to continue to work and continue to play hard and eventually we'll get there. But as of tonight, we just don't know how to win."

Standridge, a 22-year-old right-hander, couldn't have done much more.

Called up two weeks ago with the hope that a promotion would stir him from his seasonlong struggles at Triple A, Standridge handled the pressure of a spot start against the Yankees and Roger Clemens well.

There was some uneaten grilled chicken at lunch and a few anxiety-filled moments during the afternoon, but Standridge was sensational.

He allowed four singles and a walk over 6 1/3 shutout innings, retiring six straight in one stretch and eight in another and striking out five.

"It's hard to put into words what I was feeling out there," Standridge said. "First of all, I was overwhelmed by so many things. I was wide-eyed. I wasn't really awed, but I was wide-eyed. I wasn't going to be intimidated by anybody. I just went out there and pitched my game. It was like a dream. It was awesome."

Relying primarily on a sinking fastball that was as high as 93 mph and mixing in breaking pitches as slow as 75, Standridge didn't give the Yankees much to hit.

"He was just being dominating," New York's Bernie Williams said. "We couldn't really get a hold of any of his pitches. I think he has pretty good stuff."

Standridge, who kneels behind the mound and removes his cap each inning to say a prayer of thanks, was equally excited and exhausted after the game, which is his only scheduled start.

About the only person who worked harder was his father, Wayne, who spent the night bouncing from seat to seat and pacing the stadium aisles, splitting time between videotaping the game and leading the cheers for the 20 friends and relatives who made the trip from Alabama.

"It was just awesome," Wayne Standridge said. "That's about the only thing I can say."

Standridge left with a 2-0 lead, both runs the result of Yankee miscues, and it appeared he not only was going to have an improbable victory but the Rays were going to pin Clemens, who was 15-1 and on an 11-game win streak, with an unlikely loss.

With his bullpen thin, McRae brought Yan in to start the eighth, and he immediately gave up a home run to No. 8 hitter Alfonso Soriano. The Rays countered with a run on a Greg Vaughn double, making it 3-1 going to the ninth.

"Everything was falling into place," McRae said.

With one out, Yan allowed a single to Tino Martinez and Paul O'Neill followed with a bouncer to first. Huff, making his fourth career start at first, had ideas about a double play, but his throw struck Martinez in the helmet and bounced into the outfield, allowing the runners to advance to second and third.

Huff left without discussing the play, but McRae said the bigger mistake was the decision to attempt the play at second -- rather than take the sure out at first -- than the actual throw. "It's a play he shouldn't try to make," McRae said.

Yan hit Shane Spencer to load the bases, and Martinez scored on Soriano's groundout. That set the stage for the latest heroics by 35-year-old Luis Sojo, who drove a ball over the curiously shallow Rays outfield for a two-run ground-rule double and a 4-3 lead.

"It was a rough night," Yan said. "This is a night when you make a mistake and learn again."

The stunning loss cost the Rays the chance to win a series against the three-time defending champs and dropped them, at 38-77, to 39 games under .500 for the first time in history.

"They didn't do anything better than we did tonight, but we lost the game," McRae said. "So we need to get where they are. They didn't play better, but they know how to win and we don't."

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright