REYES SPARKLES FOR RAYS IN DEBUT
2-Hit Shutout Requires 77 Pitches
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., May 27 (AP) - Carlos Reyes made his 2003 season debut a
memorable one, firing a two-hit complete game shutout as the Tampa Bay Devil
Rays hammered the Texas Rangers, 9-0 at Tropicana Field. Reyes struck out
two batters and walked none, needing only 77 pitches to finish the Rangers off,
by far the lowest number in a complete game this season. The next lowest
total was 92 when Jamie Moyer of the Seattle Mariners beat the Rangers on April
13 at Safeco Field.
At no point in the game was Reyes in any real trouble. He surrendered a
one-out double to Hank Blalock in the top of the first inning, but easily set
down Alex Rodriguez and Rafael Palmeiro to end the inning. In the second,
Mark Teixeira reached on a two-out error by third baseman Jared Sandberg, but
Reyes then retired the next 19 batters in a row before Carl Everett singled with
one out in the ninth. Blalock then flied routinely to left and Donnie
Sadler popped to short to end the game.
Reyes' teammates took off any pressure that might have been present early in the
contest. The Rays scored three runs in the second. Ben Grieve led
off with a single off Rangers starter Colby Lewis (5-4) and, one out later,
Marlon Anderson doubled him to third. Sandberg then roped a two-bagger
into the left-center field gap, scoring both runners and later scored on Carl
Crawford's two-out base hit.
In the second, the Rays drove Lewis from the game, scoring two more runs in the
process. Travis Lee singled with one out and Grieve's double put runners
on second and third. Toby Hall then doubled home both baserunners and
ended Lewis' evening with Tampa Bay on top 5-0.
The Rays put the game away for good in the fifth, with four more runs charged to
reliever R.A. Dickey. Aubrey Huff led off with the fifth of six doubles
Tampa Bay would accrue in the game and scored on Lee's base hit. Grieve
drew a walk and Hall drove center fielder Everett to the warning track for the
first out, with Huff advancing to third. Anderson then drove a flat Dickey
knuckleball into the right-center field stands for a three-run homer and a 9-0
Rays lead. That capped the scoring.
After an awful start to the season--the Rays were 4-18 on the morning of April
25--things have stabilized and the club has played .500 ball over the past
month. The biggest key to the more competitive play has been improved
starting pitching as Tampa Bay has sported a quality start percentage roughly in
line with the American League average since May 1.
5/27/2003, Tex03-TB03, Tropicana Field 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 2003 Rangers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 1 2003 Devil Rays 0 3 2 0 4 0 0 0 x 9 14 1 4 0 Rangers AB R H BI AVG Devil Rays AB R H BI AVG Everett,C cf 4 0 1 0 .282 Crawford lf 5 0 2 1 .238 Blalock 3b 4 0 1 0 .397 Baldelli cf 4 0 2 0 .264 Rodriguez,A ss 3 0 0 0 .318 Huff rf 4 1 1 0 .337 Sadler,D ss 1 0 0 0 .444 Easley 3b 0 0 0 0 .268 Palmeiro,R 1b 3 0 0 0 .242 Lee,T 1b 4 2 2 1 .304 Gonzalez,Ju rf 3 0 0 0 .250 Grieve dh 3 3 2 0 .290 Sierra dh 3 0 0 0 .336 Hall,T c 4 0 1 2 .226 Teixeira lf 3 0 0 0 .256 Anderson,Mar 2b 4 2 3 3 .272 Christenson cf 0 0 0 0 .188 Sandberg 3b 4 1 1 2 .227 Diaz,E c 3 0 0 0 .301 Tyner rf 0 0 0 0 .350 Young,M 2b 3 0 0 0 .269 Lugo ss 4 0 0 0 .274 30 0 2 0 36 9 14 9 Rangers INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Lewis L 5-4 2.1 9 5 5 0 1 58 36 6.28 Dickey 2.0 3 4 4 1 0 36 20 7.22 Powell,J 1.2 1 0 0 0 1 18 11 5.59 Fultz 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 14 9 4.42 Garcia,Ro 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 10 7 4.32 8.0 14 9 9 1 5 136 83 Devil Rays INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Reyes,C W 1-0 9.0 2 0 0 0 2 77 55 0.00 9.0 2 0 0 0 2 77 55 Tex: Everett,C moved to lf in the 8th Sadler,D inserted at ss in the 8th Christenson inserted at cf in the 8th TB : Easley inserted at 3b in the 9th Tyner inserted at rf in the 9th E-Sandberg. 2B-Blalock(11), Huff(17), Grieve(2), Hall,T(3), Anderson,Mar 2(13), Sandberg(6). HR-Anderson,Mar(3). RBI-Crawford(21), Lee,T(35), Hall,T 2(14), Anderson,Mar 3(19), Sandberg 2(7). SB-Baldelli(7). CS-Crawford. K-Blalock, Gonzalez,Ju, Crawford, Lee,T, Grieve, Hall,T, Sandberg. BB-Grieve. PB-Diaz,E. WP-Dickey. GWRBI: Sandberg Temperature: 70, Wind: none. Attendance: 9,087 Game Time: 2:09