Good things come to those who wait.
Trite and true, it applies to baseball as well. Well, sometimes.
Whether it meant waiting on that perfect pitch, waiting out the rain in the stands or sitting through whatever the hell was on Sun Sports during the weather delay Tuesday night in Cleveland, delayed gratification paid dividends. The Tampa Bay Rays took on the tribe in a game that kicked off at 8:40 p.m. local. Those who stayed up saw these two teams go the distance, with the Tribe edging Tampa Bay 5-4, going down to the final out.
It was worth the wait for Cleveland fans.
Rays pitcher Andy Sonnanstine, relegated to the bullpen on a full-time basis in 2010, got his first start of the season, something for which he’d waited all year. In for the injured Jeff Niemann—on the disabled list with back stiffness—Sonnanstine only made it three and a third innings into the game.
Sonny, Tampa Bay’s top long reliever, yielded two runs on four hits. He had control issues all night, walking five Indians while picking up two strikeouts.
The two runs came on home runs, the first of which struck by Grady Sizemore—the first Cleveland batter of the evening. Sonny yielded another long ball in the bottom of the fourth to Cleveland left fielder Michael Brantley.
But the Rays battled back.
This article appears in May 19-25, 2011.