ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- This time, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays didn't let the Atlanta Braves off the hook.

	Devil Rays starter Ryan Rupe delivers a pitch in the first inning against the Atlanta Braves.

The third-year team beat the defending NL champions for the first time in eight tries Monday night, getting three RBI from Fred McGriff, who capped his performance with a 406-foot homer off John Rocker.

"You know they're a great team. They've proven that over the years. They have tradition ... We're trying to get tradition," Tampa Bay's Greg Vaughn said. "You have to develop a winning attitude to do that."

Only three expansion teams have gone longer without beating an opponent than the Devil Rays, who lost their seventh straight to the Braves when Atlanta scored two runs in the ninth after blowing a 4-0 lead Sunday.

The Colorado Rockies lost their first 16 games against Atlanta in 1993-94, the New York Mets lost eight in a row to the Cincinnati Reds, and the 1969 Montreal Expos dropped their first eight against the Houston Astros.

"Nobody said it was going to be easy," Vaughn said. "For me to do what I have to do, for this team to do what it has to do, we have to believe we can beat them."

McGriff led off the seventh inning with his 19th homer, lining a 3-2 pitch from Rocker into the right-field seats. He also drove in two runs off Terry Mulholland (9-9), who yielded a two-run homer to Vaughn in the first inning.

The Devil Rays scored three unearned runs in the fifth to break a 3-3 tie. After McGriff grounded out to drive in the go-ahead run, Bubba Trammell delivered a run-scoring single and Vinny Castilla contributed an RBI double.

Javy Lopez hit a solo homer off Ryan Rupe (1-4), who lost six straight decisions over 10 starts dating back to Aug. 31, 1999. Rafael Furcal added an RBI bunt single later in the second, and Chipper Jones and Andruw Jones drove in runs with sacrifice flies for Atlanta.

Trenidad Hubbard added an RBI double and Keith Lockhart an RBI single in the ninth for Atlanta's final runs. Roberto Hernandez got the final two outs for his 15th save in 20 chances.

The loss stopped Atlanta's four-game winning streak. The victory gave Tampa Bay nine interleague victories, matching their total from their first two seasons combined.

"We had enough runs," said Braves manager Bobby Cox, who served the fourth game of a five-game suspension for bumping an umpire. "We just let it get away."

The Braves came from behind to tie it twice in the first four innings, but stranded eight runners doing so to keep Rupe in the game. Wally Joyner left three runners on, fouling out in the fourth after Andres Galarraga was given an intentional walk to load the bases.

In all, Atlanta stranded 13, including the tying runs in the ninth when Furcal lined to shortstop Felix Martinez to end the game.

"We had our chances," said Joyner, who finished 0-for-4 as the DH. "I didn't get the job done when I had an opportunity. I swung at some bad pitches, and I think I let (Rupe) off the hook a little bit."

Vaughn's 15th homer gave Tampa Bay a 2-0 lead. The Braves countered with Lopez's 423-foot homer, his 14th, that hit one of the catwalks supporting Tropicana Field's roof. Atlanta tied it 2-2 when Reggie Sanders scored on Furcal's bunt single after being hit by a pitch and stealing second and third.

Sloppy Atlanta fielding led to the Devil Rays' next three runs.

Sanders misplayed Vaughn's fly ball to right into a two-out double in the third. McGriff followed with a broken-bat liner to right that barely cleared the glove of leaping second baseman Lockhart and put Tampa Bay ahead 3-2.

Chipper Jones' error on Vaughn's sharp grounder down the third-base line put Mulholland into a bind with runners at second and third with one out in the fifth. McGriff grounded out, snapping the 3-3 tie and the next two batters, Trammell and Castilla, singled and doubled to make it 6-3.

Rocker received a mixed reception from the crowd of 28,538 when he entered at the start of the seventh. Fans along the left-field line stood and cheered when he trotted out to the bullpen to warm up in the sixth, but there also were boos when he went in to pitch.

After giving up the homer to McGriff, Rocker retired the next three batters.

"He gave up the home run, but his control was so much better," Cox said. "So if anything good comes out of it, maybe that will be it."

Game notes
Rocker, who hadn't pitched since walking the only batter he faced last Thursday at Baltimore, threw for nearly 15 minutes in the bullpen before the game ... Castilla went 2-for-4 with two doubles, but hasn't homered in 98 at-bats. He has one in his last 173 at-bats, a stretch of 41 games sandwiched around a stint on the 15-day disabled list ... In two starts since being recalled from Triple-A Durham, Rupe has allowed seven runs, 12 hits and two homers in 7 2/3 innings.