Not Everyone At ESPN Is An Idiot…We Present Tim Kurkjian

Tim Kurkjian knows a good thing when he sees one, even if he is a little slow. About time others see what Devil Rays fans know.

Gomes has some serious strength [espn.com]

Aubrey Huff Begins Rehab Assignment

Devil Rays’ 3B Aubrey Huff began a rehab assignment last night for the Advanced-A Visalia Oaks. Visalia of the California League was the obvious choice as Huff is expected to rejoin the Rays on Friday when they begin a road trip in Oakland. Last night he played thirdbase and went 0-3 with a walk a run scored in 4 plate appearances. Huff has been on the DL since April 12. He has been sidelined with a hyperextended knee he injured when he collided with SS Nick Green while chasing a foul ball.

Aubrey Huff Rehabbing with Visalia [Visalia Oaks]
Huff goes on DL; could be out 4-6 weeks [espn.com]

A Look At The Future…Yesterday On The Farm

Montgomery 6, Mississippi 5. Big game for 3B Aneudi Cuevas. Cuevas went 4-5 with a walk-off RBI double in the bottom of the 9th that broke a 5-5 tie. SS Matthew Maniscalco went 3-5 with 3 RBI, but committed 2 errors. 2B Elliot Johnson hit his 5th home run of the season and is now batting .318. SP Tony Paguero was the victim of shaky defense. He went 7 innings, allowing 7 hits, 1 walk and 4 runs (1 earned). He struck out 8 in the no-decision.

San Jose 8, Visalia 7. C Coltyn Simmons went 3-4 with 3 RBI, and 1B Chris Nowak 2-5 with 2 RBI. Top Prospect SS Reid Brignac went 1-5 with a run scored and played flawless defense. He is now hitting .337.

The Hangover: Last Night In The AL East

New York 4, D-Rays 2, 10 innings. And just like that, the Rays have lost three in a row and are now 4.5 games behind both the Yankees and the Red Sox. Casey Fossum had his best outing of the season unravel in the 7th inning. After retiring the leadoff hitter, Fossum gave up back-to-back hits before being relieved by Chad Orvella. Orvella could not hold the lead as both runners score. In the 10th, Alex Rodriguez, who happens to make almost as much as the Devil Rays entire roster, drove in the go-ahead run with a single. Tyler Walker picked up the loss. Walker who brought hope to the struggling Rays bullpen has been the losing pitcher in three games already. The lone offensive output came from light-hitting Tomas Perez, who hit a 2-run home run in the 5th inning. The Yankees are now 14-11 and tied with the Red Sox for first place.

Toronto 7, Boston 6. The magic of Jonathan Papelbon’s mohawk has finally worn off. Although not a save situation, Papelbon gave up the go-ahead run in the 9th inning. The RBI double off the bat of Russ Adams was the first run that Papelbon had surrendered all season. Remember folks…Papelbon received the mohawk when he WON a bet. No word on what he has to do now that he lost a game. Boston is 15-12 and tied with the Spankees for first place. They are 4-6 in their last 10. The Jays are 14-12, a half game behind.

Texas 2, Baltimore 1, 12 innings. WOW! you mean the Rangers win games against teams not from Tampa? Mark DeRosa making his first start of the season hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 12th. The Borioles are now 14-15 and 2 games back of the division leaders.

One Columnist Wants To See The Axe Come Down On Delmon Young

Joe Henderson of the Tampa Tribune, has suggested that the International League suspend Rays’s minor leaguer Delmon Young for the rest of the season. That would, in essence, be a suspension of 124 games.

Baseball Needs To Send Young Tough Message [tampa tribune]

A Look At The Future…Yesterday On The Farm

Durham 4, Syracuse 1. Brian Stokes continues to impress and make a bid for a shot at the big club’s rotation. Stokes, 26, has had a solid, if not spectacular ascent through the Devil Rays farm system since being signed as an undrafted free agent in 1998. Last night, the right hander picked up his first victory of the season while going 7 innings, giving up only 3 hits, 1 walk and no runs. He struck out 4. His ERA in 5 starts is now 1.93. Another player having a solid year for the Bulls is CF Darnell McDonald. The former first round pick of the Baltimore Orioles went 2-4 with an RBI and a run scored. He is now hitting .327. B.J. Upton went 2-3 with a walk and a run scored. He is now hitting .289. In the field, Upton did not commit any errors and turned two flawless double plays.

Montgomery 6, Mississippi 4. Andy Sonnanstine managed to “scatter” 10 hits and 2 walks over 5 innings and gave up only 2 runs (1 earned). Jason Pridie, who was returned to the D-Rays after failing to make the Minnesota Twins roster out of spring training went 1-4 with a walk and a RBI. He is hitting .235.

Visalia 5, San Jose 2. SP Christopher Mason pitched a gem to pick up his 2nd win of the season. He went 8 innings surrendering only a 1 hit and 1 walk. He struck out 6 and gave up 2 runs (1 earned). His ERA is now 1.86. SS Reid Brignac went 0-4 and committed his 10th error of the season. LF Patrick Breen hit his 7th home run and is now hitting .307.

SW Michigan 1, Peoria 0. Michael Wlodarczyk also had a very strong outing for the Devil Rays’ farm system. He went 8 innings giving up six hits and did not allow a r walk or a run. He struck 7 and his ERA is now 1.27 in 6 starts. C Matt Spring got the game-winning RBI in the 9th. He went 1-3 and is now hitting .273.

Even Bulls Need Viagra Sometimes

Earlier this season, while previewing the Devil Rays’ farm system, we might have poked a bit of fun at the Durham Bulls’ mascot Wool E. Bull. Well it turns out, Wool E. got a makeover. He apparently went and saw DR. 90210 and had a few “adjustments”. Wool E. used to look like this, and now he looks like this. Now we aren’t saying that Wool E. Bull was ugly before, but it is a marked improvement. Afterall, he is really for the kids and the old version might have seemed a bit scary to the little ones. Wool E. just seems happier. Then again, one look at his new horns and we have to wonder if there is another reason Wool E. is smiling.

Welcome To Wool E’s World [durhambulls.com]

A Look At The Future…Yesterday On The Farm

AAA
Syracuse 5, Durham 0. Those youngins are so impressionable. The Bulls decided to take after their counterparts at the big league level and threw 9 goose eggs up on the board. B. J. Upton went 0-3 with a walk and no errors. He is now batting .277. Jason Hammel was unable to work with all the run-support he received as he worked into the 7th and gave up 7 hits, 1 walk and 4 runs.

A-advanced
San Jose 5, Visalia 3. SS Reid Brignac, went 2-5, but had 3 strikeouts, and is now hitting .358. He also committed his 9th error of the season. James Houser got roughed up a bit as he gave up 5 runs in 4+ innings.

A
Peoria 3, SW Michigan 1…SW Michigan 2, Peoria 0. RF Garrett Groce went 2-5 yesterday with 2 doubles and is now hitting .338. In the first game Gregory Reinhard pitched well but dropped his record to 0-3. He worked 5 innings, giving up 3 hits, 2 walks and 2 earned runs while striking out 9. In the second game, Jeff Kamrath went 5 innings and surrendered only baserunners, both singles. He allowed no runs and struck out 3.

The Hangover: Last Night In The AL East

Texas 3, D-Rays 0. On the surface it looked like a good offensive month for the Devil Rays. They set a team record for home runs (34). They have two offensive players, Jonny Gomes and Ty Wiggington, among the league leaders in home runs and RBI. However, last night in a 3-0 loss to the Rangers, they might have shown their true offensive numbers… and they are offensive. The team is next to last in the AL in batting average (.242), tenth in OBP (.317) and tenth in runs scored (120). This team desperately needs their injured starters back. Tampa Bay is now 4 games back of division leading Boston.

Boston 7, New York 3. 2006’s first installment of the greatest rivalry in sports, saw the Red Sox spoil the return of Judas Johnny Damon. Damon did manage to thank the crowd for all booing. Maybe he thought they were chanting his nickname, Juuuuuuuuu-das. O wait…nevermind. The big blow was a 3-run home run by Big Papi David Ortiz in the 8th inning. Boston now has a 1-game lead on both the Yankees and the Blue Jays.

Toronto 9, Baltimore 7. Troy Glaus broke out of a slump and hit 2 home runs and drove in 4 for the Blue Jays. Glaus had been 6-39 which is…ok, 39 goes into 60 how many times? carry the 3, subtract the 8, multiply by pi…oh screw it…it wasn’t a good average.

Rangers @ Devil Rays Tidbits

The D-Rays continue their homestand with a 2-game quickie with the Rangers. The Rays played three in Texas last week. We don’t want to talk about what happened. Seth McClung will make the start for the Rays tonight, and we can only hope that he finally figures out where the strike zone is. His last time out against the Yankees, he only allowed 1 hit until giving up a 2-run home run to Gary Sheffield, but more importantly he walked a career-high 7. In his lone start this season against the Rangers he did not make it out of the third. He gave up 8 hits, 3 walks and 9 runs (6 earned). Tomorrow night, Mark Hendrickson will go for the Rays and look to continue add to continue his string of strong starts to begin the season. In his last start, he gave up 3 unearned run in 6 innings and took the loss.

Probable Pitchers
Monday, 7:15
Rangers, Kameron Loe, (0-2, 5.20)
Devil Rays, Seth McClung, (1-3, 9.27)

Tuesday
Rangers, Robinson Tejada, (0-0, 0.00)
Devil Rays, Mark Hendrickson, (1-1, 0.00)