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Saturday, Apr. 15 1:05pm ET
Gooden strong in Devil Rays' debut | |||||
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GAME LOG
DETROIT (AP) -- There might be a little magic left in Dwight Gooden's 35-year-old right arm after all. Gooden, debuting for his hometown team, pitched six shutout innings Saturday for his first win since last July 28 as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays beat the Detroit Tigers 7-0. Gooden (1-0), a Tampa native, was obtained Thursday in a trade with Houston. He allowed four runs in four innings in his start with the Astros, prompting skeptics to declare him finished. "I never doubted my ability," Gooden said. "Once I do that, it's time to hang up my spikes." Gooden paid immediate dividends for the pitching-starved Devil Rays with an effective mix of fastballs, curves and sliders that kept the Tigers off-balance. He limited Detroit to four hits with three strikeouts and two walks. "It was quite a performance, really," Tampa Bay manager Larry Rothschild said. "He had a heckuva slider and today he knew how to pitch. He was one pitch ahead of them all day." Tigers manager Phil Garner said his team couldn't adjust to Gooden. "He had an excellent pitching scheme," Garner said. "Early in the game he gave us fastballs first, later he started us off with sliders. He stayed ahead of the hitters all day long." Gooden threw 54 of 90 pitches for strikes before leaving after the sixth inning. Jim Mecir and Jeff Sparks finished the six-hit shutout. "It's big," Gooden said. "It was very important and I had extra incentive being with my hometown team." Jeff Weaver (0-1), who often lacked run support last season, made his first start of the year and allowed four runs -- three earned -- and eight hits in seven innings, with six strikeouts. "They made things happen when they got runners in scoring position and we didn't," Weaver said. "Personally I felt great out there. I felt like I could throw any of my pitches for strikes." The win was the second in three games for the Devil Rays after a five-game losing streak. Gooden hadn't won since leading the Indians to a 7-2 victory over the Tigers last July 28. That was his only win in his last 16 starts before Saturday. He had a little bit of a shaky beginning, surrendering a leadoff single to Gregg Jefferies before Robert Fick lined into a double play. After a walk, Juan Gonzalez grounded into a force. "In the first I was a little out of sync," Gooden said. "I didn't get here until last night and I hadn't thrown (in a game) since last Saturday. I think once I got through the first I settled down a little bit." Center-fielder Gerald Williams robbed Bob Higginson of at least a triple and maybe an inside-the-park homer with a leaping grab of a drive to the right-center field wall in the second. "I think he hit the fence pretty good," Rothschild said. "He tracks the ball real well; he roams the whole place real well." Higginson kicked the dirt near third base after Williams came down with the ball in Comerica Park's spacious right-field gap. "I was frustrated to hit a ball as good as I could hit it and pick the longest part of the park to do it," Higginson said. "It was a home run anywhere else. When I saw him go to the fence I kept running knowing I would have at least a triple and maybe an inside-the-park home run if it came off the wall." Singles from Dave Martinez and Jose Canseco set up a sacrifice fly from Fred McGriff that gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead in the first. Martinez made it 2-0 with another sacrifice fly in the third. The Devil Rays broke the game open with a five-run eighth featuring Greg Vaughn's two-run double and RBI singles from Miguel Cairo and Vinny Castilla. Game notesThe Tigers are 3-2 in Comerica Park, and both losses were shutouts. They also shut out Seattle on Thursday. ... Detroit placed 2B Damion Easley on the 15-day DL, retroactive to Monday, with a strained right rib cage. ... The Devil Rays optioned RHP Cory Lidle to Triple-A Durham. Lidle had just been recalled Thursday and made one appearance, giving up two hits and two runs in one-third of an inning Friday. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Tampa Bay Clubhouse Detroit Clubhouse RECAPS Boston 14 Oakland 2
Tampa Bay 7
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