Sports: Rekar wins what may be his final Rays game

Rekar wins what may be his final Rays game

By MARC TOPKIN

ST. PETERSBURG -- Bryan Rekar knew Friday's game was his last start of the season. What he doesn't know is whether it was his last start for the Rays.

"I don't make those decisions," he said. "I don't know what to think."

Rekar has had a miserable year, including five weeks on the disabled list and losing streaks of six and seven games. After Friday's win, his second straight, he is 3-13 with a 5.89 ERA.

Rekar earned a hefty raise to $1.4-million this season thanks to the arbitration process and can be cut to no less than $1.120-million under baseball's rules. Given the amount of talented, and less expensive, young pitchers the Rays have available, there is a strong possibility they will look to trade Rekar or decline to offer him a contract.

"This team has a lot of good, solid, young pitching, especially starters, so it's been kind of a tryout for the Devil Rays or you never know who's watching," Rekar said.

Rekar would have been in line to make one more start, but the Rays decided more than a week ago to skip him, allowing Ryan Rupe, Nick Bierbrodt, Joe Kennedy, Tanyon Sturtze and Paul Wilson to start the final fives games.

Manager Hal McRae said there were two reasons for the decision, but he didn't disclose them. Rekar said he had some ideas, that "the other guys have incentives to reach" in their contracts and that "for next year, (teams officials) want to see how they finish up."

PITCHING IN: The Rays have a 4.24 ERA since the All-Star break, second-best in the league. More importantly, it marks a decrease of 1.39 from their first-half mark, the best in the majors. Only two teams in the past 10 years have made more improvement: the 1999 Mariners, from 6.00 to 4.36 (-1.64), and the 1998 White Sox, from 5.90 to 4.47 (-1.43). ... The Rays have a 1.02 ERA in their past five games; 2.08 in their past nine. The team ERA is 5.04, the lowest since May 9.

TRAINERS' CORNER: Brent Abernathy is likely to be out until at least Sunday because of swelling and bruises after fouling a ball off his left ankle Thursday. "He's got a lot of red and blue there," McRae said. "He's got the American flag on his ankle." ... Catcher John Flaherty, sidelined with a herniated disc in his neck, received his third cortisone shot Friday. McRae said it is "50-50" Flaherty will play again this season. ... Greg Vaughn (sore left calf) remains limited to pinch-hit duty, and that may not change. "It's not important that he play, it's important that he be available to pinch hit," McRae said. "I'd really like to see (Aubrey) Huff get some at-bats."

COMMUNITY DEPT: St. Petersburg firefighters collected more than $6,500 during Thursday's game to help families of firefighters missing since the World Trade Center collapse on Sept. 11. ... Tonight is the Girls Night Out sleepover at the Trop for all levels of Girl Scouts. Jason Tyner and Damian Rolls will speak to the troops. ... Toby Hall will sign autographs 10:30-11:30 a.m. today at Brandon Mitsubishi.

RAYS BITS: The Rays extended their streak of doubling to 36 games, the longest current streak in the majors and two shy of Oakland's season high. ... Vaughn received the Florida Sports Awards' Jasper award as the team MVP. ... Steve Cox handled 535 chances, the most of any first baseman this season, before making his first error Friday. ... Hall is the fifth Ray with two hits in an inning.