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Hinske Happy To Quiet Jays Fans

AP Photo

Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher A.J. Burnett catches the ball as Tampa Bay Rays Eric Hinske rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run during sixth inning baseball action in Toronto.

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By MARC LANCASTER

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 7, 2008

TORONTO - As far as Eric Hinske knows, his greatest sin toward the people of this fine city was not living up to the hype from his Rookie of the Year season in 2002.

He didn't pop off about the Blue Jays in public and he didn't leave the team in a lurch by spurning them for free agency. In fact, it was the Jays who got rid of him, trading him to Boston in August 2006 for cash.

So he wasn't quite sure why he was booed by many of those in attendance at Rogers Centre on Tuesday night even before he launched a towering home run to dead center for what proved to be the decisive run in a 5-4 Rays victory.

"I don't know," Hinske said. "I never really put up the numbers that I did my first year, so I think that's why they do it. I never said anything in the paper or made anybody mad. They traded me, so I don't know why they boo me.

"The only thing that makes them quiet is if you get a hit, so I just keep trying to get hits."

He got a couple of them Tuesday as the Rays shook off a long weekend of sluggish offensive showings at Fenway Park, snapping their three-game skid and Toronto's five-game winning streak.

It truly was an all-around effort for the Rays. Every hitter in their lineup except Carlos Pena (four at-bats, four strikeouts) reached base, starter Andy Sonnanstine kept his team above water for six innings, the defense turned in some outstanding plays and the bullpen finished it off with three near-flawless innings.

It was a grinding kind of game for Sonnanstine. After the Rays scored three runs off A.J. Burnett in the top of the third, the Rays' starter allowed two runs in the bottom half. Toronto tied it at 3 in the fourth, then Tampa Bay bounced back in the fifth when Akinori Iwamura doubled home Jason Bartlett. That ended the Jays' string of 10 straight quality starts, but the game wasn't in hand yet.

Hinske's sixth-inning blast off the window of the restaurant that overlooks center field made it 5-3, but Toronto cut it to 5-4 in the bottom half. The Blue Jays put the tying run on third base with one out, but Sonnanstine (5-1) got Marco Scutaro (in the game after Toronto lost shortstops David Eckstein and John McDonald to injuries in a two-inning span) to ground into an inning-ending double play on his final pitch. From there, Dan Wheeler and Troy Percival closed it out.

"That's typical Sonnanstine right there - a little bit of a bending but there was no breaking and he gave us an opportunity to win the game," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "He doesn't cave in, and that's what I really appreciate about him."

Maddon also made clear his appreciation for Hinske, who has seven homers and always seems to have a quality at-bat.

"What's going on with the booing?" Maddon asked local reporters. "He's one of the nicest guys in the history of the United States and he gets booed in Canada. ... Did he skip town with a couple parking tickets?"

Hinske had nothing but good things to say about the city, but he was most pleased to help the Rays get back to winning.

"It was tough in Boston for us," he said. "Losing three in a row, you don't want to get to that fourth game and lose it. First game of a series, it's a big win for us, a huge win for us."

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

tampatrib.com.

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