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Vaughn out 4-5 days with hamstring pull

By KEVIN KELLY

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 2, 2001

ST. PETERSBURG -- A spectacular diving catch by outfielder Greg Vaughn prevented the A's from scoring in the third inning Saturday, but could end up costing the Rays a few runs of their own.

Vaughn strained his left hamstring on the play and is expected to miss 4-5 days.

"It happened when I pushed off to dive," Vaughn said.

After Brent Abernathy doubled-up Oakland's Ramon Hernandez on the play to end the inning, Vaughn jogged off the field slowly and was replaced in the bottom of the inning by Damian Rolls.

"I wouldn't do anything different," said Vaughn, who has played in the outfield three times since Aug. 15 because of a stiff back. "There's only one way I play: try to catch everything I can catch and go for everything I can go. ... It's just part of the game."

The injury compounds a disappointing second half for the 36-year-old. Since sitting out of the All-Star game because of an injury to his right hamstring, Vaughn has batted .213 with three homers, 22 RBI and 41 strikeouts.

His last home run was against the White Sox on Aug. 5.

Outfielder Jose Guillen will be recalled from Triple-A Durham today. Sidelined by knee problems for several months and then sent to the minors, he hasn't played in the majors since May 17.

THE FIRST ONE: Soaked from head to toe in beer, Bobby Seay stood in front of his locker loving every bone-chilling second.

The 23-year-old rookie from Sarasota earned his first career victory, and the traditional beer bath from teammates for doing so, by pitching a scoreless eighth inning. He struck out one of the four batters he faced.

"They must have hit me with 10 beers," said Seay, who was recalled from Double-A Orlando on Aug. 12. "They definitely caught me off guard, but it's great to get the first major-league win." ROOKIE ORIENTATION: Let the record show that Dewon Brazelton's first pitch in a Rays uniform was caught by a crouching furry mascot.

And it was a ball.

For the Rays' top pick this year, throwing out the first pitch was just part of a busy first day as a major-leaguer.

"It was awesome," Brazelton said.

He threw in the bullpen for pitching coach Bill Fischer and manager Hal McRae before the game, got advice from teammates, mingled with fans and sat in a major-league dugout for the entire game.

"Sitting in the stands, you have no clue what goes on in the dugout," said Brazelton, who is not expected to pitch this season. "It beats being on the other side to finally be inside to see what's going on."

IN AND TRIM: Hours before the official weigh-in, reliever Doug Creek offered Fischer a candy bar in a last-ditch effort to prevent the coach from winning a bet with his staff.

Fischer politely declined and on Saturday weighed in at a svelte 204 pounds, good enough to win the bet he made with Rays pitchers April 21 to lose 40 or more pounds by Sept. 1.

The 70-year-old started at 250 pounds.

"Well, they challenged me," said Fischer, who will collect more than $5,000.

ODDS AND ENDS: The Rays stole a season-high four bases, including catcher John Flaherty's first since Sept. 23, 1997 while with the Padres. ... Steve Cox's home run in the first ended a string of 213 at-bats without an over-the-fence homer. ... By pitching the ninth, Esteban Yan tied Roberto Hernandez for most appearances in club history (202). ... Pitcher Juan Guzman was recalled from Durham and placed on the 15-day disabled list. Guzman, who has pitched 12/3 innings during his two years with the Rays, could be moved to the 60-day DL to open a roster spot. ... Left-handed reliever Jeff Wallace was activated from the 15-day DL.

Today: Rays at A's, 1:15

WHERE: Tropicana Field

RADIO: WFLA-AM 970, WLCC-AM 760 (Spanish)

TODAY'S PROMOTIONS: The first 7,500 fans 4 and under get a Rays lunch box. Fans who present a coupon from the Times will receive a lower deck outfield ticket, hot dog and soda for $12 or an upper general admission ticket for $3.

TICKETS: Available at the stadium box office, through Ticketmaster, at team stores.

INFO: 1-800-FAN-RAYS

The pitchers

JOE KENNEDY: After losing seven consecutive starts, Kennedy has won his past two starts. The rookie left-hander (5-8, 4.78) has allowed three runs on eight hits in 12 innings for a 2.25 ERA.

MARK MULDER: Mulder (16-7, 3.60) has gone at least seven innings in 14 of 28 starts this season. In his last outing, against Baltimore on Tuesday, Mulder allowed two runs on four hits in eight innings.

You don't say

"It smelled like Bud Light." -- pitcher Bobby Seay, whose first professional victory Saturday earned him a beer bath from teammates in the clubhouse afterward.

By the numbers

vs. East: 17-40

vs. Central: 13-19

vs. West: 10-19

vs. NL: 10-8

vs. RH starters: 38-69

vs. LH starters: 11-18

On grass: 15-40

On turf: 33-46

In day games: 19-29

At night: 31-57

One-run games: 16-13

Two-run games: 10-15

Extra innings: 4-2

Scoring first: 36-25

Scoring four or more: 44-35

Scoring fewer than four: 5-512

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