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Hamilton Slams Rays

AP Photo

Texas Rangers' Josh Hamilton, right, is welcomed at home plate by teammates, from left, Ian Kinsler, Michael Young and Ramon Vazquez after hitting a grand slam during the eighth inning of a baseball game on Tuesday, May 27, 2008, in St. Petersburg, Fla. Tampa Bay Rays catcher Dioner Navarro is in the foreground.

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By MARC LANCASTER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 28, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - Josh Hamilton's first game at Tropicana Field on Monday came and went in four quiet, hitless at-bats without a hint of all he has accomplished for the Rangers this season.

He more than made up for it Tuesday, accounting in one way or another for all but one of the Rangers' runs in a 12-6 rout of the Rays.

Eleven runs courtesy of one player? Directly or indirectly, yes.

Hamilton opened the scoring in the first with a double off Andy Sonnanstine that scored Michael Young, then came around to tally a run of his own later in the inning.

His contribution to the Rangers' five-run second inning was inadvertent but no less important. With two men on and two outs, Hamilton sent a would-be inning-ending grounder to third. But Evan Longoria couldn't handle it, throwing late to first for the Rays' first error since May 17. One run scored on the play and four more would come across (all of them unearned) before Sonnanstine finally found a way out.

The Rays spent the middle innings meticulously shaving five runs off that early 7-0 edge and found themselves back in the game and believing another improbable win might be in the offing.

That thought disappeared with an even more improbable swing of Hamilton's bat in the eighth. After the Rangers managed to push across a run without his help for an 8-5 lead, J.P. Howell walked Young to load the bases with nobody out. Hamilton stepped up and crushed Howell's first pitch way out to right for a grand slam - even though he didn't see it.

"When I swung, my bat passed, I made contact with the ball," Hamilton explained. "But I actually closed my eyes for a split-second because I thought it was going to run in and maybe hit me. I heard it hit and opened my eyes back up and there it went."

There it went, and the legend grew. Hamilton's second career grand slam upped his season RBI total to 58, 12 more than any other player in the majors and 11 more than he racked up all of last season with the Reds. Hamilton's 13th home run this season was his first in the stadium he was expected to call home as he put up the kind of numbers he's posting now.

The Hamilton the Rays saw Tuesday looked a lot more like the one the rest of the league has seen to this point, a glimpse they would have preferred to skip.

"I didn't want to see it that much," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "I could just hear about it, that's OK."

Hamilton's prodigious talents are out there for everyone to see now, with the Rangers the beneficiary.

Texas manager Ron Washington described the grand slam as "bigger than big" because it summarily halted the good vibes that had been running through the Rays' dugout as they had closed the gap on the strength of two-run homers by Cliff Floyd and Eric Hinske, among other offensive highlights.

Between that late blast and Sonnanstine's troubles early in the game, though, the Rays were left to take the loss and move on to today's series finale.

Speaking of Sonnanstine, both the pitcher and his manager continue to insist they don't see any serious problems with the way he is going about his business despite him surrendering seven runs in each of his last two starts.

It's understood by now that Sonnanstine's command has to be on for him to be successful, and he hasn't had it the last two times out, even though he has been pleased with his stuff.

"My past two starts, the box score hasn't really shown how my arm's felt," Sonnanstine said. "I felt real good going into the game; the location was a little bit elevated in the first couple innings and that definitely hurt me. After that, I started lowering my sights and getting guys out."

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

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