Baseball Guru
04-03-2002, 09:28 AM
Devil Rays 9, Tigers 5
By FRED GOODALL
AP Sports Writer
April 2, 2002, 11:15 PM EST
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Tampa Bay's "Heart & Hustle" campaign is off to a successful start.
Greg Vaughn's two-out RBI single broke an eighth-inning tie and the young Devil Rays went on to beat the Detroit Tigers 9-5 Tuesday night before a season-opening crowd of 38,142 at Tropicana Field.
Vaughn broke a 5-5 tie after loser Juan Acevedo walked Steve Cox intentionally to get to the Devil Rays' cleanup hitter.
Ben Grieve drew a bases-loaded walk to drive in another run and Bobby Smith added a two-run double that glanced off pitcher Danny Patterson's foot and rolled into shallow right field.
Victor Zambrano pitched two-thirds of an inning for the win, and Esteban Yan finished.
Tampa Bay scored on pitcher Jeff Weaver's throwing error in the third, Brent Abernathy's RBI double in the fourth and Toby Hall's run-scoring single in the fifth to build a 3-1 lead against Detroit's ace.
Cox's two-run single in the sixth wiped out a 5-3 lead the Tigers took when they scored four times off starter Tanyon Sturtze in the sixth.
Mike Rivera and Jose Macias delivered RBI singles off Sturtze before Bobby Higginson finished the rally with a two-run double off Jesus Colome.
Offseason acquisition Craig Paquette, filling in for injured slugger Dean Palmer, drove in Detroit's first run with a fourth-inning double.
After becoming the first AL team to lose 100 games since the 1996 Tigers, Tampa Bay begins this season with the youngest (average age 27.51) and least experienced (average big league tenure 2.16 seasons) roster in the majors.
Twelve Devil Rays were on an opening-day roster for the first time and 11 had less than a full season in the majors, including three rookies who had not played above Class A ball.
The youth movement was launched early last summer when the team began trimming the payroll. Tampa Bay finished the season with a scrappy lineup that produced a 27-26 record over the last 47 games.
The key to the stretch was solid pitching, and Sturtze was a big part that in going 8-5 after the All-Star break -- tying Mike Mussina and Roger Clemens of the Yankees for the most victories in the AL East.
The Devil Rays starter was not at his best against the Tigers, allowing five runs and nine hits in 5 2-3 innigs.
Higginson's two-run double off Colome gave the Tigers a 5-3 lead that Weaver and his bullpen couldn't hold.
The Devil Rays loaded the bases on two singles and shortstop Shane Halter's fielding error in the sixth. Cox's two-run single off lefty Matt Miller made it 5-5.
Weaver allowed four runs on seven hits in 5 1-3 innings. He struck out four and walked three.
Notes:@ Gen. Tommy Franks, commander of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan, threw out the ceremonial first pitch ... This is Detroit's only visit to Tropicana Field this season ... The Devil Rays are 19-17 against the Tigers, their second-best winning percentage against an AL opponent; they are 21-17 (.553) against Minnesota ... With Palmer starting the season on the 15-day disabled list to build strength in his surgically-repaired right shoulder, Paquette made his Tigers debut at third base ... Sturtze was Tampa Bay's fourth different opening day pitcher in five years.
By FRED GOODALL
AP Sports Writer
April 2, 2002, 11:15 PM EST
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Tampa Bay's "Heart & Hustle" campaign is off to a successful start.
Greg Vaughn's two-out RBI single broke an eighth-inning tie and the young Devil Rays went on to beat the Detroit Tigers 9-5 Tuesday night before a season-opening crowd of 38,142 at Tropicana Field.
Vaughn broke a 5-5 tie after loser Juan Acevedo walked Steve Cox intentionally to get to the Devil Rays' cleanup hitter.
Ben Grieve drew a bases-loaded walk to drive in another run and Bobby Smith added a two-run double that glanced off pitcher Danny Patterson's foot and rolled into shallow right field.
Victor Zambrano pitched two-thirds of an inning for the win, and Esteban Yan finished.
Tampa Bay scored on pitcher Jeff Weaver's throwing error in the third, Brent Abernathy's RBI double in the fourth and Toby Hall's run-scoring single in the fifth to build a 3-1 lead against Detroit's ace.
Cox's two-run single in the sixth wiped out a 5-3 lead the Tigers took when they scored four times off starter Tanyon Sturtze in the sixth.
Mike Rivera and Jose Macias delivered RBI singles off Sturtze before Bobby Higginson finished the rally with a two-run double off Jesus Colome.
Offseason acquisition Craig Paquette, filling in for injured slugger Dean Palmer, drove in Detroit's first run with a fourth-inning double.
After becoming the first AL team to lose 100 games since the 1996 Tigers, Tampa Bay begins this season with the youngest (average age 27.51) and least experienced (average big league tenure 2.16 seasons) roster in the majors.
Twelve Devil Rays were on an opening-day roster for the first time and 11 had less than a full season in the majors, including three rookies who had not played above Class A ball.
The youth movement was launched early last summer when the team began trimming the payroll. Tampa Bay finished the season with a scrappy lineup that produced a 27-26 record over the last 47 games.
The key to the stretch was solid pitching, and Sturtze was a big part that in going 8-5 after the All-Star break -- tying Mike Mussina and Roger Clemens of the Yankees for the most victories in the AL East.
The Devil Rays starter was not at his best against the Tigers, allowing five runs and nine hits in 5 2-3 innigs.
Higginson's two-run double off Colome gave the Tigers a 5-3 lead that Weaver and his bullpen couldn't hold.
The Devil Rays loaded the bases on two singles and shortstop Shane Halter's fielding error in the sixth. Cox's two-run single off lefty Matt Miller made it 5-5.
Weaver allowed four runs on seven hits in 5 1-3 innings. He struck out four and walked three.
Notes:@ Gen. Tommy Franks, commander of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan, threw out the ceremonial first pitch ... This is Detroit's only visit to Tropicana Field this season ... The Devil Rays are 19-17 against the Tigers, their second-best winning percentage against an AL opponent; they are 21-17 (.553) against Minnesota ... With Palmer starting the season on the 15-day disabled list to build strength in his surgically-repaired right shoulder, Paquette made his Tigers debut at third base ... Sturtze was Tampa Bay's fourth different opening day pitcher in five years.