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Hot A's pound Rays

Oakland proves it's playoff-ready in a 9-3 win over Tampa Bay.

By MARC TOPKIN

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 8, 2001

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Hal McRae didn't need any persuading. Sitting in his spartan Network Associates Coliseum office before Friday's game, the Rays manager said with conviction that the A's had the best chance of any team to win the World Series.

"This," McRae said, "is the club to beat in the playoffs."

The A's then went out and proved his point anyway, hitting a season-high matching four home runs and pounding the Rays 9-3.

The A's have won 11 of their past 12 and are 40-14 since the All-Star break. They matched the Yankees for the second-best record in the majors and have an 11-game lead in the AL wild-card race.

The Rays, meanwhile, lost for the 50th time in gray, one shy of their 1998 total for road losses in a season, and dropped to 50-91 overall. They need to go 13-8 to avoid their first 100-loss season.

"We ran into a hot club and we're not pitching very well," McRae said.

McRae praised the A's for their top-notch starters at the top of their rotation -- Mark Mulder, Tim Hudson and Barry Zito -- and the quality of the left-handed hitters that dot their lineup. He didn't mention their defense, but that was on display as well.

"They're probably the best hitting lineup against right-handers in terms of patience, base on balls and home runs," McRae said. "They're very similar to the Yankees of two-three years ago."

Bryan Rekar found out exactly what McRae was talking about, dropping to 1-13 with a 6.18 ERA.

McRae was looking for five innings from Rekar, but he gave up a season-high three home runs in a span of nine batters and couldn't get through the fifth, needing 87 pitches to get 14 outs.

He gave up a two-run homer to Eric Chavez in the fourth, a two-run shot to Johnny Damon in the fifth and a blast to Jermaine Dye later in the fifth.

"His pitches were just up; since he came back from the disabled list his pitches have been up," McRae said. "It doesn't take a lot of hits to put runs on the board when they're hitting the ball out of the ballpark."

Said Rekar: "The only three (pitches) I got up were the ones that went out. I thought I kept the ball down pretty good."

Rookie reliever Bobby Seay gave up another home run to Greg Myers, plus a couple more hits and walks in the sixth, and Jeff Wallace came on to walk in a run. The A's sent 10 men to the plate, the third time in a 10-inning span a Rays opponent has batted around.

By the end of the game, the Rays had walked 10, matching their season high.

With left-handed ace Mulder scheduled to pitch for the A's today and the right-handed Hudson going on Sunday, the Rays figured their best chance for a win was Friday against journeyman Erik Hiljus.

But that didn't work either as they were shut out for six innings and down 9-0 before they got a runner home.

Toby Hall, playing before about 80 friends and relatives among the announced crowd of 15,037, singled with one out in the seventh. Former A's star Ben Grieve, who struck out for a team-record 136th and 137th time, doubled him home. Jose Guillen, making his first start since returning from the minors, followed with a monstrous homer to right.

When the Rays did have some chances to score early, leftfielder Terrence Long stopped them.

In the third, Long raced back to the wall and jumped high to rob Chris Gomez of what would have been a home run.

In the fifth, after Guillen doubled and moved to third on a groundout, Long caught Gomez's fly ball and launched a perfect one-hop throw to the plate, beating Guillen by more than five steps.

Long made another dazzling play in the sixth, a running catch to deny Jason Tyner a hit.

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