Before the game started, I told my wife that this is a game we should win. By 2002 standards, we were tossing our best pitcher out there, and TB had their worst. Of course, whenever I say that, we usually lose. And given the way Tanyon Sturtze pitched, we should have lost. Sturtze pitched an 8 inning complete game loss, giving up just 9 hits (mostly scattered), and three earned runs. He really deserved better, and is probably a better pitcher than his 1-9 record says he is.
On the other hand, he did give up three, and Kenny Rogers gave up just one – a solo shot to David McCarty. Our pitching was better than theirs, and that combo will win you a lot of games – unfortunately we usually can’t say that. Even Rocker was good. :)
This was a game of solo home runs, mostly. McCarty had one for Tampa, and we got ones from Juan Gonzalez & Rafael Palmeiro. Arod also had an RBI elsewhere in the game. A nice game to watch – crisp, moved quickly, too. What a shock. :)