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By KEVIN KELLY
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 21, 2001
Seventy-one losses into his managerial tenure, and with more than five weeks remaining in the season, Hal McRae still feels vibrant.
"The season has gone by fairly quick," the Rays manager said. "You would think differently, but it has."
He can't pinpoint a reason, but it must relate to having a dozen rookies roaming the clubhouse. With an average age of 25.62, the Rays are the youngest team in the majors by more than a year.
"That's one of the advantages of having young players," McRae said. "It can be a very long season if you have a veteran club, a group that can't wait for the start of their winter vacation."
McRae and his staff have been diligent about resting players, particularly pitchers, in recent weeks.
"When you're going through certain days or weeks when things aren't going your way, at that certain point in time it seems like it's taking a while," rookie Damian Rolls said. "But when you really step back and look at the whole season you say, "It's August already?'
"It's a learning curve. A lot of people probably can't play the game all year round, but it's easier when you step back and look at the whole picture."
PROBLEM SOLVING: Pitching coach Bill Fischer has worked with Esteban Yan to determine why the closer is allowing so many home runs.
Yan, a converted starter who is tied for the major-league lead with eight blown saves, has given up a homer in his past four appearances and six to the past 36 batters.
"He's given up more home runs than base hits," McRae said. "I'm amazed every time someone hits one."
Had Yan not surrendered a two-run homer to Minnesota's Corey Koskie in the eighth inning of Saturday's 6-4 loss, the Rays might have forced extra innings after a three-run rally in the ninth.
"(He needs to) get the ball down, but that's obvious," McRae said. "I don't know though. I would just like him to get outs."
GETTING BETTER: Tanyon Sturtze would prefer being viewed as a pitcher establishing himself as a legitimate starter rather than as one of the senior members of the Rays staff.
The right-hander got his third straight win Friday -- he has allowed no more than two runs in each of those wins -- and has thrown a team-high 1461/3 innings.
Sturtze, 30, pitched 120 innings in the majors before this season.
"What I remember of him last year and the beginning of this year, his emotions were getting in the way, his aggressiveness, his temperament," catcher John Flaherty said. "Now he's made an adjustment to back it down a little bit.
"He's pitching more. The end result is he's given us quality starts whether he has good stuff or mediocre stuff."
ACROSS THE DIAMOND: Things will get interesting at third base if first baseman Steve Cox comes off the disabled list Thursday, as expected.
Jared Sandberg was recalled when Cox went on the DL on Aug. 6 and third baseman Aubrey Huff moved to first. Both have proven able.
Sandberg has a .938 fielding percentage in nine games at third and is hitting .250 with a double, a homer and four RBI. Huff had a .918 fielding percentage with 13 errors in 107 games at third. In 14 games at first, he has a .968 fielding percentage and is hitting .185 with six RBI.
WHERE: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg.
TV/RADIO: FSN; WFLA-AM 970, WLCC-AM 760 (Spanish).
TODAY'S PROMOTION: Upper general admission tickets are $3 with a coupon from the Tampa Tribune.
TICKETS: Available at the Tropicana Field Box office, all Ticketmaster locations, www.devilrays.com and Rays Dugout stores at Brandon TownCenter, WestShore Plaza and Baywalk or by calling (727) 898-RAYS or (813) 282-RAYS.
INFORMATION: Call 1-800-FAN-RAYS.
PAUL WILSON: Wilson (5-8, 6.07) is 3-1 with a 3.21 ERA since returning to the rotation after Bryan Rekar went on the 15-day disabled list July 20. He threw 131 pitches over 62/3 innings and walked a career-high seven against the Yankees on Wednesday.
JOSE MERCEDES: Mercedes (7-13, 5.59) has won three of his past four starts. During that span, the right-hander has allowed two home runs and six walks while striking out 11. He last pitched against Kansas City on Wednesday.
While manager Hal McRae, head trainer Jamie Reed and pitching coach Bill Fischer tended to pitcher Joe Kennedy's mildly sprained ankle during the first inning against the Twins on Sunday, bench coach Billy Hatcher took over as interim manager.
Damian Rolls and Randy Winn led the game off with hits before McRae returned to the dugout.
"Hatch did a hell of a job," McRae said. "He got two guys on."