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Devil Rays sweep Yankees

Bronx Bombers are quiet as the Rays offense flexes it muscle in an 11-3 rout.

By BRUCE LOWITT

© St. Petersburg Times, published September 29, 2000

ST. PETERSBURG -- The Devil Rays did everything they could to keep the Yankees from celebrating a division championship on their field, in their ballpark.

[Times photo: Carrie Pratt] Bobby Smith celebrates his home run off the Yankees' Roger Clemens in the fourth inning of the Devil Rays' win.

They hammered three home runs off Roger Clemens and pulled off a most improbable feat in the field -- two outs at home plate on the same play -- to rout New York 11-3 Thursday night.

It climaxed the Rays' first ever three-game sweep of the staggering two-time defending World Series champions. So the Yankees couldn't earn the American League East title in Tropicana Field.

"I didn't want anybody to celebrate in here," manager Larry Rothschild said. "I hope the first team that celebrates in here is us. But it was a stretch to think they wouldn't."

They could have backed in if Toronto and Boston lost. The Blue Jays did their part but the Red Sox beat Chicago to keep alive their flickering hopes of tying the Yankees for first place at the end of the season.

The Yankees eventually will get the division crown, said catcher Mike DiFelice, who had a three-run homer to finish the Rays' assault. "It's just nice that we prolonged it a little bit."

The Rays won three of four in Toronto before returning home and winning the opener against the Yankees 2-1. Then they broke out their big bats, winning 11-1 Wednesday night before finishing the job against Clemens and four relievers.

"I said a long time ago, and it took a while, but if there's an evening out that's going to happen it's going to happen in a big way and some things have started to turn a bit," Rothschild said.

"I think we've played as good a series as I think we've played here in the three years I've been here. We got a couple of breaks, which we deserve because during that 10-game stretch (of losses before winning in Toronto) we couldn't buy a break."

The break came in the second inning. Bryan Rekar walked ex-Ray Jose Canseco with two outs and Tino Martinez doubled to centerfield. The ball hit just short of the fence and Gerald Williams grabbed the rebound and fired toward the infield.

Shortstop Felix Martinez relayed it home and DiFelice tagged Canseco as he slid to the outside edge of the plate. Martinez tried to take third on the throw home and, when the ball bounced away from Aubrey Huff, he raced home. Huff chased down the ball and threw home and DiFelice lunged and tagged Martinez for the third out as he slid to the inside edge of the plate.

"I've never seen a play like it, never been involved in one," DiFelice said. "It took me about an inning or so to realize it."

Rothschild added: "I don't know if I'll ever see that again. It took a long time for me to see it the first time. Obviously unusual. But the play on Canseco was real nice and (DiFelice was) heads up to be ready to throw the ball."

The crowd of 20,961 was still buzzing when Clemens walked Fred McGriff and Ozzie Timmons hit his second home run in two games, a line drive that barely cleared the leftfield foul pole and the top of the wall.

"It was good, coming right after that play (at the plate)," Timmons said. "I think hitting is contagious. When someone starts it, it keeps going."

Clemens, pitching for the first time since he bruised his right hamstring Saturday when he was hit with a hard grounder in Detroit, had his worst start against the Devil Rays. He beat the Rays 5-2 July 2, the day he came off the disabled list.

He was rocked for three more runs in the fourth. McGriff lined a single to right and Huff followed with a home run into the leftfield stands. Four pitches later Bobby Smith made it back-to-back blasts, the second time the Rays have done it this season. DiFelice hit his three-run homer off Jason Grimsley in the seventh inning.

"It's nice to be on the other side," DiFelice said. "It's a good ending (to the season). As a ballplayer you want to play all 162 games. It's nice that we haven't laid down. When we lost 10 in a row, that could have been it. We'd could have just thrown it in right there."

And Rothschild added: "It's good for everyone in here after what we've gone through for a large part of this year. To regroup and play the last two series the way they have speaks volumes for the way they're going about it."

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