Resides in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic...graduated from Francisco del Rosario Sanche High School.
2007
Veteran reliever was one of three non-roster invitees
to make the Rays Opening Day roster (also
Gary Glover and Carlos Peña)...Assumed the closer's role and saved 26 games in
30 opportunities...that tied for the 5th highest
save total in club history, but the 3rd best save
pct. at 86.7% behind Roberto Hernandez's 91.5
(43-of-47) in 1999 and Danys Baez's 90.9 (30-33)
in 2004...He became the 3rd oldest pitcher to post his first
20-save campaign behind Hoyt Wilhelm, who
saved 21 games for the Chicago White Sox in
1963 at age 41 and Ellis Kinder, who converted 27
saves in 1953 for the Red Sox at 39...Got save #20 Aug. 26 vs. Oakland at 37 years,
4 months...Had just 6 career saves entering the 2007
season...Missed nearly all of the 2006 season rehabbing
from 2005 "Tommy John" surgery, the second of
his career...Began the season with a club-record 16 consecutive
saves (from start of season)...did not record
his first blown save until June 19 at Arizona on a
Chris Young walk-off home run, the Rays' firstever
loss to their expansion mates...Actually had a string of 19 consecutive saves end
(going back to 2005)...His final three blown saves all came against the
Red Sox and he also recorded the loss in each:
Aug. 14 & Sep 12 at Fenway, and Sep 22 at home...His 9 saves in April set a club-record for the
month...were the most saves by a Ray since
Baez's 10 saves in Sept 2005...Became the quickest Ray to 10 saves in club history
(game #28)...previous mark was Roberto
Hernandez who reached 10 saves on May 5, '99
in game #29...Saved the Rays first win of the season, April 5 at
New York, his first since May 9, 2005 against the
Dodgers with the Cardinals...Also converted the save in the final game of the
season, Sep 30 at Toronto...Had 17 saves (in 18 opps) through the Rays first
72 games, but just 9 (12 opps) over the final 90
games...Went a span of 47 games without a save (June 23
to Aug. 15)...included was a stint on the DL (July
4-17) with a mild rotator cuff strain...At the time he was shelved he was pitching to a
4.09 ERA (33-IP, 21-H, 15-ER, 6-HR, .175 opp avg.)...After returning from the disabled list he pitched
to a 5.85 ERA (27.2-IP, 28-H, 18-ER, 7-HR, .259 opp
avg.)...Rays went 23-18 between July 29 and Sep 10 and
he was 7-for-8 in save situations with a win during
that stretch...His .215 opponent's avg. was best among Rays
relievers (held righthanders to just a .187 mark)...
in fact it ranked 7th lowest all-time among Rays
relievers...Did not allow a run in a save situation until a Matt
Stairs solo home run, May 13 at Toronto...Appeared in 60 games, the 2nd highest total of
his career (65 in 2005 for St. Louis) and 2nd most
on the staff (Gary Glover with 67)...Surrendered 13 home runs during the season,
most among major league relievers and one shy
of the club record for a relief pitcher - 14 by Travis
Harper in 2005 and Brian Meadows in 2006...Of his 35 runs allowed, 26 came via home run
(74%)...Of his 13 home runs, four were hit by Red Sox,
including a walk-off shot in Boston by David Ortiz
on Sep 12.First runs allowed came via a 2-run home run by
Alex Rodriguez on April 23 at Tropicana Field,
A-Rod's record-tying 14th home run of April...Pitched much better at home (3.18 ERA, 34-IP,
12-ER, .179 opp avg.) than on the road (7.09 ERA,
26.2-IP, 21-ER, .257 opp avg...Was signed by the Rays as a minor league free
agent on Mar 19, 2006 and remained on the DL
(Tommy John surgery) until Aug 20...joined AAA
Durham for the final two weeks of the season
appearing in two games (3.0-IP, 3-H, 1-R/ER, 0-
BB, 3-SO)...Rays marked his 8th different major league club,
first in AL since 2003 with NYY...Opened the 2004 season as a non-roster invitee
of the Rays...joined the NL Champion Cardinals
late in the same year and appeared on the team's
World Series roster retiring all 4 batters he faced.
2004
Had a solid campaign at Triple-A Memphis, which led to two stints with the Cardinals and a selection to the World Series roster...Named to Baseball America's Pacific Coast League All-Star team...Was purchased from Triple-A Memphis on 8/20 and made his Cardinals debut 8/25 at CIN, working a 1-2-3 7th inning...Was purchased from Memphis (AAA) on 9/4, his 2nd stint with the Cards...Drew his first ML start on 9/25 at COL. He worked 3.0 perfect innings and singled...Made a second start for the Cardinals on 10/1 vs. MIL and worked 2.0 perfect innings with three K's...Combined for 33 saves (fifth among all minor leaguers) and appeared in 58 games at the Triple-A level in 2004...Started the season with Tampa Bay's Triple-A Durham club and was released from his contract on June 1...Signed by the Cardinals to a AAA contract on June 4...Led the Pacific Coast League with 23 saves. Pitched in a team-high 37 games for the Redbirds, finishing 33 games and was 2-2 with a 2.95 ERA in 39.2 IP...Was PCL Rolaids Relief Man winner in August, posting 9 saves with 0-1 record.
2004 POSTSEASON - Made two World Series appearances, retiring all four batters he faced, after being left off the roster for the NLDS and NLCS...pitched a perfect eighth inning in Game 2 of the WS and retired the only batter he faced in Game 3.
