Last Night In The AL East

New York 9, D-Rays 1. It is beginning to sound like a broken record. Starting pitcher can’t hold an early lead and regulars missing from the starting lineup. Scott Kazmir followed up two strong starts with a stinker. In 5 innings, he gave up 7 hits and 5 walks. Kazmir will only be as good as his control. He once again topped 100 pitches (101) without entering the 6th inning. In his defense, the weather in New York was downright awful, as it was raining most of the game. However, the weather did not seem to bother the veteran Mike Mussina as he shut down the Rays on 4 hits and no walks in 6 innings striking out 7. His only blemish in 6 innings was a solo home run to Jonny Gomes in the first. It was Gomes league-leading 10th home run and 21st RBI. Jorge Cantu was out of the line-up to rest his sore foot. Nick Green took his place and went 0-3. Carl Crawford missed the game to attend the funeral of his grandmother. Joey Gathright played center field and batted lead off, going 0-4 with 3 K’s. Toby Hall was the only D-Ray with more than one hit as hit went 2-3, to raise his average to .345. Tampa is now 1-6 on their 9-game road trip.

Boston 8, Cleveland 6. We hope Cleveland manager Eric Wedge learned his lesson. If not, he will soon be Colorado roving instructor. With one out in the 8th innings with the score tied 5-5 and a runner on 2nd, Wedge for some inexplicable reason intentionally walked David Ortiz to face Manny Ramirez. Now we aren’t saying that Ortiz isn’t a scary hitter. He most certainly is. In fact, Ortiz has proven to be one of the most clutch hitters in baseball. Still, Manny is Manny and he can hit. ManRam made Wedgy pay for his carelessness and hit a 3-run home run to give the Red Sox an 8-6 win and maintain a 2-game lead over New York and Toronto.

Toronto 7, Baltimore 3. The Jays broke open a 3-3 ball game in the 7th with 4 runs. Toronto is now hitting .310 as a team. Baltimore is starting to real a bit after some early season success and have now lost 3 in a row to fall 2.5 games behind Boston

D-Rays @ Yankees Tidbits

The Rays won the season series in 2005 11-8, winning 4 of the 6 series, so don’t expect the Yankees to take this series lightly. The Bronx Roiders, er we meant BOMBERS are starting to hit their stride with two straight wins by a combined score of 13-2 over the Orioles. Tonight’s starter Mike Mussina is coming off his best start of the season in which he went 7.1 innings giving up 7 hits and no walks and a 1 run. Derek Jeter and Gary Sheffield enter the game red-hot. Jeter has 13 hits in his last 7 games and is now batting .375 while Sheffield has 15 hits in the same span.

Tonight’s starter Scott Kazmir is 1-1 in 2 career starts against the Yankees, including a 5-3 win last June at Yankee Stadium. In that game, Kazmir gave up a 2-run homer in the first to Gary Sheffield, but settled down and only gave up 2 hits and 1 run over the next 6 innings. Jorge Cantu enters the game with a 10-game hitting streak. Jonny Gomes is 7-23 on the road trip and has a home run in each of the last 4 games. Gomes now leads the AL with 9 home runs is tied with Ty Wiggington for the lead league in RBI (20).

Mark Hendrickson has been penciled in as the starter on Thursday for the series finale. We think that is a overly optimistic. Edwin Jackson is the more likely starter, as Joe Maddon would like one more look at Jackson to see if he is ready to be in the rotation.

Probable Pitchers
Tuesday, 7:05 et
Devil Rays Scott Kazmir, LHP (2-1, 4.07)
Rangers Mike Mussina, RHP (2-1, 2.67)

Wednesday, 7:05 et
Devil Rays Seth McClung, RHP (1-3, 10.90)
Rangers Chien-Ming Wang, RHP (1-1, 5.48)

Thursday, 7:05 et
Devil Rays Edwin Jackson, RHP (0-0, 6.43)
Rangers Shawn Chacon, RHP (2-1, 5.59)

A Look At The Future…Yesterday On The Farm

SW Michigan 4, Cedar Rapids 2. Normally we would start with Durham and progress down through the minors, finishing with A-level Southwest Michigan. However, we are starting to get downright giddy about Wade Davis. Yesterday Davis went 5 giving up 3 hits and no runs, while striking out 7 and walking 5. The 5 walks are forgivable since Davis pitched the game despite feeling ill. Davis (2-0) now leads the Midwest League with 29 strikeouts in 20.2 innings and has surrendered only 1 run, lowering his ERA to a microscopic 0.44.

Durham 5, Charlotte 3. Future Rays SS (or 3B or LF) B. J. “don’t call me Melvin” Upton led off for the Bulls and had 2 hits, an RBI and was on base three times. He is now batting .310 on the season and really beginning to get hot with the stick. He also stole his 11th and 12th bases of the year. Upton’s most important number last night? 0…as in no errors. Delmon Young was 1-4 with a strike out “lowering” his season average to .342. We are a little perplexed that Young is hitting so well, but he is still without a home run on the season, and only has 3 extra-base hits. Elijah Dukes was 2-4 to raise his average to .261, but more importantly, he has not been ejected from a game yet this season. Starting pitcher Jamie Shields (1-1) picked up his first win of the season as he went 5 and gave up 7 hits an struck out 5.

Montgomery 3, Mississippi 2. CF Jason Pridie picked up the game winning RBI in the ninth inning and went 2-4 to raise his average to .260. 1B Gabriel Martinez, who has slowed of late, hit his 4th home run, a solo shot.

Yesterday On The Farm

Charlotte 2, Durham 1, 10 innings. The Bulls gave up a walk-off home run in the tenth inning. Their only run came on a wild-pitch. B. J. Upton was 0-1 with a walk and NO errors (must be a typo?). Delmon Young, was 1-4 with a double. Tim Corocoran had a strong outing, going 4.2 innings and giving up 2 hits and 3 walks, no runs and 4 strikeouts.

Montgomery 3, Mississippi 1. The Biscuits took their third straight from Mississippi in this five-game series. Jason Pridie was 1-4 with an RBI. Gabriel Martinez was 0-2 with 2 walks and his average is now down to .315. Veteran minor leaguer Jim Magrane had another solid outing going 8 innings to get the win and improve his record to 3-1. He surrendered 4 hits and no walks and no runs to lower his ERA to 1.88. 3B Wes Bankston had the day off but still managed to commit another error (ok, not really).

Visalia 6, Stockton 4. SS Reid Brignac, didn’t start, but pinch hit going 0-1. The good news is that it is hard to commit an error sitting in the dugout.

Cedar Rapids 6, SW Michigan 1. C Matt Spring went 2-3 to raise his batting average to .315. Starter Jacob McGee took the loss going 4.2 innings, giving up 1 hit and 5 walks, which means he should be called up any day now and will fit right in with the parent club rotation.

Yesterday In The AL East

Texas 8, D-Rays 3. Sweep

Boston 6, Toronto 3. Boston avoided a sweep by taking the series finally over the Jays, and maintain first place in the AL East. Red Sox’ closer Jonathon Papplebon unveiled his new look yesterday, reinforcing the age old theory that in order to be a good closer you have to be a little nuts.

New York 7, Baltimore 1. Randy Johnson rebounded from his last start to go 8 innings giving up 3 hits and just 1 run, for his 266th career win. Jason Giambi, who is as big as ever, hit two home runs, a double and 5 RBI. After the game he broke in to a ‘roid rage, eating a small child that asked for an autograph (ok, we made up the last part). Only one Oriole managed to get a hit, with Miguel Tejada registering four.

Getting His Charlie Sheen On [mlb.com]

Waechter Out, Jackson In?

Manager Joe Maddon stated that the original plans to have Edwin Jackson up for only one start may be changed. Maddon was impressed enough with Jackson to reconsider the notion of sending him back to AAA Durham. The most likely candidate to be replaced in the rotation is Doug Waechter who has struggled mightily this season. With an off-day on Monday before the team goes to New York for three games, Maddon will skip Waechter in the rotation and go with Scott Kazmir on Tuesday. Waechter was used out of the bullpen on Sunday against Texas. He is scheduled to return to the rotation next Saturday.

Notes: Jackson impresses Maddon [devilrays.com]

The Fossum Flop

There are certain players that you can’t help but love. Players like John Kruk, Greg Maddox, Jim Morris, David Wells…ok, maybe not Wells. But we love these guys because we look at them and we think, “hey, if he could do it, maybe I can do it.” Baseball players? Yes. Athletes? Not a chance in hell.

Now you can add Casey Fossum to that list. First of all, he looks like your cousin that never graduated high school and works as a grease monkey at a gas station in Zephyrhills. Add on top of that his ability to fool major league batters with a curve ball that has been clocked as slow as 45 mph. 45! We think pitches are thrown harder in T-ball.

The pitch is inexplicable. There is enough time for the batter to swing twice. It is slower than a knuckleball. It doesn’t dance like a knuckleball. The pitch is so slow that the “break” is really just gravity taking over. We aren’t really sure how it even reaches the plate, but we love it. We love it because we can do that. Maybe…just maybe some scout will discover us walking down the street as we use the “Fossum Flop” to toss an empty soda bottle into the nearest trash can. [Click on the link below to be taken to a video, showing the Fossum Flop]

Casey Fossum – Eephus Pitch [youtube.com]

Yesterday On The Farm

Durham 1, Charlotte 1, 7 innings, susp. The Bulls game was called in the seventh inning last night. B. J. Upton hits his second home run of the season to account for Durham’s run. Upton was 1-3 and is now hitting .303. Delmon Young and Elijah Dukes each went 0-3. Brian Stokes had yet another impressive outing for the Bulls, surrendering only 2 hits and 2 walks in 6 innings, while striking out 7. Durham is 10-6, one game out in the International League South.

Montgomery 6, Mississippi 4. Tony Peguero continued his solid season going six innings and picking up his third win (3-1). Four Biscuits collected 2 hits each, including Wes Bankston and Gabriel Martinez. Bankston is now hitting .338, but he continues to struggle in his switch to third base, committing 2 errors giving him 11 on the season. Montgomery is 10-7, tied for first place in the Southern League South.

Stockton 7, Visalia 3. Derek Feldcamp fell to 0-2 as he failed to get out of the first inning, giving up 7 hits and 5 runs, raising his ERA to 9.49. Reid Brignac hits his 4th home run of the season and collected 3 hits. He is now hitting .385 and has 17 RBI. Visalia is 6-11, 6.5 games out in the California League North.

Southwest Michigan 4, Cedar Rapids 3, 12 innings. Michael Wlodarczyk pitched 6 solid innings giving up only 1 run, but the Devil Rays needed extra frames to beat the Kernals. Brandon Rousseve scored the winning run a wild pitch in the twelfth inning. Left fielder James Hall collected 3 hits and is now hitting .310, while right fielder Garrett Groce had a pair of hits and raised his average to .348. Southwest Michigan is now 7-9 and 4 back in the Midwest League East.

Yesterday In The AL East

Texas 6, D-Rays 5. Well thanks to the hockey playoffs, the baseball package didn’’t have the usual number of channels and the D-Rays game in Texas was the odd-game out. Unfortunate, since we did not get to see Edwin Jackson make his Devil Ray debut. Unfortunate because we did not get to see Jonny Gomes hit his 8th home run. Unfortunate because we did not get to see Ty Wiggington continue his torrid hitting by rallying the team in the top of the ninth with a game tying 3-run home run, his 8th of the season. But..we feel fortunate that we did not see Wiggington’s heroics wasted by the bullpen and sloppy fielding in the bottom of the ninth. Wiggington and Gomes are 1-2 in the AL in RBI with 20 and 19 respectively. Jackson’s first start for Tampa was marred by too many walks. Making a bad pitch to Kevin Mench in the second inning is not as damaging if he doesn’t walk the two batters before Mench on 9 pitches. The Rays fall to 8-10 and are 1-4 on their current road trip.

Toronto 8, Boston 1. The Red Sox (11-7) are still in first place…barely. They have lost 3 in a row and are 1-4 against the Blue Jays this season. Roy Halladay was solid, going 5 innings giving only one run. The Jays are showing that the money they spent in the off-season was warranted, as the team continues to score runs. Free agent acquisition catcher, Benjie Molina hit his third home run of the season to get the scoring started in the first inning.

New York 6, Baltimore 1. The Red Sox loss means the Orioles (11-8) remain a half-game behind Boston in the standings. Shawn Chacon improved his record to 2-1 going 7 innings, giving up 4 hits and one run. Derek Jeter and Hideki Matsui each had a pair of RBI for the Yankees (8-8). Matsui is starting to hit his way out his early season slump.

Last Night In The AL East

Texas 13, D-Rays 7. Both teams left their pitching staffs at home. Before there were 6 outs in the game, the teams had combined for 9 runs. Before the D-Rays’ pitchers had retired 12 Rangers, they had given up 13 runs. Seth McClung, who was staked to a 4-0 lead before he even took the mound, decided to thank the hitters for their generosity by blowing that lead before he returned to the dugout. McClung (1-3) continues to struggle as his ERA has ballooned to 10.90. A very telling quote from manager Joe Maddon as he stated the McClung “has got a lot to learn about pitching yet.” His days in the rotation may be numbered. Scott Dunn wasn’t much better as he gave up 4 runs in 1.2 innings to raise his ERA on the season to 8.22. Amazingly, the offense continues to produce, even without Aubrey Huff, Rocco Baldelli and Julio Lugo. Jonny Gomes picked up another RBI, and Ty Wiggington hit his seventh home run. Wiggington has been nothing short of amazing for the Rays as he has filled in for Huff. He and Gomes are tied for second in the AL with 17 RBI a piece. Joe Maddon is going to have to find regular at bats for Wiggington once Huff returns from the DL. In fact, Wiggington’s emergence could mean that Huff will be traded sooner, rather than later. Tampa Bay (8-9) falls back below .500 with the loss.

Toronto 7, Boston 6, 12 innings. The scoreboard says this was a victory for the Blue Jays, but it was anything but a win for Toronto or a loss for Boston. Blue Jay’s starter A. J. Burnett, one of their key off-season free agent acquisitions, left the game after four innings with a sore elbow. Early indications was just some tearing of scar tissue. However, reports today say that Burnett will pay a visit to Dr. James Andrews, which indicates that the injury is much more serious. As for the Red Sox…watch out! Boston has started the season 11-6 without very much from ManRam, Manny Ramirez. It looks like he is stating to get his schwerve on as he hit two opposite field home runs last night. This Boston team is starting to look very impressive.

Baltimore 6, New York 5. Two of the biggest surprises in baseball. The Orioles got just enough offense to support Anna Benson’s husband and improve their record to 11-7. The Yankees continue to struggle, especially with their starting pitching as they fall to 7-8 and last place in the AL East.