Rays win in a Flash

Rays catcher John Flaherty lives up to his nickname with a stunning home run in the ninth inning for a 5-3 win against Chicago.

By BRUCE LOWITT

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 14, 2000

ST. PETERSBURG -- John Flaherty never knew what it felt like -- circling the bases knowing he was going to be surrounded and pounded by his teammates. Not on the playground, not in Little League, not in college ... never.

[Times photo: Michael Rondou] Rays players bound from the dugout moments after John Flaherty's homer.

Sunday he learned. Flaherty earned it, climaxing a 12-pitch, ninth-inning duel with Chicago's Bobby Howry by lining the ball deep into the leftfield seats. The result was an electrifying three-run homer that gave pitcher Albie Lopez and the Devil Rays a 5-3 victory and sent them on the road flying high.

As he rounded third, Flaherty thought of how long it had taken to get to this moment, and he wanted to share it.

"Coming down the line I was looking for my wife up in the stands," the Rays catcher said. "Little things go through your mind. Usually when I hit a home run I get around the bases as fast as I can. I kind of had some thoughts going through my head with this one. So it was a special feeling.

"I finally did it. I'm 32 years old. It's about time. ... I've hit home runs to tie up the game late, but I've never hit a home run that ended a game. Thirty-two years. That's not bad."

Flaherty's teammates streamed out of the dugout, the relief pitchers raced in from the bullpen. They converged at home plate and engulfed Flaherty, each one trying to reach in and touch him, to thank him.

"It's unbelievable," Flaherty said. "That's the first time for me. I've been on the other end of it, congratulating guys at home plate, and you're so pumped up for your teammates. To be on other end of it was really special."

The count to Flaherty went to 3-and-2. He fouled off the next four pitches, just getting his bat on the first one. "When he fouled off the one slider ... to get back to fastballs, you could tell he had a chance," Rays manager Larry Rothschild said. "He hit one other ball out (but foul) and hit one that just missed the (leftfield) line."

He crushed the next one 402 feet.

"When you hit a walk-off home run after that many pitches and that many balls hit hard foul, it's as good an at-bat as you're going to see," Rothschild said. "The game he called for Albie and everything else ... it's kind of fitting that he was the guy to do it."

Lopez, who quietly has become the ace of the Rays' decimated pitching staff, pitched a five-hitter for his fourth complete game and second in a row.

"He made a few mistakes and they took advantage of them," Flaherty said. "The slider to Frank (Thomas, a fourth-inning home run), the slider to (Jeff) Abbott (a second-inning double). Besides that he threw the ball unbelievably. He attacked them. ... Albie deserves all the credit."

The crowd cheered Lopez as he walked off the mound in the middle of the ninth, trailing 3-2. As the bottom of the ninth began, the crowd began getting more and more into the game, cheering or booing on every pitch.

"It's something that at times I think we've missed here," Rothschild said. "Maybe we can excite them a little bit more and get it more often."

Flaherty ended a ninth-inning chess match between Rothschild and his White Sox counterpart, Jerry Manuel. Left-hander Kelly Wunsch struck out Fred McGriff but walked Jose Guillen. Right-handed Miguel Cairo batted for left-handed Steve Cox.

"I do not like that (Wunsch-Cox) matchup at all," Rothschild said, "In my mind I had no choice, so whatever matchup I was going to get after that I think was going to be an improvement."

Manuel sent in the right-handed Howry. Rothschild sent Jason Tyner to first to run for Guillen. On a 2-and-1 count, Tyner took off. Howry pitched out. Catcher Mark Johnson's throw sailed into centerfield -- but Tyner almost certainly would have been safe anyway.

"I think that was the game right there," Manuel said. "I thought that was hard to overcome because we took a gamble."

Said Tyner: "I didn't think they'd pitch out on 2-and-1. He pitches out and it gives us an advantage, puts the pitcher in a hole 3-and-1, and now the hitter's in charge."

Cairo walked. Flaherty homered. The Rays can go on the road for 12 games, four beginning Friday in Chicago, with the memory of a victory against the best team in the American League washing away the bitter taste of two one-run losses to the Central leader.

"After the last two games we played -- we didn't always play smart but we played hard -- it was nice to get a win," Rothschild said. "We could've won two or three in this series."

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.

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