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The pitcher who has given the Rays a chance to win more often than not is rewarded with his 10th win, 10-3 over Boston.
By MARC TOPKIN
© St. Petersburg Times, published October 2, 2001
ST. PETERSBURG -- Accomplishments sometimes have to be measured by the context.
Ordinarily, winning 10 games is not an achievement worth noting, much less celebrating. But these are not ordinary times, nor is this an ordinary team. Winning 10 games for the Rays is something else, and something significant.
Tanyon Sturtze earned his 10th win Monday, pitching seven strong innings as the Rays beat the lifeless Red Sox 10-3 before a Tropicana Field crowd that appeared to be less than half the announced total of 10,775 tickets sold.
At 10-12, Sturtze became the third pitcher the team's four-year history to win as many as 10 in a season -- Rolando Arrojo, now with Boston, was 14-12 as a rookie in 1998, and Albie Lopez, traded to Arizona, was 11-13 last season.
"I think that's a big mark to hit No. 10 in wins, for me as a personal goal," Sturtze said. "I'd like to win every start; I'm sure everybody does. But I think winning 10 games is a big accomplishment."
The victory was the Rays' sixth in their past eight games, improving their post-All Star break record to 31-37, considerably better than their 21-67 first half. They tagged an obviously weary David Cone for six runs in the third, with two-run doubles by Toby Hall, Russ Johnson and Chris Gomez, and tacked on four more in the eighth.
As impressive as Sturtze's 10 wins are, they might not be the most telling measure of the 30-year-old right-hander's value to the team.
At 58-98, the Rays have lost 40 more games than they've won. But they are 14-12 in games Sturtze has started, accounting for nearly one-fourth of their victories.
That means, more often than not, he has given them a chance to win. And that might be the most important attribute of all.
"He's our best starter as of now, and what he's done is stabilize the rotation," manager Hal McRae said. "He's given us innings, and hopefully he's shown the other starters the way. He's worked ahead quite a bit. Hasn't been cute, just got ahead and kept the ball down. Everything you ask him to do. ...
"You need a leader, and he's stepped up to be the leader of the pack."
Acquired from the White Sox last May for utilityman Tony Graffanino in what has turned out to be one of the Rays' better trades, Sturtze was impressive in five August 2000 starts, going 3-0 with a 2.28 ERA.
But manager Larry Rothschild, desperately seeking to add experience to a young relief crew, moved Sturtze to the bullpen in spring training, and Sturtze didn't make his first start until May 8.
"I wasn't happy with the decision, but I had no bargaining power," Sturtze said. "I did start some games at the end of last year and thought I threw the ball pretty good and when I came to camp I thought I had a chance to make the starting rotation.
"When they told me I was going to the bullpen, it hurt me a lot. It took a lot of guys to talk to me about some different things. I felt I was one of the guys to come into spring training and maybe have a shot at one of the five spots. But the way Larry wanted it, he wanted me in the bullpen and there wasn't much I could do about that. I'm very happy that it didn't work out that well."
Since then, Sturtze has become the Rays' most reliable and successful starter, going 10-10 with a 4.37 ERA in a team-high 26 starts.
He has made 14 quality starts, when he has gone six innings or more and allowed three runs or less. He has pitched six or more innings in 21 of his 26 starts, and seven or more in 15. Overall, he has pitched 189 1/3 innings, third-most in team history, and exceeded his previous high by nearly 70 innings, with one more start on Saturday.
He has been impressive enough that there is some talk in the clubhouse that he might be the Rays' Most Valuable Player.
"I'm very happy, extremely happy about what's happened," Sturtze said. "At the beginning of the season you never would have thought that this would have happened to me. I'm just glad I got the opportunity to get the ball every five days and show people I could pitch in this league as a starter."