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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – With Albie Lopez on the mound, the
Tampa Bay Devil Rays knew they had a chance to win.
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Instead of buckling when they fell behind by two runs Tuesday
night, the struggling last-place team battled back and beat the
Kansas City Royals 4-2 before a crowd of 11,056, smallest for a
home game in the Devil Rays' four-year history.
"From this afternoon until we were down by two, I never felt we
were going to lose the ballgame," manager Hal McRae said after Greg Vaughn and Gerald Williams hit two-run homers to back another strong pitching performance by Lopez.
"From the chatter and enthusiasm on the bench, there was a good felling that we were going to come back. My thinking was we were going to have to run our way back into this thing. But we didn't run our way back into it. We swung our way back into it."
Williams' homer off Brian Meadows (0-3) erased a 2-0 deficit in the third. Vaughn chased the Royals starter with his team-leading fifth homer after Williams, who went 3-for-4, singled with one out in the fifth.
Meanwhile, Lopez (3-1) allowed seven hits, walked three and
struck out four in seven innings. He has worked at least seven
innings in each of his five starts and his three victories are half
the team's total for the season.
The right-hander pitched seven scoreless innings in a game the Devil Rays bullpen eventually lost 9-1 to Boston in their debut under McRae last Wednesday. He wasn't as sharp this time, allowing two runs on four hits in the first two innings, but settled after working out of a bases-loaded jam in the third.
"I had to give the team a chance to come back," said Lopez,
who improved to 3-0 with a 1.59 ERA in three career starts against
the Royals.
Tampa Bay won for the second time in six games under McRae, who
waited more than six years for his second chance to lead a club
after serving as the Royals' manager from May 1991 through 1994.
Esteban Yan pitched the ninth for his third save in three
opportunities.
Luis Alicea and Carlos Beltran opened the game with consecutive
singles off Lopez and Kansas City's first run scored when Mark
Quinn grounded into a double play. Joe Randa made it 2-0 with a RBI
single in the second.
The Royals stranded seven runners in the first four innings and Tampa Bay wiped out a 2-0 deficit when Felix Martinez beat out a bunt for the first hit off Meadows and Williams followed with his second homer of the season.
"Brian made a couple of mistakes. We lost a two-run lead and
squandered some opportunities," Royals manager Tony Muser said.
"It's always tough to lose. But we didn't face Molly Putts tonight
... The guy (Lopez) can pitch a little bit. He's a pretty good
competitor. He withstood the pressure early when he didn't have his
command."
Kansas City's Jermaine Dye, mired in a 7-for-42 slump, fouled a
pitch off his left knee in the first inning and departed in the
fourth for precautionary X-rays. The tests were negative and he is
listed as day-to-day.
Game notes
The Royals' club-record streak of consecutive games with at least homer ended at 15 ... Vaughn's homer was the 325th of his
career. He's 15th among active hitters and tied with Willie Horton
for 72nd on the all-time list ... RHP Brian Rose, claimed off waivers from the New York Mets, will join the Devil Rays on Wednesday ... The Royals haven't finished with a winning record since McRae managed them to a 64-51 during the strike-shortened
1994 season, his last in Kansas City ... Lopez won both of his
previous starts against the Royals, including a decision in 1997
when he was with the Cleveland Indians ... Devil Rays C John
Flaherty committed throwing errors on two of the Royals' three
stolen bases.
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RECAPS
Boston 9
Minnesota 4
Anaheim 7
Cleveland 2
Baltimore 8
Detroit 3
Seattle 7
NY Yankees 5
Toronto 7
Texas 5
Tampa Bay 4
Kansas City 2
Oakland 6
Chi. White Sox 4
Houston 11
Atlanta 6
Milwaukee 6
NY Mets 4
St. Louis 7
Montreal 2
Colorado 14
Chicago Cubs 1
Arizona 9
Florida 8
Philadelphia 12
San Diego 7
Pittsburgh 5
Los Angeles 1
Cincinnati 9
San Francisco 5
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