TAMPA — The last time the Rays had a scheduled 13-game homestand, Doug Waechter was outdueling Randy Johnson on the mound rather than trading quips with FanDuel pre-/postgame host Rich Hollenberg on the TV set.
It was the tail end of the 2005 season, and Major League Baseball was using a different scheduling format. Thirteen-game, four-team homestands were not that unusual, as the Rays also had ones in 1999, 2003 and 2004.
Now, 10 games is typically the max. Apart from the 2020 COVID season, the last major-league team to have a homestand of 13 or more games was the Angels in 2011.
The 13-game homestand that opens Tuesday is of the Rays’ own doing. For weather reasons, three games were added to the front end of what originally was a 10-game stretch against the Braves, Red Sox and Yankees.
In collaboration with Major League Baseball, the Rays flipped their two series with the Angels. They will play in Tampa now, when the temperatures are more tolerable, and in Anaheim, California, in August, when it will be hotter and rainy at home.
The result is an extended run that matches their franchise high, and a chance to get fully settled into their interim home at Steinbrenner Field after a hectic first week where everything was new and being discussed daily.
“I think home will feel a little bit more normal after the six games and all the questions,” Rays manager Kevin Cash told reporters Sunday in Arlington, Texas.
Not that past is precedent, but in the four previous 13-game stands they went 4-9 in 1999, 6-7 in 2003, 8-5 in 2004 and 9-4 in 2005. As in 2004, they are slated to play on 13 straight days. In the other three stands, they had a day off.
As for Waechter’s game, which was Aug. 16, 2005 and the second of the 13?
It was one of the best of the St. Petersburg native’s six-year big-league career and one of the team’s more exciting in Lou Piniella’s final season as manager.
Facing a loaded Yankees lineup that included Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano, Gary Sheffield, Alex Rodriguez, Hideki Matsui, Tino Martinez and Bernie Williams, Waechter worked nine strong innings, allowing three runs (one earned) with one walk and two strikeouts, throwing 106 pitches.
“Considering that lineup,” Waechter said Monday, “I’ll take it.”
Johnson lasted seven innings, allowing two earned runs, walking two and striking out seven, throwing 96 pitches.
Down 3-2 in the ninth, the Rays rallied to tie in improbable fashion. Eduardo Perez hit a homer off Yankees closer extraordinaire Mariano Rivera, who blew only four saves that year.
The Rays then won it in the 11th in an unusual sequence, capped by Jonny Gomes’ bases-loaded walk off Scott Proctor. Carl Crawford’s one-out double off Alan Embree started things. Proctor came on and balked Crawford to third. After a Jorge Cantu groundout, Proctor walked Perez unintentionally and Aubrey Huff intentionally, then walked Gomes on four pitches to force in the winning run.
Telling stretch
The Angels are the fourth straight team the Rays will face coming off a losing season. Starting Friday against Atlanta, however, they will begin a nearly month-long run against teams that finished last season .500 or better, including six that made the playoffs. All are expected to contend this year: Braves, Red Sox, Yankees, at Diamondbacks, at Padres, Royals, at Yankees, Phillies, Brewers.
Miscellany
Installation of new, smoother DuraEdge infield clay was being finished Monday afternoon at Steinbrenner Field and will be set for Tuesday’s game. … The Rays have lost four straight and not held a lead since winning April 1. …. The Angels are off to a surprisingly good start, winning their first three series for the first time since 2018 and tying the franchise-record with six victories in their first nine games.
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