Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
Jason Tyner's two-out single in the ninth inning caps a rally from six runs down as Tampa Bay stuns the Orioles 11-10.
By MARC TOPKIN
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 23, 2001
ST. PETERSBURG -- The game was over.
Manager Hal McRae all but said so when he went to the mound in the sixth inning to remove Jesus Colome, figuring it was prime time to get some mopup work for rookies Jason Standridge and Bobby Seay with the Rays down by six.
What McRae wasn't counting on was his kids deciding they wanted to stay out and play some more.
The Rays came back and came back and came back some more for a thrilling 11-10 victory Wednesday over the Orioles, Jason Tyner driving in the winning run with a two-out single in the ninth.
"An amazing comeback," McRae said. "It was just unbelievable the way the guys hung in there and fought. You don't envision coming back from a deficit like that."
While most of the announced Tropicana crowd of 12,113 appeared to agree with McRae in thinking the game was over, the players on the major leagues' youngest team insisted they didn't.
"That's how these guys are going to play, and they're never going to give up," Tyner said. "We're young, and we're going to play hard."
Having been held to two hits and one run through five innings, the Rays rapped out 18 hits and scored 10 over the final four. They matched the largest comeback in franchise history and tied the club record with 20 hits.
"That's the kind of stuff that happens when you're having fun," Brent Abernathy said. "That's about as good as it gets right there, and it was fun. We had fun and we had some energy. It's a crazy game. Something just clicks and you just keep running with it, and that's kind of what we did."
The Rays have won four of five, 16 of 30 since July 21 and 19 of 39 since the All-Star break. But of all their victories -- and there are only 46 to pick from -- this one apparently was the most enjoyable.
"It's probably the best game that we've had," Ben Grieve said. "It doesn't mean much in the scheme of things, but for a team that's been struggling all year to be able to play a game like that this late in the season when usually everyone is kind of dragging is kind of a sign that the guys on this team really care and are not giving up."
The comeback, following another poor start by Ryan Rupe, came in stages. The Rays got one in the sixth, though they should have had more after loading the bases with none out, and three in the seventh on a two-run homer by Aubrey Huff and a triple by Tyner.
After Standridge allowed a three-run homer to Jeff Conine that made it 10-5, the Rays rallied for five in the eighth. Toby Hall, pinch-hitter Russ Johnson, Jared Sandberg and Tyner all had big hits, and Abernathy had the biggest, a double to right that scored the tying runs.
"That's the mark of a team getting better when you can get production from everybody in certain crucial spots in a game," Abernathy said.
Embattled closer Esteban Yan blazed through the ninth, striking out the side on 12 pitches, and the Rays hitters rewarded him with the victory.
With two outs, Sandberg singled to right off Willis Roberts, his third hit of the night. Chris Gomez followed with a bloop single to right, sending Sandberg to third.
Then Tyner, who already had three hits and made a sensational catch of a foul ball in the Baltimore bullpen, slapped B.J. Ryan's first pitch just inside the leftfield line to score Sandberg, giving the Rays their fourth walkoff win of the season.
"I haven't gotten a game-winning hit where it ended the game," Tyner said. "That's an awesome feeling."
"Especially," Abernathy said, "because we've been there plenty of times on the other side of it."
McRae said there were plenty of reasons the victory was important.
"It's a win first of all," McRae said. "It's a never quit kind of win, a never die kind of win. ... It's the type of win you get momentum from. A lot of guys got clutch hits, a lot of guys got hits. So going home, a lot of players are going to feel good about what happened.
"That's the major plus, that they're going to feel good and they're going to bring that good feeling back to the ballpark. That's what we're searching for. We don't carry that "I feel good' feeling with us daily, and that's the feeling that we need. And this is the kind of game that gives you that feeling."