Boston, Rays Split Doubleheader

The Boston Red Sox are crawling slowly toward the playoffs.

After splitting a doubleheader Monday night with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays,

But after hanging on for a 4-3 win in the first game, then losing 8-4, they're not exactly on a roll.

"We really had the opportunity to make this thing a lot easier," said first-game winner Bret Saberhagen (15-7). "We've got to step it up a little bit, especially if we want to do anything in the playoffs."

Boston is 7-14 in September and has lost four of its last five games.

"It's been a marathon of a season. I think there are some guys feeling it," Boston catcher Scott Hatteberg said. "You want to go in strong in the playoffs."

Boston finishes with six games at home, two against Tampa Bay and four against Baltimore. The Devil Rays have two more games in Boston and four at the New York Yankees. They've picked on other contenders, beating Toronto on Sunday to take that series 2-1.

"We know who we're playing," said Tampa Bay's Bubba Trammell, who had five RBI in the second game. "We're just playing for ourselves."

Toronto beat Baltimore 3-1 Monday night and has five games left. Boston also had a 31/2-ame lead over Texas and Anaheim, which played later Monday.

In the opener, Keith Mitchell singled in the tiebreaking run in the sixth inning for his first RBI of the season, and Tom Gordon extended his major-league, single-season record of 40 successful save conversions as the Red Sox won 4-3.

"I brought him in a tough situation, maybe one of the toughest he had all year," Red Sox manager Jimy Williams said, "but he did a fantastic job."

The Devil Rays, at 63-93, avoided a 100-loss season. They have six games left and, by winning all of them, would fall one short of the record for victories by an expansion team set in 1961 by the Los Angeles Angels.

They've been playing better than the Red Sox recently, going 6-4 on a homestand that ended Sunday against Texas, Anaheim, the New York Yankees and Toronto.

"I bet a lot of people thought we'd lose 100 games when we were going into that homestand," Devil Rays manager Larry Rothschild said.

In the second game, Tampa Bay broke a 3-3 tie with two runs in the fifth off Carlos Reyes (1-1), then pulled away on Trammell's three-run shot in the seventh.

Trammell also hit an RBI double in the fourth for a 3-2 lead.

After the Red Sox tied the game in the bottom of the inning on doubles by Damon Buford and Mitchell, Miguel Cairo's RBI single and Trammell's sacrifice fly gave the Devil Rays the lead for good in the fifth.

Terrell Wade (1-0) allowed three runs and five hits in five innings in his first appearance in the majors since June 6, 1997, when he was with Atlanta. His last victory came with the Braves on May 20, 1997.

Wade had been on the disabled list all this season following surgery on his left shoulder and returned last Thursday from a rehabilitation assignment.

Wade gave up Mo Vaughn's 38th homer, a two-run shot in the first.

In the opener, Gordon got out of a jam in the eighth then pitched a perfect ninth for his AL-leading 43rd save. He came in with two runners on base and one out, struck out the first batter, then allowed Rich Butler's RBI single before retiring Cairo on a popup.

Gordon hasn't failed in a save opportunity since April 14, and Boston is 44-0 when he enters in a save situation.

Mitchell's single in the two-run sixth broke a 2-2 tie. It was his 24th at-bat and fifth hit, all singles, after he spent most of the season in the minors. Mike Benjamin, batting ninth, followed with another RBI single that finished Tony Saunders (6-15).

Despite allowing runners in each of the first four innings, Saberhagen led 2-0 on John Valentin's 23rd homer of the season in the third following Darren Lewis' single.

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