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Oakland's Mulder mows down Rays

Left-hander pitches 4-hitter in A's 3-1 win, giving Tampa Bay a 5-7 homestand.

By KEVIN KELLY

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 3, 2001

ST. PETERSBURG -- Before he even had a chance to rest, let alone sit long enough to warm his spot on the Rays bench, pitcher Joe Kennedy was jogging back to the mound for another inning Sunday.

"I didn't have much time to watch," he said.

And Oakland starter Mark Mulder made the announced crowd of 14,634 at Tropicana Field want to watch. The left-hander worked quickly and effectively in a marvelous complete-game performance that led the A's to a 3-1 win.

"I love pitching against pitchers of his caliber," said Kennedy, who allowed one run in six innings. "It makes me step my game up. It makes me know that if I get a couple of runs there's still a possibility that I'm going to lose. So that's always in the back of my head."

With four pitches he located for strikes at will, Mulder retired the first 14 batters before catcher John Flaherty doubled with two outs in the fifth.

"The guy put on a clinic," Flaherty said. "He was in control the whole day."

It was the AL-leading sixth complete-game victory of the season for Mulder, who improved to 17-7.

"(The Rays) made it easier to pitch because they were very aggressive swinging at the plate," said Mulder, who threw 17 balls. "They swung at a lot of strikes."

Tampa Bay managed three of its four hits and its only run in the fifth. Ben Grieve singled Flaherty home to tie the score at 1, and Jared Sandberg followed with a single to left-centerfield.

The only other Rays batter to reach was Russ Johnson, who singled in the seventh.

Mulder, who has won nine of his past 10 decisions, finished with eight strikeouts and no walks.

"That's as good of control as I've seen," Tampa Bay manager Hal McRae said. "He only threw two or three pitches that weren't close enough to get a swing. When he missed, he didn't miss by very much and he didn't miss very often.

"He pitched an outstanding game."

Kennedy also pitched well, working out of jams with runners on base in all but the third inning. The rookie, who had won his past two, struck out four and walked three.

The A's were 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position while Kennedy was on the mound.

"I didn't feel real comfortable the first inning and a half," he said. "It's a good outing to go six. It gives me something to look forward to for the next time I face them."

Reliever Doug Creek got the loss after struggling with his control for the second straight game.

A day after he walked two of the three batters he faced, the left-hander did the same in the seventh inning. Travis Phelps relieved Creek (2-3) and gave up a run-scoring single by pinch-hitter Jeremy Giambi to give the A's a 2-1 lead.

Oakland added one in the ninth on Giambi's second run-scoring single.

"Mulder was just better today," McRae said. "But we played well. We pitched well."

Tampa Bay finished 5-7 during its longest homestand of the season, winning two of six against Oakland and Seattle. The Rays play the hottest teams in the American League six times on the road this week, beginning with a tonight's series opener against the Mariners.

"It's going to be a good test for us with all the young guys that we have," Flaherty said. "It's the first time that Seattle and Oakland got a good look at us and now we go right back out there. They're going to make some adjustments on how to pitch some of the young guys and we're going to have to make adjustments back.

"It will be a good test for some of these guys to really find out what it's all about to make adjustments at this level."

Tampa Bay has never won a series on the road against either the Mariners or A's and will face the top three starting pitchers from each team.

More bad news for the Rays? Mulder is scheduled to pitch against them Saturday.

"If he throws like he did today," Grieve said, "he's going to do the same thing."

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