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The Comforts Of Home

Rays' Willie Aybar collides with Florida Marlins catcher Matt Treanor, left, during the sixth inning of a baseball game Friday, June 13, 2008 in St. Petersburg, Fla. Aybar scored from third base on Jason Bartlett's sacrifice fly to center.

Associated Press photo

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By CARTER GADDIS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 14, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - After a tempestuous trip that caught them in a whirlwind of emotional strife from New England to Southern California, the Rays returned to Tropicana Field on Friday and proved, once again, there's no place like Dome.

No one incited a benches-clearing brawl. No Rays player attacked another in the dugout. No one had much to say, good or bad, about the umpiring or about the conduct of their opponents.

It was merely a meeting of Florida upstarts, and the Rays won, 7-3. The Marlins had the misfortune of being on the wrong side of the state, because it is Tampa Bay's 25-10 home record that has launched the Rays' bid for a playoff berth.

"We've done pretty well here," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "I think a day off on Thursday helped. It was an intense road trip, in a lot of different ways. This place is turning into 'The Pit,' and I like it. And we do come back, and obviously everybody does feel more comfortable. You can just read it on their faces."

On their faces and in the box score. After scoring only three runs combined in consecutive losses to the Angels to end the recent nine-game swing, Tampa Bay banged out 13 hits and hung five runs in five innings on Marlins rookie starter Ryan Tucker (1-1).

The game swung in Tampa Bay's favor early, even after starter Andy Sonnanstine came out a bit flat and gave up two runs in the first. A strike-'em-out, throw-'em-out double play ended Florida's first, with former Ray Jorge Cantu getting caught stealing by Dioner Navarro as slugging second baseman Dan Uggla swung at strike three.

Tampa Bay answered Florida's early uprising by scoring twice in the bottom of the first. Eric Hinske, starting in left field for suspended All-Star Carl Crawford, doubled home Akinori Iwamura and B.J. Upton to tie it.

Sonnanstine settled in for a 1-2-3 second, and the Rays broke through for the game's deciding runs in their half of the inning.

With Crawford out, someone had to pick up the base-stealing slack. Shortstop Jason Bartlett (3-for-3, two runs scored) swiped a couple, but the third Rays stolen base came courtesy of designated hitter Cliff Floyd.

And it wasn't just a novelty, even though it was Floyd's first stolen base since 2006. After cooling his heels throughout the three-game series against the Angels, Floyd returned to the lineup ready to run - and, for luck, he wore Crawford's size 11 cleats.

That's right. On Friday the 13th, Floyd wore No. 13's shoes - and stole an important base, to boot.

With Marlins first baseman Mike Jacobs playing behind him, Floyd took off on Tucker and had the base stolen when the ball scooted into center field for an error on catcher Matt Treanor. Floyd scrambled to his feet and rumbled to third, and he was able to jog home when Gabe Gross hit a go-ahead double.

Gross later scored on Iwamura's groundout, and the Rays had all the runs they would need to gain a game on the first-place Red Sox, who lost to the Reds in Cincinnati.

After giving up a triple, a double and a hard-hit single to Florida's first three batters, Sonnanstine retired 12 in a row to earn his first victory since May 16. One important element in his ability to settle down was that, unlike his last start at Texas, Sonnanstine wasn't suffering the effects of a three-day stomach virus.

"I'd never really dealt with anything like that my whole, entire career," Sonnanstine said. "I battled through it and got through five over there in Texas. Today, it was night and day compared to how I felt there and how I felt today. It was good. My body felt fantastic. Location was a little spotty there in the first, but I cleaned that up and I did well."

So did Rays relievers J.P. Howell, Dan Wheeler and Troy Percival, who combined on 22/3 scoreless innings. Percival, appearing on the same day he returned from the 15-day disabled list, pitched a perfect ninth.

And just like that, the effects of a 3-6 road trip that cost the Rays the top spot in the American League East began to recede into memory, like a bad dream.

"It was nice to come back home," Navarro said. "It was nothing crazy. It was just a win."

Reporter Carter Gaddis can be reached at (813) 259-8291 or igaddis@tampatrib.com.

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