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Rays Go Batty On Baltimore

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By MARC LANCASTER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 6, 2007

Updated: 09/06/2007 07:05 am

ST. PETERSBURG - Wednesday night marked the final meeting between the Devil Rays and Orioles this season. Considering the way the series has gone lately, the Rays can't help but be crushed by that bit of bad news.

Tampa Bay has taken out a season's worth of frustration on fast-sliding Baltimore during the past week, and Wednesday's 17-2 beat-down was appropriate closure for the Rays.

The going-away get-together turned out to be the Rays' most prolific offensive showing ever at Tropicana Field and saw a club record established by Tampa Bay's biggest stick. The Rays' 17 runs and 22 hits were season highs and records at the Trop, and their 41 total bases set a franchise record. They came up two shy of their all-time record for runs and hits in a game, but the 15-run margin of victory was their biggest ever.

'That game right there,' first baseman Carlos Pena said, 'that was a lot of fun.'

The mirth started early and never ended for the Rays. Orioles starter Radhames Liz couldn't make it through two innings and Manager Dave Trembley began pulling his starting position players from the game in the fifth. By that point, the home team had a 13-0 lead built on an eight-run fourth inning, with half of those runs coming on the latest sweeping cut of Pena's bat.

Pena's grand slam in the fourth and two-run homer in the sixth gave him 37 long balls for the season, and a second-inning sacrifice fly boosted his RBI total for the game to seven - tying his career high and breaking the franchise's longest-standing record. Paul Sorrento had held the mark with six RBIs on May 3, 1998, a mere 1,566 games ago.

Pena's season total now stands at 105, making him the fourth player in Rays history along with Fred McGriff, Aubrey Huff and Jorge Cantu to drive in 100 runs in a season. He has three multihomer games in the past 11 and has homered 11 times in 17 games.

'He'd be in the running for MVP right now if he was in a different city,' Rays manager Joe Maddon said. 'Right now, every pitch he's seeing, he looks like he's going to hit it hard somewhere. I'd just like him to stay like that for the next 10 years or so; that'd be kind of cool.'

While Pena did the heavy lifting with his two long homers to right field, everyone in the Rays' starting lineup collected at least one hit and one run scored. Only ninth-place hitter Josh Wilson, who had a career-high four hits, didn't drive in a run.

The Rays hit five home runs in all, their most in a nine-inning game. Included along with Pena's blasts were back-to-back homers by Delmon Young and Brendan Harris in the fourth. Harris' was his first since June 18, ending a run of 263 homerless at-bats.

'I kind of feel like I just had a baby, after waiting that long,' Harris said.

Jonny Gomes added a mammoth, 462-foot shot off the D-ring catwalk in the seventh to cap the scoring.

As the Rays demolished Baltimore's pitching staff, Andy Sonnanstine pitched six strong innings to win his third consecutive game. He didn't allow a run until pinch-hitter Tike Redman hit a two-run double in the fifth, snapping a 15-inning scoreless string for Sonnanstine that stretched over three starts.

Putting it all together like the Rays have lately has become a reward for a season that has had its share of ugly moments.

'This is well-deserved,' Pena said. 'One through nine, we have incredible talent - we can score some runs. And then the way we've been pitching, to me, is really exciting to see because I can see towards the future and say, 'This is what we can do.'

'If we play like this on a regular basis, which I know is just around the corner, we can certainly have a very good winning record and possibly be in the hunt for the playoffs. Why not?'

Reporter Marc Lancaster can be reached at (813) 259-7227 or mlancaster@tampatrib.com.

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