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Rays Fall Short In Loss

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By MARC LANCASTER

Published: September 19, 2007

ANAHEIM, Calif. A night after they pounded on a 17-game winner but still managed to get saddled with a loss, the Devil Rays cleaned their game up considerably Tuesday.

For their trouble, they had the honor of becoming John Lackey's 17th victim of the season. The Angels' starter masterfully worked every fraction of an inch given to him in the strike zone to out-duel Jason Hammel for a 2-1 win.

It was a disappointing outcome from a well-played game, but there wasn't much the Rays could do on this evening.

"We faced freakin' Cy Young tonight. What do you say?" Hammel said. "He threw a great ballgame; it's tough to contend with."

Hammel was stingy once again, surrendering just two runs in six innings as he continued to gain confidence and demonstrate composure on the mound. The lanky right-hander has allowed a total of six runs in 23 innings in his last four starts (a 2.35 ERA) after surrendering 25 runs over his previous five outings, in which he had a 10.23 ERA.

"Hammel did a great job," said Rays manager Joe Maddon. "He really started to incorporate his softer pitches as the game was in progress, which was good, and overall had another nice performance. After the game [Monday] night to come back and give us that kind of stable performance I thought was very impressive."

Hammel allowed the first batter he faced Tuesday, Brandon High's Chone Figgins, to single and come around to score but was able to lock things down pretty well after that.

The Rays' defense gave him an assist in the fourth, when Jonny Gomes tracked down a double by Howie Kendrick and started a perfect relay from Josh Wilson to Dioner Navarro that cut down Seminole High product Casey Kotchman at the plate.

"Tremendous relay play," said Maddon. "Jon got it in quickly and [Wilson] threw a low, bullet strike. That was all good, but the play Navi made was exceptional, because that ball was coming in hot and he stayed with it, caught it, did all the right things and made the tag."

The Rays had a good argument that the second run scored off Hammel shouldn't have counted. The red-hot Garret Anderson led off the sixth inning with his third hit of the day, a double down the right-field line, and moved to third on a groundout. The Rays intentionally walked Kotchman to set up a double play and thought they had it off the bat of Kendrick.

But first base umpire Brian Runge determined Jorge Velandia's relay throw from Wilson wasn't in time, allowing Anderson to score. Maddon argued the call to no avail, and television replays appeared to support the Rays' case on a very close play.

As steady as Hammel was to keep the Rays close, Lackey (17-9) was better. The Rays managed just two hits through the first seven innings off the right-hander, and one of those was granted retroactively. Delmon Young's hard smash off shortstop Orlando Cabrera's glove with two out in the fourth inning was originally ruled an error but later changed by the official scorer.

"I thought he was getting close calls, and he was making his pitches," said Pena, who struck out three times in four at-bats against Lackey. "There were balls just right on the black [part of the plate]. … He's a tough guy when he's getting those calls right on the corner and right on your knees."

Velandia was the only player who seemed to have Lackey figured out. He doubled in the fifth but was stranded, then rocketed a single to center leading off the eighth. Akinori Iwamura followed with a gorgeous bunt single that hugged the grass on the third-base line to move Velandia up, but Lackey struck out Greg Norton and Pena to remain unscathed.

The pitch that sent Pena down swinging was the one that got everyone's attention.

"Man, a 3-2 curveball – he didn't care about going to the bases loaded if he had to," said Pena. "It's one of those pitches where you go, 'That's just a good pitch.' It's too close to take, yet it's just enough out of the strike zone for you to not be able to hit it. All the credit to Lackey there – great job today."

It was a far cry from the damage the Rays were able to inflict upon an Angels starter with similar credentials, Kelvim Escobar, the previous evening. Lackey exerted far more influence over the game as he struck out 10 and didn't allow his two walks to morph into anything troubling.

For a Rays team that was tied for first in the majors in batting average, runs and slugging percentage (and tied for the lead in homers) over the previous 24 games, it was quite a step back. Then again, Lackey has owned Tampa Bay in Anaheim, posting a 6-0 record and 1.38 ERA here.

Angels manager Mike Scioscia gave Lackey, who had 100 pitches through eight innings, a chance to finish the Rays off. But B.J. Upton's leadoff double in the ninth represented the end of the leash, as Scioscia called upon Francisco Rodriguez to close it out. Velandia came up big once again for the Rays with a single that scored Upton, but Rodriguez struck out Wilson on a checked swing for the save.

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