Rays drop sixth straight to Twins

07/19/2006
MINNEAPOLIS -- A different lineup produced the same result for the Devil Rays on Wednesday night.
The Rays tallied just four hits, even though manager Joe Maddon tried to provide his team a fresh outlook when he fiddled with the front end of the lineup, and couldn't find enough production despite a pair of home runs.
A four-run fifth inning was too much for the Rays to overcome as they lost to Minnesota, 7-2, at the Metrodome. It was the club's sixth straight loss -- the longest losing streak of the season and worst second-half start in franchise history.
The Rays, who are a season-high 16 games under .500, have dropped nine of 10 game and 11 straight to the Twins since 2004.
"Before the break we looked wonderful, and now we don't look so wonderful," Maddon said. "We have to get better than that."
Minnesota starter Brad Radke (8-7) tossed seven innings and allowed just four hits, including a pair of solo home runs. After struggling in the first couple of months this season, Radke hasn't lost since June 3.
The Rays' four hits tied their season low, done four times previously, including Tuesday night against Francisco Liriano.
"Sometimes there are extenuating circumstances to your demise, and we'll have to just keep battling until we get through it," said Maddon, noting the team's tough-luck run of facing strong pitching.
The new lineup couldn't beat Radke, but it did end a couple of cold streaks for the Rays.
Designated hitter Jonny Gomes, who hit in the second spot for the first time this season, homered in the sixth inning to snap an 0-for-21 streak. The blast was Gomes' 19th home run of the season and his first hit since the All-Star break.
Third baseman Ty Wigginton, who had missed the last four games with a strained back, collected two of Tampa Bay's four hits. He ended an 0-for-16 streak with a single in the fifth.
"It was definitely nice to get back out there," said Wigginton, who added that his back felt fine, even after making a diving stop at third.
Rays starter Jae Seo (0-4) lasted 5 2/3 innings and gave up 11 hits and seven runs. The Twins took the lead with a four-run fifth inning that began with a leadoff homer by Rondell White, who hit another homer two innings earlier to tie the game.
Down, 2-1, with one out and runners on the corners, Minnesota's Nick Punto hit a 1-2 pitch down the right-field line for a triple. He scored on a sacrifice fly two batters later.
"It came down to the at-bat with Punto," Maddon said. "I can't say it was an awful pitch. He gets a breaking ball and put it right down the line. [The Twins] work good at-bats."
Minnesota tacked on two more runs in the sixth with three consecutive two-out hits -- the last two off reliever Shawn Camp, who replaced Seo after Jason Bartlett ripped an RBI triple.
Right fielder Greg Norton homered in the second inning, giving the Rays an early 1-0 lead. The ball just cleared the wall in left, reaching the first row of seats. Carl Crawford and Rocco Baldelli -- both moved down in the order to third and fourth, respectively -- combined to hit 0-for-8.
The Rays look to prevent a four-game sweep Thursday against Johan Santana and try to win one game on the road trip before returning home for series against Baltimore and Anaheim.
"It's real frustrating," Gomes said. "It's not like no one doesn't want to spark the first [win], it's not like no one's trying. We just have to go out and get them and not sit back and watch."

Source: http://tampabay.devilrays.mlb.com/

Rays get Ruggiano to complete LA trade

07/19/2006
MINNEAPOLIS -- The Devil Rays completed their June 27 trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers, receiving Minor League outfielder Justin Ruggiano as the player to be named later.
Ruggiano batted .260 with nine home runs and 45 RBIs with Double-A Jacksonville. Ruggiano, who was selected in the 25th round of the 2004 First-Year Player Draft, has 19 doubles and three triples on the season.
He will report to Double-A Montgomery.
In the trade last month, the Rays acquired starting pitcher Jae Seo and catcher Dioner Navarro in exchange for pitcher Mark Hendrickson, catcher Toby Hall and cash.

Source: http://tampabay.devilrays.mlb.com/

Notes: Snapping the Rays' skid

07/20/2006
MINNEAPOLIS -- Manager Joe Maddon says mental toughness will be the key as his team tries to break its offensive funk and current losing streak.
The Devil Rays wrapped up play on Thursday having lost a season-high seven straight games, which also tied a franchise record for consecutive losses immediately following the All-Star break. They were also a season-high 18 games under .500. Starting pitcher Scott Kazmir said earlier this week that the team isn't in panic mode yet, but Maddon said he wants to keep the clubhouse even-keeled.
"[The players] always want to see what you look like when you walk in the door," Maddon said. "They don't need to see a spread overturned and I don't think they need to see anything splattered on the wall.
"I think they need consistency on how you deal with them and how they react to you."
After Tampa Bay's 6-4 loss to Minnesota on Thursday, the Rays have tallied just 45 hits in their last 63 innings, while dropping seven games to the Angels and Twins. The club has scored only 17 runs during that span.
"I think, as a whole, the team just needs to stay positive," third baseman Ty Wigginton said. "And instead of focusing on getting a hit, we should concentrate on our approach in each and every at-bat."
Learning to win on the road: After losing all seven games of their road swing, the Rays' record away from Tropicana Field plummeted to 17-37 -- third worst in the Major Leagues.
Maddon admits the team's youth doesn't help with common problems, like staying at a hotel or dealing with the quirks of a foreign ballpark.
"As you get more experienced in the league, those things bother you less," Maddon said. "I think it's normally a veteran group that's able to do that more easily than a younger group."
The manager said he's already looked into a change of pace for the team's next road swing in New York, July 28-30, but didn't want to reveal specifics. Maddon would only say the new idea goes back to the old days, adding it won't involve a train ride.
"It's kind of hush-hush right now," he said.
Tough pitching during rough stretch: On its 0-7 road trip, Tampa Bay will have faced the American League's three best pitchers with the lowest opponents batting average. Minnesota's Francisco Liriano leads the AL with a .196 average and Anaheim's John Lackey is second with a .205 average.
Thursday's opposing starter, Johan Santana, is third, holding foes to a .220 batting average.
"We had the wonderful pleasure of seeing them all on one trip," Maddon said. "Sometimes there are extenuating circumstances to your demise."
Rays roundup: Second baseman Jorge Cantu returned to the lineup on Thursday, batting fifth, after sitting out Wednesday night's game. ... It's been more than two years since Tampa Bay beat Minnesota, but the last win came against Santana on June 3, 2004. ... The Rays will play 39 of their remaining 66 games at Tropicana Field.
Minor matters: Center fielder Darnell McDonald went 2-for-5 with a home run to extend his hitting streak to a club-record 24 games as Triple-A Durham fell to Scranton, 8-6, on Wednesday. Brian Stokes allowed seven runs -- four earned -- on seven hits and four walks in four innings to pick up the loss. ... Andy Sonnanstine tossed a two-hit shutout, striking out five and walking one as Double-A Montgomery beat West Tennessee, 7-0. ... James Houser allowed one run and three hit in six innings to give Class A Visalia a 4-1 victory over Modesto.

Source: http://tampabay.devilrays.mlb.com/

Rays drop series finale vs. Twins

07/20/2006
MINNEAPOLIS -- The Devil Rays simply can't find enough hits right now.
Even when the team jumped out to an early lead against one of the American League's best pitchers, a defensive lapse evened the score and a big inning shut down Tampa Bay's chances of halting its worst losing streak of the season on Thursday afternoon as Minnesota swept the four-game set with a 6-4 win at the Metrodome.
The Rays fell to a season-high 18 games below .500 and lost a franchise-record 12th straight to the Twins.
"There's so much premium on our pitchers right now to not make mistakes because we're not scoring runs," manager Joe Maddon said. "I think that's adding a little pressure to them, so we just have to pick it up on the offensive side.
"When you don't hit, everything else seems to drag."
Despite allowing a four-run fifth inning, the Rays had a chance to get back in the game in the final two frames.
In the eighth inning, second baseman Jorge Cantu hit a two-out home run off reliever Juan Rincon, cutting the deficit to 6-4. Ty Wigginton then walked to bring the tying run to the plate. Maddon elected to use Greg Norton to pinch-hit for Dave Hollins, but he struck out in the eight-pitch at-bat to end the threat.
In the ninth, Travis Lee notched a leadoff single off Twins closer Joe Nathan to again bring the tying run to the plate, but Nathan struck out the last three hitters on 12 pitches.
All in all, four hitters came to the plate in the last two innings with a chance to tie the game with a homer or make things interesting with a base hit. Every one of them struck out.
"That's kind of been a problem for us all year," Maddon said of the untimely hitting. "We're working at it, but we just have to get better. It takes time. That's not been one of our strong points."
Rays starter James Shields (4-4) lasted 4 1/3 innings, allowing eight hits and five earned runs. In the fifth inning, six of the first seven Twins hitters reached base via a hit or walk -- the only out was a sacrifice bunt. Minnesota batted around in the inning, forcing Shields out of the game after throwing just 82 pitches.
"I was just making bad pitches," said Shields, who is 0-4 with an 8.89 ERA in his last five starts. "If I execute my pitches, that doesn't happen.
"My ball was up. If I keep the ball down, I might get some groundouts or even pop outs."
A couple of critical mistakes in the field for the Rays led to the tying run in the fourth inning and a security run in the sixth.
With the Rays leading, 1-0, in the fourth, catcher Josh Paul called for a pitchout with Minnesota's Nick Punto on first base. Punto ran on the play, realized he would be thrown out and stopped 10 feet short of second. But Punto made a sudden cut for the back end of the bag when shortstop Julio Lugo took a wide turn on the front side of the base and was called safe.
Punto scored when Michael Cuddyer doubled to right-center field.
In the sixth, a balk by reliever Chad Harville moved Minnesota's Jason Tyner into scoring position. He came around to score on a two-out double by Luis Castillo, extending Minnesota's lead, 6-3.
Tampa Bay took an early lead with Travis Lee's home run to lead off the third inning -- his second of the series. After Minnesota evened the contest, the Rays regained the lead with a two-out single by Rocco Baldelli that scored two in the fifth. It was Baldelli's fifth multi-RBI game of the season.
The Rays held a lead in three of four games of the series, but never led after the fifth inning.
"Today, we got in the game, we got ahead and I couldn't close the deal," Shields said.
Minnesota left-hander Johan Santana (11-5), on a bad day, was good enough to beat the Rays. Santana tossed just six innings, but allowed six hits and an unprecedented four walks -- he hadn't recorded that many walks in a game in his last 37 starts.
Santana and three Twins relievers combined for 14 strikeouts -- at least one in every inning except the third.
"We strike out way too much," Maddon said. "There's no denying it and there's no tap-dancing around it. That's a big part of your offense, where if you're not even making the defense play, it's a lot easier for the defense and the pitcher."

Source: http://tampabay.devilrays.mlb.com/