OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - 2004 Tampa Bay Devil Rays: Youth Brings Hope

BostonRS14 · 07-16-2004, 03:04 AM

Rays slam 4 homers in 9th inning, still drop decision to White Sox
Game 10: Chicago (A) 14, Tampa Bay 12

The Devil Rays dug themselves a hole, but tried to battle back like they have all season. But, in what is becoming a familiar theme, the pitching staff couldn't keep the opponents quiet enough for the Rays to prevail. With only 14,432 fans in Tropicana Field (43,772) on Glove Day, Tampa tried to take advantage of Aubrey Huff's first two homeruns of the season, but were unable to kept up before time ran out.

Jeremi Gonzalez failed for the third time in four starts to get past four innings as his ERA rose to 8.16. Joe Crede's two-run blast in the 2nd down the right field line opened the scoring on the day. Frank Thomas added his own 3-run homerun in the 3rd to give Chicago a 5-0 lead.

The Devil Rays would chip away at it, Julio Lugo continued to surprise baseball fans everywhere. A 3rd inning homerun, his first of the season, got the Rays on the board. For the season, Lugo is batting .421, a 150 point increase over his career average (.274). He is one of four Tampa regulars batting over .340, joining Carl Crawford (.429), Rocco Baldelli (.432) and Geoff Blum (.342). Crawford, after stealing second, scored the second Rays' run on a Aubrey Huff single to left.

Chicago would increase the lead to 9-3 before the Devil Rays finally put some solid at bats together. In the bottom of the 7th, Crawford's RBI double was followed one batter later with Huff's first homerun, a two-run shot to deep right center that closed the gap to three and breathed new life into the game. A run in the 7th gave the few fans still in attendance hope, but Danys Baez was unable to record the final out of the ninth. Instead, he surrendered seven consecutive hits to the White Sox, allowing five runs, all earned, to cross the plate. Finally, Paul Konerko, batting for the second time in the inning flied out to short center to end the horror show.

Surprisingly, Tampa player's rallied around their closer, and tried to mount a comeback. Back-to-back solo homeruns by Aubrey Huff and Eduardo Perez got the crowd on their feet with one out. After a Tino Martinez single to left, Geoff Blum crushed a fastball to deep right field. When White sox manager Ozzie Guillen replaced Damaso Marte with Kelly Wunsch, Lou Pinella called back schedule hitter and put in pinch hitter Brook Fordyce. Not to be outdone by his teammates, Fordyce crushed his own 400 foot homerun, this one to left-center. Jose Santiago, the sixth White Sox reliever, emerged from the bullpen. Santiago, with the Rays now within 2, got Jose cruz and Lugo to ground out weakly to second base to escape with a wild win for the White Sox.

W: John Garland (2-0); L: Jeremi Gonzalez (1-1); SV: Jose Santiago (1)
Player of the Game: Aubrey Huff. 4-5, 2 HR (2), 2 Runs, 4 RBIs (9)
Game Notes: Julio Lugo hit the longest homer of his career, it went 429 feet. Aubrey Huff hit the longest homer of his career, it went 413 feet. Geoff Blum hit the longest homer of his career, it went 408 feet. Geoff Blum set a career high for hits (4) in a game! Brook Fordyce hit the longest homer of his career, it went 409 feet.

Rays victimize Chicago pen, earn easy win
Game 11: Tampa Bay 7, Chicago (A) 2

One thing can definately be said about the Devil Rays, they like to make this interesting. After a 4 and a half hour marathon to open the series that saw 26 runs and 38 hits, the Rays turned to Mark Hendrickson to give their bats a chance to win a game. Although no one will confuse him with a staff ace, Hendrickson was able to outpitch Enemencio Pacheco to earn his first win in a Rays jersey.

Brook Fordyce, fresh off his pinch hit home run in the game the night before, kept swinging the hot bat, stroking a second inning double to the gap in left-center that score Fred McGriff from first with the game's first run. Julio Lugo improved his impressive start, belting his second home run in as many days in the 6th. This one was a two-run shot to deep left field that gave Hendrickson a three-run cushion and proved to be the eventual game-winning run.

Chicago got on the board in the top of the 7th when Hendrickson surrendered three straight extra base hits to the White Sox. Frank Thomas, who led the inning off with a double to left, was followed by Paul Konerko with a triple down the right field line. Pinch hitter Miguel Olivo brought him home with a double to the gap in right-center to cut the lead to one. Edurado Perez, pinch hitting for the struggling Jose Cruz, slapped a single to left-center to bring Aubrey Huff home with an insurance run for the Rays in the 7th.

Kelly Wunsch walked Damian Rolls to start the 8th, before Shingo "Mr. Zero" Takatsu took over and surrendered a single to Tino Martinez. Carl Crawford followed with a three-run homerun to deep right-center to cap the scoring for the Rays. Wunsch ERA rose to 54.05 for the season.

Danys Baez rebounded from his poor performance the night before, to work the final one and two-third innings to earn his league-leading fifth save.

W: Mark Hendrickson (1-0); L: Enemencio Pacheco (0-1); SV: Danys Baez (5)
Player of the Game: Carl Crawford. 2-5, HR (2), SB (9), Run, 3 RBIs (12)
Game Notes: Carl Crawford hit the longest homer of his career, it went 408 feet. Carl Crawford extends his hitting streak to a career high 11 games!

Rays stumble early, drop series to White Sox
Game 12: Tampa Bay 5, Chicago 11

Jeff Suppan's home debut with the Devil Rays did not last too long. With an overworked bullpen, Lou Pinella was hoping that his top starter could work late into the game, like he has in his two previous starts this season. Instead, Suppan was gone after only one and a third inning, forcing Pinella to call on his bullpen once again to keep the game from getting out of hand.

Frank Thomas's three-run 1st inning homerun was the beginning of Suppan's problems. After Mark Buehrle sent the Rays down in order in the bottom of the second, Magglio Ordonez put an end to Suppan's day with a bases-clearing double into the left-center gap that scored Jose Valentin and Timo Perez easily. Lance Carter entered the game and let the inherited runner score on Carlos Lee's single.

Facing a seven run deficit is not too uncommon for the Devil Rays this season. But, like many times before, they were able to get close, but it was too little, too late. Jose Cruz's two-run linedrive homerun to left in the 4th gave the Rays some hope. Tino Martinez followed one batter later with a solo homerun to deep left-center to close the gap to four runs. With the score 8-4, the clubs traded solo homeruns by Martinez and Lee before two runs in the 8th by the White Sox gave them a six run lead and put the game out of reach.

W: Mark Buehrle (1-2); L: Jeff Suppan (1-1)
Player of the Game: Carlos Lee. 4-4, HR (6), BB, 3 Runs, 3 RBIs (11)
Game Notes: Juan Uribe set a career high for hits (4) in a game! Carl Crawford extends his hitting streak to a career high 12 games!

American League East Standings: (04/20)

Code:


Team      W-L   PCT  GB  Streak  Last10
Boston    9-5, .643        L1     6-4
Tampa Bay 6-6, .500 -2.0   L1     4-6
Toronto   6-6, .500 -2.0   L1     6-4
New York  6-8, .429 -3.0   W1     6-4
Baltimore 4-9, .308 -4.5   W1     3-7

07-16-2004, 03:04 AM	#23
BostonRS14 All Star Starter Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Boston Posts: 1,029	Rays slam 4 homers in 9th inning, still drop decision to White Sox Game 10: Chicago (A) 14, Tampa Bay 12 The Devil Rays dug themselves a hole, but tried to battle back like they have all season. But, in what is becoming a familiar theme, the pitching staff couldn't keep the opponents quiet enough for the Rays to prevail. With only 14,432 fans in Tropicana Field (43,772) on Glove Day, Tampa tried to take advantage of Aubrey Huff's first two homeruns of the season, but were unable to kept up before time ran out. Jeremi Gonzalez failed for the third time in four starts to get past four innings as his ERA rose to 8.16. Joe Crede's two-run blast in the 2nd down the right field line opened the scoring on the day. Frank Thomas added his own 3-run homerun in the 3rd to give Chicago a 5-0 lead. The Devil Rays would chip away at it, Julio Lugo continued to surprise baseball fans everywhere. A 3rd inning homerun, his first of the season, got the Rays on the board. For the season, Lugo is batting .421, a 150 point increase over his career average (.274). He is one of four Tampa regulars batting over .340, joining Carl Crawford (.429), Rocco Baldelli (.432) and Geoff Blum (.342). Crawford, after stealing second, scored the second Rays' run on a Aubrey Huff single to left. Chicago would increase the lead to 9-3 before the Devil Rays finally put some solid at bats together. In the bottom of the 7th, Crawford's RBI double was followed one batter later with Huff's first homerun, a two-run shot to deep right center that closed the gap to three and breathed new life into the game. A run in the 7th gave the few fans still in attendance hope, but Danys Baez was unable to record the final out of the ninth. Instead, he surrendered seven consecutive hits to the White Sox, allowing five runs, all earned, to cross the plate. Finally, Paul Konerko, batting for the second time in the inning flied out to short center to end the horror show. Surprisingly, Tampa player's rallied around their closer, and tried to mount a comeback. Back-to-back solo homeruns by Aubrey Huff and Eduardo Perez got the crowd on their feet with one out. After a Tino Martinez single to left, Geoff Blum crushed a fastball to deep right field. When White sox manager Ozzie Guillen replaced Damaso Marte with Kelly Wunsch, Lou Pinella called back schedule hitter and put in pinch hitter Brook Fordyce. Not to be outdone by his teammates, Fordyce crushed his own 400 foot homerun, this one to left-center. Jose Santiago, the sixth White Sox reliever, emerged from the bullpen. Santiago, with the Rays now within 2, got Jose cruz and Lugo to ground out weakly to second base to escape with a wild win for the White Sox. W: John Garland (2-0); L: Jeremi Gonzalez (1-1); SV: Jose Santiago (1) Player of the Game: Aubrey Huff. 4-5, 2 HR (2), 2 Runs, 4 RBIs (9) Game Notes: Julio Lugo hit the longest homer of his career, it went 429 feet. Aubrey Huff hit the longest homer of his career, it went 413 feet. Geoff Blum hit the longest homer of his career, it went 408 feet. Geoff Blum set a career high for hits (4) in a game! Brook Fordyce hit the longest homer of his career, it went 409 feet. Rays victimize Chicago pen, earn easy win Game 11: Tampa Bay 7, Chicago (A) 2 One thing can definately be said about the Devil Rays, they like to make this interesting. After a 4 and a half hour marathon to open the series that saw 26 runs and 38 hits, the Rays turned to Mark Hendrickson to give their bats a chance to win a game. Although no one will confuse him with a staff ace, Hendrickson was able to outpitch Enemencio Pacheco to earn his first win in a Rays jersey. Brook Fordyce, fresh off his pinch hit home run in the game the night before, kept swinging the hot bat, stroking a second inning double to the gap in left-center that score Fred McGriff from first with the game's first run. Julio Lugo improved his impressive start, belting his second home run in as many days in the 6th. This one was a two-run shot to deep left field that gave Hendrickson a three-run cushion and proved to be the eventual game-winning run. Chicago got on the board in the top of the 7th when Hendrickson surrendered three straight extra base hits to the White Sox. Frank Thomas, who led the inning off with a double to left, was followed by Paul Konerko with a triple down the right field line. Pinch hitter Miguel Olivo brought him home with a double to the gap in right-center to cut the lead to one. Edurado Perez, pinch hitting for the struggling Jose Cruz, slapped a single to left-center to bring Aubrey Huff home with an insurance run for the Rays in the 7th. Kelly Wunsch walked Damian Rolls to start the 8th, before Shingo "Mr. Zero" Takatsu took over and surrendered a single to Tino Martinez. Carl Crawford followed with a three-run homerun to deep right-center to cap the scoring for the Rays. Wunsch ERA rose to 54.05 for the season. Danys Baez rebounded from his poor performance the night before, to work the final one and two-third innings to earn his league-leading fifth save. W: Mark Hendrickson (1-0); L: Enemencio Pacheco (0-1); SV: Danys Baez (5) Player of the Game: Carl Crawford. 2-5, HR (2), SB (9), Run, 3 RBIs (12) Game Notes: Carl Crawford hit the longest homer of his career, it went 408 feet. Carl Crawford extends his hitting streak to a career high 11 games! Rays stumble early, drop series to White Sox Game 12: Tampa Bay 5, Chicago 11 Jeff Suppan's home debut with the Devil Rays did not last too long. With an overworked bullpen, Lou Pinella was hoping that his top starter could work late into the game, like he has in his two previous starts this season. Instead, Suppan was gone after only one and a third inning, forcing Pinella to call on his bullpen once again to keep the game from getting out of hand. Frank Thomas's three-run 1st inning homerun was the beginning of Suppan's problems. After Mark Buehrle sent the Rays down in order in the bottom of the second, Magglio Ordonez put an end to Suppan's day with a bases-clearing double into the left-center gap that scored Jose Valentin and Timo Perez easily. Lance Carter entered the game and let the inherited runner score on Carlos Lee's single. Facing a seven run deficit is not too uncommon for the Devil Rays this season. But, like many times before, they were able to get close, but it was too little, too late. Jose Cruz's two-run linedrive homerun to left in the 4th gave the Rays some hope. Tino Martinez followed one batter later with a solo homerun to deep left-center to close the gap to four runs. With the score 8-4, the clubs traded solo homeruns by Martinez and Lee before two runs in the 8th by the White Sox gave them a six run lead and put the game out of reach. W: Mark Buehrle (1-2); L: Jeff Suppan (1-1) Player of the Game: Carlos Lee. 4-4, HR (6), BB, 3 Runs, 3 RBIs (11) Game Notes: Juan Uribe set a career high for hits (4) in a game! Carl Crawford extends his hitting streak to a career high 12 games! American League East Standings: (04/20) Code: Team W-L PCT GB Streak Last10 Boston 9-5, .643 L1 6-4 Tampa Bay 6-6, .500 -2.0 L1 4-6 Toronto 6-6, .500 -2.0 L1 6-4 New York 6-8, .429 -3.0 W1 6-4 Baltimore 4-9, .308 -4.5 W1 3-7