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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Tampa Bay Devil Rays -- not the Cleveland Indians -- are playing like a wild-card contender.
Gerald Williams hit a two-run single in the ninth inning to
spoil Bob Wickman's Cleveland debut and give the Devil Rays their
club-record tying sixth consecutive victory, 6-5 Tuesday night.
|  | | Gerald Williams gets swarmed by his teammates after spoiling Bob Wickman's debut with Cleveland.
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"I guess you'd be surprised if he didn't come up with the big
hit," Devil Rays manager Larry Rothschild said. "He's done it so
much throughout the year. He picked up in August where he left off
in July."
Williams has 25 RBI since the All-Star break, the most in the
majors. With 73 RBI, Williams is on pace to drive in a major
league-record 101 from the leadoff position.
"It was a situation where you know you have the tying run at
third, so you want to make contact in that situation and stay out
of the double play," Williams said. "I tried to put the ball in
play."
Wickman came to the Indians last week in a seven-player deal
from Milwaukee. But he couldn't hold a 5-4 lead in his first shot
as closer.
Steve Cox led off the ninth with a walk off Wickman (0-1) and
pinch-runner Jason Tyner went to second on a sacrifice bunt. After
Russ Johnson walked, pinch-hitter Jose Guillen hit an infield
single to load the bases.
Williams, once traded with Wickman from the Yankees to Milwaukee
in 1996, then had a broken-bat soft single to left to win it.
"Broken bats are baseball ... I can't be walking people out
there," Wickman said. "Putting a guy on right away when I'm ahead
of him 0-2. That's the thing that hurts."
Wickman became the 30th Cleveland pitcher this season, which is
a major league record. The Anaheim Angels used 29 pitchers
during the 1996 season.
Doug Creek (1-1) pitched a perfect ninth for the victory. It was his
first triumph since July 3, 1997.
The Devil Rays trailed 5-1 before scoring two runs in the sixth.
Miguel Cairo had a run-scoring double and another run scored when Fred
McGriff grounded into a double play.
Steve Cox snapped an 0-for-13 slump with a seventh-inning homer
that made it 5-4.
David Segui hit his second homer since coming to Cleveland last
week from Texas in the second inning to give the Indians a 1-0
lead.
"There was no point I thought the game was over," Segui said.
"We have to bury them offensively and we didn't do it. Their
bullpen came in and did a good job shutting us down and keeping it
close enough to come back."
The Tampa Bay bullpen held the Indians hitless over the final
three innings after starter Ryan Rupe gave up five runs and 10 hits over six innings.
"Everybody took part in the comeback," Rothschild said. "They
picked each other up."
Wil Cordero, also acquired in a trade last week, added a run-scoring double in the third. His hit deflected off left-fielder Greg
Vaughn's glove.
Vaughn also misplayed Omar Viquel's single in the fourth that
allowed Kenny Lofton to score all the way from first and put the
Indians up 3-1. Lofton reached on a two-out single.
Vaughn also had a potential game-tying homer overturned in the
eighth. Third base umpire Ed Montague originally ruled the two-out
drive was just inside the left-field pole. After reviewing the
matter with the other umpires, the call was reversed.
"The main thing is to get the call right," Montague said. "It
doesn't matter if you miss the call and go with it the other way. I
want to get the play right, and that's what we did."
Jim Thome's two-run homer in the fifth made it 5-1 Cleveland.
Game notes
McGriff played in his 2,000th career game. .... Both teams
held close door meetings before the game after being active in
recent trades. ... Indians manager Charlie Manuel said Manny
Ramirez, who has been used as a designated hitter since returning from a left
hamstring injury July 13, could resume playing in the outfield by
the end of the week. ... Right-handed pitcher Jaret Wright (shoulder) is scheduled
to throw four innings in his second rehab start Wednesday with
Double-A Akron. ... The Devil Rays placed third baseman Vinny Castilla (lower
back inflammation) on the 15-day disabled list. He could be sidelined an
extended period.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Cleveland Clubhouse
Tampa Bay Clubhouse
RECAPS
Oakland 3
Toronto 1
NY Yankees 5
Kansas City 4
Tampa Bay 6
Cleveland 5
Baltimore 10
Minnesota 0
Chi. White Sox 4
Texas 3
Detroit 6
Anaheim 3
Seattle 5
Boston 4
Colorado 2
Chicago Cubs 1
Pittsburgh 6
Los Angeles 0
Los Angeles 5
Pittsburgh 3
(2nd game)
Houston 4
Florida 3
Montreal 4
St. Louis 0
NY Mets 3
Cincinnati 2
San Francisco 13
Milwaukee 8
Atlanta 4
Arizona 2
San Diego 10
Philadelphia 9
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