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Clutch Hitting In 9th Inning Keeps Rays Atop AL East

The Associated Press

Tampa Bay Rays' Dan Johnson (24) is greeted by teammates at the dugout after his solo home run during the ninth inning of Tampa Bay's 5-4 win over the Boston Red Sox

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By MARC LANCASTER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 10, 2008

BOSTON - As the Rays dropped the opener of their showdown at Fenway Park Monday night, Dan Johnson was in Scranton, Pa., just happy to be off the bus that had taken 12 hours to deliver him and his teammates from Durham, N.C., to the finals of their Triple-A playoff series.

He had no reason to believe the next 24 hours would be among the most memorable of his baseball career.

Nor did the Rays, who summoned Johnson and catcher Michel Hernandez from Durham early Tuesday to bolster their injury-ridden roster and ended up celebrating with them after giving away, then reclaiming, one of their biggest victories of the season.

Johnson's homer leading off the ninth against Jonathan Papelbon tied a game that had fallen into Boston's hands minutes earlier and another newcomer, Fernando Perez, came around to score what proved to be the winning run in a 5-4 Tampa Bay triumph not long after.

The victory snapped a four-game skid and bumped Tampa Bay's AL East lead back to 1 1/2 games, ensuring the Rays will still be atop the division tonight following their final regular-season game of the season at Fenway Park.

The Rays have done a lot of work to get to that point, and it has been a collective effort all the way. Johnson's star turn Tuesday night merely reinforced the notion that even when times are bleak for the Rays, they'll find a way to get the job done.

"You know us – we are never going to back down, we're going to keep fighting until the game is over," said Dioner Navarro, whose double drove in Perez for the final tally. "This guy, Dan Johnson, the new guy – we don't even know their names yet – he had such a great at-bat and he gave us a shot. And Fernando Perez hit that double and me going after him – it feels good that we did a great job as a team. But it ain't over yet. We've got to go back at them tomorrow and the rest of the season, too."

Though the Rays led for much of Tuesday's game, there was never anything approaching a sense of security considering how things had gone for the Rays in Boston this season. That sense of impending doom was realized in the eighth when the player the Rays wanted but couldn't get at the trade deadline, Jason Bay, hit a two-run homer off Dan Wheeler to put the Red Sox ahead 4-3. He had been 1-for-18 against Wheeler prior to that at-bat, though the one hit was a homer.

Tampa Bay's eighth loss in as many games at Fenway Park seemed a foregone conclusion when Papelbon came on after the Rays sent Justin Ruggiano out to hit for Cliff Floyd leading off the ninth. That was just a decoy on Rays manager Joe Maddon's part, though. He knew his counterpart Terry Francona would remove lefty Hideki Okajima from the game if he brought in a right-handed hitter, and Francona probably figured Maddon would replace Ruggiano with the newest weapon in his arsenal.

The original plan had Johnson starting in left field, but he didn't arrive at Fenway Park until about 15 minutes prior to game time, so Maddon decided to hold off and let the new addition take some time to prepare himself.

By that point, Johnson probably was ready to hit just about anything. Durham manager Charlie Montoyo had called him at 9 a.m. to let him know he was going to the majors – "I had no idea it was coming," he said – and he and Hernandez headed for the airport in Scranton.

They flew from there to Philadelphia, but a nasty line of storms stretching up the East Coast that had Boston under ominous skies throughout the afternoon and evening left them stranded. The pair finally got to the ballpark about 6:50 p.m., and Maddon told Johnson he would use him later in the game if he needed him.

The call came in the ninth, and Johnson stepped to the plate in an unenviable situation. Sitting on a 0-for-15 career mark as a pinch-hitter, he wanted Papelbon throw him three straight balls, allowing him to calm down and get a feel for the closer's arsenal.

"It's been a while since I've been up here," said Johnson, who hadn't had a hit in the majors since Sept. 29, 2007. "The first couple of pitches I was a little bit antsy, I would say, and as the at-bat went on I was able to track some pitches. I got to 3-0 and was able to really track the 3-0 pitch, then I let loose on the 3-1 [and fouled it off] and kind of got the timing, and the sixth pitch of the at-bat ended up being a fastball again and I just got to it."

The 96 mph rocketed into rare air at Fenway, clearing the Red Sox bullpen in right-center as the stunned crowd looked on in silence.

"An impressive at-bat under those circumstances and he got it all," said Maddon.

Two batters later, Perez doubled high off the Green Monster and Dioner Navarro followed with the Rays' first hit with runners in scoring position all night, a double down the left-field line that brought home the speedy outfielder. The Rays had been 0-for-14 with men in scoring position before that hit.

"I was just trying to put the ball in play," Navarro said. "I've faced him a lot before and I knew he was going to come after me. I got a pitch out over the plate and I just kind of went with it and I'm so glad the ball was fair."

The sudden turn of events gave Troy Percival a shot at redemption after he blew a save Saturday in Toronto and he came through after a leadoff walk to Mark Kotsay made things interesting. Percival struck out Jason Varitek, who couldn't get down a bunt, and got David Ortiz to pop to right field for the second out.

But pinch-runner Jacoby Ellsbury stole second and went to third when Navarro's throw trickled into center field, jacking up the intensity level a bit with Coco Crisp at the plate. But Crisp popped up to second base and the Rays finally had the win they so desperately needed.

"I think it's pretty significant, particularly how we did it," said Maddon. "All night long we had a chance to really score a lot of runs and don't do it, don't do it, don't do it. Then all of a sudden they get a couple of home runs and they're on top and then here comes Mr. Closer in the game and it's not a real good feeling."

Nor was there any reason for the Rays to feel good. Papelbon had handled them easily the previous evening, hadn't allowed an earned run in his previous 18 games and hadn't blown a save since June 22.

Johnson put an end to both of those streaks with one swing, and victory followed.

He'll be in left field for tonight's series finale, presumably better rested and less harried than he was Tuesday, but he had no complaints about his debut.

"This was a hectic day," said Johnson. "But I'll take it any day."

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

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