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Rays get more to build on

Rally produces another win against Yankees 8-4 and keeps a 100-loss season at bay.

By MARC TOPKIN

© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 6, 2001

ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays say they don't know how they beat Roger Clemens, who has lost only three games in his remarkable season, for the second time in 10 days.

They say they aren't that concerned with whether they avoid 100 losses.

They say they are not consumed with finishing ahead of Pittsburgh to shed the label as the worst team in the majors.

What they are most interested in, they claim, is continuing to play well, to grow as a team, and to win games.

Lately, that truly has been something to be proud of.

The Rays did it again Friday, beating Clemens and the AL East champion Yankees 8-4 before a spirited crowd of 22,028 at Tropicana Field.

That's four wins in five games, 7 of 9 on the season-ending homestand, and nine of their past 12. They're 34-38 since the All-Star break, the third-best improvement in the majors, and 23-22 since Aug. 5. They'll finish the season by going five series in a row without a loss for the first time in franchise history.

"I know it's late in the year, but we got a little momentum going into the final two ballgames," manager Hal McRae said. "We're playing well and we're winning now. That was something that was missing from the mix. I thought we played well for a very long period of time, but we weren't winning enough. Things seem to be coming together."

Because most of the players on the field now weren't here when the Rays plodded to a 27-61 start, they are not as concerned about whether they become the first AL team since the 1996 Tigers to lose 100 games.

"I think it's just a number to us honestly," Brent Abernathy said. "Probably more than half of us weren't part of what took place earlier in the year. We're not worried about whether we finish 63-99 or 62-100. We're not worried about our record. We're worried about getting a winning attitude coming to spring training next year, and I think we've already done that.

"We're worried about coming out and getting better every day and proving we can compete with the best in the business. And that's what we did tonight. We had the probably the best pitcher in the game out there, playing against probably the best team, and we came out on top for a second time in a row. It's a great feeling."

The Rays rallied from a 3-0 deficit to take a 5-3 lead against Clemens, then broke the game open when Toby Hall ripped a bases-loaded double (that may actually have gone over the left-centerfield fence and come back in) off Jay Witasick in the seventh.

Joe Kennedy, who hadn't pitched above Class A before this season, earned the win to finish his rookie season at 7-8, and former Yankees minor-league infielder Victor Zambrano made another impressive relief appearance, allowing two hits in the final three innings for his second save.

No matter the circumstances, McRae just wants them to keep doing what they've been doing.

"The worst thing we can do is change our mind-set," he said. "Our mind-set all along has been, 'Screw the 100 losses -- if we lose 'em, we lose 'em. Let's go out and play hard and play aggressive. Let's charge. And that's what we've done. That has to be our attitude now, and it has to be our attitude in the future."

Clemens, 39, has had a remarkable 20-3 season. He is the first pitcher to start a season 20-1, and his 16-game winning streak matched the longest in a single season in AL history.

He lost once to the Mariners, who set a league record for wins Friday. But his next two were to the Rays, who have the worst record in the majors. There would have been a third, had Esteban Yan not blown a save to spoil Jason Standridge's gem on Aug. 9.

"It just happened that it happened that way," McRae said. "I don't know why. I don't think we win enough to know why. If we were smart enough to know why, we'd have more than 61 wins."

Clemens, who did beat the Rays three other times, wasn't too concerned with his final start before opening the playoffs Wednesday against Oakland.

"It's been a long haul and now you take a deep breath and get ready to go again," Clemens said. "The guys over there, it's probably a little exciting thing because they're going home. They can smell the end of the season. We're fixing to take a deep breath and get ready to start pouring it on again."

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