IS GETTING ITS DRAFT BOARD READY
NEW YORK - Forget about the hip-hop and hard rock that reverberates through most big-league clubhouses after an important win. The Tampa Bay Rays opted for something a little more fitting of a soggy Sunday.
"I can see clearly now," Johnny Nash's voice blared through a small stereo stuffed inside a locker, "the rain is gone."
B.J. Upton homered and matched a career high with four RBIs, Carl Crawford drove in a pair of runs, and the Rays awoke from an offensive slumber with a 10-6 victory over the New York Mets, taking a road series twice interrupted by rain.
"When B.J. gets going, it gives guys a little more confidence," said Evan Longoria, who, like Upton, had four hits.
The highest-scoring team in the majors managed three runs in each of its last four games, but got four in the fifth inning and four more in the seventh, when Upton's two-run shot off Bobby Parnell (2-3) helped the Rays regain a lead they'd squandered an inning earlier.
"That ball was properly struck," Rays manager Joe Maddon said, adding an "Uff!" for emphasis.
Tampa Bay 000 040 420 – 10 17 0
New York 020 003 100 – 6 10 1
Tampa Bay AB R H BI Avg. New York AB R H BI Avg.
B.Upton cf 6 3 4 4 .240 Cora 2b 4 0 1 0 .283
Crawford lf 5 2 3 2 .307 Dan.Murphy 1b 5 1 1 0 .250
Longoria 3b 5 1 4 1 .309 Beltran cf 4 0 2 0 .336
C.Pena 1b 3 0 0 1 .235 D.Wright 3b 5 2 3 0 .349
Zobrist 2b 5 0 0 0 .293 Sheffield lf 3 1 1 1 .276
Gross rf 3 0 0 0 .266 Church rf 3 1 0 0 .276
e-Kapler ph-rf 1 0 1 2 .237 Schneider c 4 1 1 3 .245
Bartlett ss 4 1 2 0 .373 W.Valdez ss 3 0 0 0 .208
Navarro c 5 1 1 0 .218 Pelfrey p 1 0 1 1 .190
Niemann p 1 0 0 0 .000 b-Evans ph 1 0 0 0 .000
