By Marc Topkin, Times Staff Writer
Monday, May 23, 2011
DETROIT — The Rays came close Monday, rallying to get the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning of their 6-3 loss to the Tigers.
Maybe as close as the inches Johnny Damon's game-ending liner needed to be higher, or wider, so it wasn't snagged by Miguel Cabrera instead of going through for a two-run double.
Or as close as the foot or so catcher Kelly Shoppach was in front of the plate as Brennan Boesch dived around him to put the Tigers ahead 2-1 in the sixth.
The Tigers added on from there in a rough eighth by Rays reliever Juan Cruz, who showed, on this night anyway, he was far from the next Joaquin Benoit. And the Rays responded with two in the ninth on a clutch single by Sam Fuld, then had a shot to get closer when Damon made the last out with two on.
The Rays (26-22) also lost shortstop Elliot Johnson, who left in the sixth inning with left knee soreness after being caught stealing in the fifth, the second time in two games he ran into a bad out.
The game started 27 minutes late due to significant bands of showers that moved through downtown Detroit in the late afternoon.
The Rays took a 1-0 lead in the fourth when B.J. Upton walked, stole second, went to third on the first of Damon's two hits and scored on Evan Longoria's sac fly.
But the Rays' failure to add on later that inning proved to be costly, especially when Tigers starter Phil Coke left with an ankle injury trying to field Ben Zobrist's bunt single and was replaced by Charlie Furbush, a 25-year-old making his big-league debut.
Sean Rodriguez drew a walk to load the bases as Furbush showed some nerves, but the lanky lefty apparently settled into a groove. Felipe Lopez, in the lineup specifically to face Detroit's lefties, went down swinging, and so did Shoppach, neither even fouling a ball off.
Rays starter Jeremy Hellickson didn't have a bad night — though he did throw 100 pitches in 61/3 innings — but didn't have the benefit of anything close to the MLB-best run support he had been enjoying, an average of 8.65 per nine innings.
He gave up the tying run in the fifth, on a leadoff homer by outfielder Andy Dirks, a 25-year-old who made his major-league debut last week.
The Tigers took the lead the next inning, but it was more of a team effort by the Rays. Hellickson got two quick outs, then gave up a double, on an 0-and-1 pitch, to Boesch.
Manager Joe Maddon made the next interesting move, deciding to pitch to the ultra-dangerous Miguel Cabrera, which might have had as much to do with Victor Martinez, and his MLB best .384 career average against the Rays, being next in the order.
But Cabrera delivered a crisp single to right, and third-base coach Gene Lamont decided to force the action by sending Boesch.
The throw from Matt Joyce, the former Tiger who had just come into the game as a result of Johnson's departure, looked to be strong enough though just slightly off the mark. But because Shoppach was positioned in front of the plate and up the line a bit, Boesch took the alternate route, dived by Shoppach and swiped the plate with his hand.
Marc Topkin can be reached at topkin@sptimes.com.