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  Tuesday, Aug. 1 7:15pm ET
Williams' two-run single lifts Devil Rays to No. 6 in a row
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | 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.

"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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