Phillies lose ninth of last 11

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays have their first three-game winning streak of the season. Just don`t try to sell manager Hal McRae on the notion that there`s been an abrupt change in the team`s play.

"It`s not all of a sudden," McRae said after Thursday`s 6-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies gave the team with the worst record in the AL a sweep of the NL East leaders.

"It`s been 45 games coming for me, and 60 for the ballclub," said McRae, who replaced Larry Rothschild on April 18, 14 games into the season. "That`s not sudden."

Fred McGriff homered and drove in three runs for Tampa Bay, which improved to 5-1 in interleague games with its first sweep since last Sept. 26-28 when the team took three straight from the New York Yankees.

Meanwhile, Pittsburgh is left as the only team in the majors that has not had a three-game winning streak this season.

McRae said the difference for Tampa Bay begins with an improvement in the starting pitching over the past 10 games. Another key was been the hitting of McGriff and Greg Vaughn.

"We talked about meshing and jelling and I think things are coming together," McRae said.

"This is what we had hoped for because I know through experience that we can win games without swinging the bats well and without pitching well. But one side picks the other up. We were unable to do that, and now I think now we`re capable of doing that. ... Before, either we were going to play great or we were going to lose the game.

The Phillies, who have lost nine of 11, watched their lead in the NL East shrink to two games over the Atlanta Braves.

"I don`t think we`re losing because of a lack of effort. We`re in a funk," Philadelphia manager Larry Bowa said.

"One thing you can`t do when you`re in a funk is feel sorry for yourself. It will test you. Adversity makes you dig down deep inside yourself. You find out a lot about people when adversity hits the fan."

Vaughn doubled to drive in Tampa Bay`s first run off Randy Wolf (4-7). McGriff finished Tampa Bay`s three-run first inning with a two-run double. His 13th homer -- a solo shot off Wolf in the eighth -- completed the scoring.

Ryan Rupe (4-5) limited the Phillies to two hits and Bobby Abreu`s fourth-inning sacrifice fly until he walked Travis Lee with two outs in the seventh, then surrendered Pat Burrell`s two-run homer that made it 5-3.

Travis Phelps replaced Rupe after Burrell`s homer, and Esteban Yan got the last four outs for his eighth save in 11 chances.

Rupe, who matched a career-high with eight strikeouts, was coming off his best outing of the season -- seven shutout innings in a 7-5 victory over the New York Mets last Friday.

He was just as impressive this time, retiring 10 in a row before Jimmy Rollins singled for Philadelphia`s first hit with one out in the fourth.

Rollins stole second and continued to third on a throwing error by catcher Mike DiFelice, then scored on Abreu`s sacrifice fly. The Phillies threatened again in the fifth, but stranded Lee at third after he led off the inning with a double.

After Vaughn and McGriff staked Rupe to a 3-0 lead, the Devil Rays added two runs in the third on Randy Winn`s run-scoring triple and DiFelice`s RBI single.

Wolf allowed six runs and nine hits in seven-plus innings. He walked three and struck out four.

Bowa is confident his team will bounce back from going 1-5 on their six-game road trip.

"If you`re not able to deal with peaks and valleys in this game, you`re in trouble," the manager said. "You`ve got to be mentally tough to play this game. If you`re not, this game will chew you up and spit you out."

Game notes:
Seven of Burrell`s eight homers have been hit on the road ... Vaughn has driven in at least one run in 10 of his last 11 games ... After winning all but one series last month, the Phillies have yet to win one in June ... Abreu drove in six of Philadelphia`s 11 runs in the series ... Rollins has stolen 16 consecutive bases without being caught, the longest streak by a Philadelphia player since Mickey Morandini swiped 19 straight in 1996 ... The Devil Rays are 8-4 all-time against the Phillies, their best record against an opponent. The only other team they have a winning record against is Detroit (18-17).

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Author: 6 ABC - Action News