Rays roll behind 9-run fifth

By KEVIN KELLY, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published June 12, 2002

[Times photo: Michael Rondou] Rays starting pitcher Joe Kennedy gets an embrace from catcher John Flaherty after his second complete game of the season and the team's fourth. The left-hander pitched shutout ball over the last six innings of the six-hitter.

ST. PETERSBURG -- Randy Winn pointed the way for several days.

It just took his Rays teammates a while to catch on before they caught up with the streaking centerfielder.

Tampa Bay made up for days, weeks and months of futility and frustration with an offensive breakthrough against the Dodgers on Tuesday at Tropicana Field.

The Rays scored nine -- that's right, nine -- in the fifth inning and won 11-2.

"We have to be a team that takes games from other people," Rays second baseman Brent Abernathy said. "We can't sit back and let wins come to us. I felt like that's what we did tonight.

"We were aggressive, swung the bats and basically made things happen. Everybody did the job when they were called upon to do it."

Every Ray reached base at least once during fifth and the 11,416 fans saw Tampa Bay's first squeeze bunt of the season and a historic pair of home runs by first baseman Jared Sandberg.

"It was a good game offensively and it's something we need to do more of," manager Hal McRae said. "We put pitching and hitting together tonight and we haven't been able to do that.

"It's something we need to do more consistently."

Rays left-hander Joe Kennedy pitched his second complete game of the season, allowing two runs on six hits. He struck out four.

"You're glad to get those runs on the board. ... It's just something you enjoy watching," said Kennedy, who threw 118 pitches. "But you know you've got to go out there and do your job."

Kennedy allowed both runs in the third and had total command after coming out for the sixth with a nine-run lead. He retired 12 of the last 13 batters.

"We needed a win," McRae said. "We hadn't won very much of late. ... Joe gave us a chance."

The runs were a season high for a club that ranked last in the American League in batting average, runs and RBIs through Monday and whose only bright spot in recent days was Winn.

He is batting .559 with 7 doubles, 3 home runs and 8 RBIs since moving into the leadoff spot seven games ago in Toronto. He finished 3-for-4 Tuesday and was a triple shy of the cycle.

McRae substituted for Winn, who homered to lead off the first, in the seventh inning.

"I wasn't even thinking in those terms," McRae said. "I didn't know it was possible for him to get one."

Sandberg led off the fifth with a homer to leftfield, breaking a tie at 2. Winn followed with a double before rightfielder Ben Grieve struck out.

Everything started rolling after that.

Designated hitter Aubrey Huff and catcher John Flaherty each hit run-scoring singles. Abernathy laid down a squeeze bunt that Dodgers starting pitcher Omar Daal fielded and flipped high to his catcher, allowing Huff to slide home safely.

"I thought we might have given the sign away a little bit, so I was prepared for a pitchout," Abernathy said. "Nothing would've really surprised me at that point."

After shortstop Chris Gomez and third baseman Russ Johnson singled, Sandberg sent reliever Giovanni Carrara's pitch over the left-centerfield fence for a three-run homer.

He became the 39th major-leaguer to hit two home runs in an inning and 16th in American League history.

"It's tough enough to think about two homers in one game, but two homers in one inning is unbelievable," Sandberg said. "It's definitely a dream come true."

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