Down On The Farm: The Dirtbag Is One Step Closer To The Majors

Evan Longoria has been promoted to AAA Durham. He hit .307-21-76 with a .930 OPS in 105 games. He is tied with for the lead league in home runs and leads the SL in RBI and Runs (78). Despite a stellar glove, Joel Guzman will be moved permanently to first base to make room for Longoria. Guzman started at first base for the Bulls on Tuesday night. It will be interesting to see if a strong month at AAA will tempt the Devil Rays front office to bring The Dirtbag to the Trop for a September call-up. [Montgomery Advertiser]

Indianapolis 5, Durham 3. JP Howell was masterful for the Bulls, striking out 12 and allowing only 1 walk and 2 hits in 7 shutout innings. Howell left the game with a 3-0 lead but the bullpen was unable to protect it as Chad Orvella and newly acquired Brian Shackelford combined to allow 5 runs in the 9th inning on 3 home runs. Shackelford allowed a walk-off 2-run home run to the only batter he faced. Jason Pridie was 0-3 and Joel Guzman was 0-4.

Montgomery 6, Birmingham 2. Reid Brignac was 1-4 with his 14th home run. He also committed his 20th error of the season.

Columbus 4, West Virginia 0. Heath Rollins moved to 12-4 with 7 shutout innings. He allowed 3 hits and 1 walk while striking out 5. Ryan Royster hit his 16th home run, a 3-run shot in the first.

Vermont 6, Hudson Valley 1.

Princeton 6, Elizabethton 3.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

• Rhyne Hughes (.329-12-57) and infielder Aaron Sisk were promoted to AA Montgomery. Sisk was recently named the FSL offensive player of the week when he hit 6 home runs in the week ending July 15.
• Both Jeff Niemann and Wade Townsend are currently sidelined but neither injury is considered serious. [TBO]
• Evan Longoria was named the top prospect in the “MLN FAB50 Baseball 2007 Rankings”, a mid-season look at minor league talent. [The Raw Feed]
• Jeremy Owens was named the IL’s batter-of-the-week. He is the 5th Bull to win a weekly award. [Our Sports Central]
• Behind the Dugout takes a look at three of the Devil Rays’ top pitching prospects. [Behind the Dugout]
• Vero Beach and Jupiter were postponed due to rain.

Down On The Farm: Up And Down Season Continues For Wade Townsend

Durham 10, Louisville 2. Jae Seo moved to 4-1 with a 3.35 ERA since his demotion after allowing 1 run in 7 innings. Justin Ruggiano hit his 12th home run and drove in 5. Jason Pridie was 2-5 with 3 runs scored and is now hitting .316 since his promotion to AAA.

Montgomery 7, Carolina 2. Wade Davis picked up his 4th win in 6 AA starts. He struck out 7 in 5 innings, allowing 2 runs (1 earned). Fernando Perez was 3-5 to raise his average to .292. Reid Brignac was 1-3 with 2 runs and 2 RBI. He committed his 19th error. Evan Longoria was 0-2 with 2 walks.

Ft. Myers 6, Vero Beach 4.Doug Waechter struck out 7 in 4 innings but gave up 4 runs on 8 hits.

Columbus 11, Greenville 1. Wade Townsend had his best outing in nearly a month by allowing 2 hits and 1 run in 6 innings. He struck out 7 and walked 2. Desmond Jennings was 1-4 and stole his 41st and 42nd bases of the year. Ryan Royster picked up 3 hits and 3 RBI in 4 at bats. He picked up two of his singles in Columbus’ 10-run 8th and is now hitting .320.

Hudson Valley 5, State College 1.

Down On The Farm: Hide The Children…Seth McClung Is Knocking On Rays Door

Durham 11, Pawtucket 3. JP Howell had his best start of the season for the Bulls last night. He struck out 10 in 6 innings with only 2 hits and 1 run. He did walk three and hit a batter. Ruddy Lugo pitched 2 scoreless innings, but walked 3, and Seth McClung pitched yet another scoreless 9th inning. We are starting to get nervous. McClung has only allowed 1 run in his last 10 appearances, covering 16 innings with 21 strikeouts. He has an ERA of 1.54 with 28 Ks in 23.1 innings. We need to accept the realization that we will see Big Red again in Rays uniform and it could be sooner rather than later. Ohhh, the Agida…On a brighter note, the Bulls hit 5 home runs. Wes Bankston hit his 5th and drove in 4. Elliot Johnson hit his 6th and drove in 3. Justin Ruggiano hit his 3rd.

Montgomery 7, Birmingham 4. Chris Seddon gave up 4 runs on 8 hits and 1 walk in 6 innings. He struck out 3. Seddon was cruising through the first 5 innings and then in the top of the 6th he gave up 3 consecutive hits to lead off the inning, capped by a 3-run home run. Evan Longoria returned to the lineup and went 1-4. He is hitting .328. Reid Brignac was 0-3 with 2 walks and is now hitting .267. Brooks Badeaux cleared the bases with a double in the 8th inning that proved to be the game-winner.

Palm Beach 10, Vero Beach 7 (gm 1). The Rays needed a pitcher to start game 1 of the double-header and apparently they needed a pitcher to work a lot of innings and Jeff Kamrath was the sacrificial lamb. Kamrath made just his second start of the year and gave up 9 runs in 7 innings on 13 hits and 4 walks. Erold Andrus was 3-5 with his 2nd home run.

Palm Beach 2, Vero Beach 1 (gm 2). Mike Wlodarczyk struck out 6 in 6 innings with 8 hits and 2 runs allowed.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

• Fernando Perez who went on the DL with a minor knee injury will now have his return delayed another week due to a hip injury suffered during a recent workout.
• Gerry Hunsicker was in Montgomery to most likely see Evan Longoria.
• Columbus was rained out and will play a double-header today. Wade Townsend will come off the DL and pitch game 1.

Down On The Farm: Evan Longoria Heats Up

Richmond 2, Durham 0. The Bulls only managed 3 hits, with Brent Butler collecting 2. Jason Hammel only gave up 2 hits in his 6 innings of work but allowed 2 runs, 1 on a ground out and the other on a sac fly. Both in the 1st inning.

Montgomery 9 Missisippi 6. Evan Longoria went 4-4 with his 6th home run of the year to raise his average to .333. Jason Pridie was 2-5 with his 5th stolen base and scored 2 runs. Reid Brignac went 2-5 to get his average back to .300. John Jaso hit his 2nd home run and had 4 RBI.

Columbus 5, Charleston 4. Lewis Rollins pitched 7 shutout innings to lower his ERA to 1.57. He struck out 4. Ryan Royster cooled off just a tad, going hitless in 2 ABs with 2 walks. He is now hitting .361.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

• Wade Townsend has been shutdown and placed on the DL with a tired arm. Doesn’t sound serious, but we can understand the team taking every precaution with the former first-round pick.

The Hangover: Handin’ Out Delmons And Chasing Charlie Hough

Devil Rays 4, Twins 3.
Delmon Young likes to throw things very hard and very far and very accurately. We call it Gettin’ A Delmon…Jason Kubel Got A Delmon…In the 4th inning, Kubel rambled a little too far towards second base on a line drive to Delmon Young in right center. Despite catching the ball while moving away from first base, Young turned and fired a pea to Carlos Pena at first to double-up Kubel and get the Rays out of the inning…Justin Morneau Got A Delmon…In the 6th inning, Morneau hit a rocket off the right field wall that would be a double on any other night. But on this night Delmon Young was roaming the FieldTurf II of the Trop. He played the ball off the wall, spun and fired a rocket to Brendan Harris at second base. Both Kubel and Morneau should just be grateful that Young wasn’t throwing a bat.

As for the rest of the game, the Rays once again were able to get to Twins closer Joe Nathan, scoring 2 in the 9th to tie the game. In 3 appearances this season against the Rays (3 innings) Nathan has given up 9 hits and 4 runs. In his other 10 appearances (10.1 innings) he has allowed only 10 hits and 1 run. In the bottom of the 10th inning (the Rays first extra inning affair of the year) Ben Zobrist fell rounding third base on Harris’ double, but made up for the gaffe beating the throw home on Dioner Navarro’s ground ball to short.

The Rays are now in sole possession of third place in the AL East, 5.5 games behind the Red Sox and only 1 game behind the Jays for 2nd place. Even more intriguing is that the Rays are only 4 games back in the wild card. But that is the last time we will mention that number until the Rays reach a more important milestone, .500. In our minds there are three numbers the Rays are chasing. 6.5 games is the Rays “mark” in the AL East. 4 games in the Rays mark in the wild card race, but neither of those numbers mean anything until the Rays reach “The Charlie Hough Line”. For his career Hough was 216-216. The knuckleballer was the epitome of a .500 pitcher. The Rays cannot think of any other teams until they first surpass Hough’s career winning percentage. So from now on we will only speak in terms of “Games behind Charlie Hough”. Right now the Rays are 1.5 games behind Charlie Hough.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• The Rays base stealing is greatly improved in the last 10 days. After only being successful on 14 of their first 27 attempts, the Rays have stolen 14 of their last 17.
• Josh Hamilton was named NL Rookie of the Month for April. During the month, Hamilton, who started the season as a reserve, hit .266 with 6 home runs, 16 RBI and a stolen base.
• Akinori Iwamura finished second in the AL Rookie of the Month voting to fellow Japanese rookie Hideki Okajima of the Red Sox.
• Greg Norton has been getting at bats in extended spring training, and will begin a rehab assignment in Montgomery on Friday, where he will get 27-30 at bats (6-7 games). Norton should be back with the Rays a week from Friday when the Rays begin a series in Toronto.
• Now that Benny Boo Boo is on the bench, he has more free time to visit local school children. The upsetting part is that apparently BenZo was accompanied by his wife and mlb.com could not provide us with any pictures. That’s ok, we still have Julianne’s MySpace page.
• FoxSports has their first power ranking of the season and the Rays come in at #22. Might be the highest we have ever seen the Devil Rays ranked in any power rankings. Of course they mention that Jeff Niemann is returning from Tommy John surgery. Must have him mixed up with Wade Townsend.

Down On The Farm: Big Afternoon For Top Pitching Prospects

Durham 2, Charlotte 1. After Chris Richard tied the game with a 1-out single in the bottom of the 9th, Shawn Riggans knocked in the winner with a 2-out single. Mitch Talbot got back on track after 3 straight bad starts. He gave 1 run in 7 innings and did not walk a batter. He struck out 4.

Montgomery 7, Jacksonville 2. This is becoming an old story…Another great start for Chris Mason. This time he went 5.1 innings and gave up only 1 unearned run. He struck out 6 and only walked 1. He is now 3-0 with an ERA of 1.26 in 28.2 innings spanning 5 starts. Reid Brignac hit his 4th home run and drove in 3.

Vero Beach 4, Brevard County 0. Wade Davis struck out 9 in 7 shutout innings, giving up only 2 hits and 2 walks. He lowered his ERA to 2.15 in 29.1 innings. Rhyne Hughes hit his first home run of the year. He is hitting .324.

Columbus 7, Charleston 1. Joshua Butler gave only 1 unearned run in 6 innings to lower his ERA to 1.61. He struck out 5. Ryan Royster and Matt Spring both homered for the Rays.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

• Yesterday’s Biscuits game featured two bench-clearing incidents although it appears as if no punches were thrown. Evan Longoria was hit after Reid Brignac homered. In the following inning Chris Mason threw at least one pitch that was a little too close. In all, three players and coaches were ejected.
• We have been singing the praises of Jason Hammel and now others are starting to take notice. Hammel is back to throwing a slider and his confidence has never been higher…Quite often these decisions are based on a player’s turn in the rotation, but if that were not a factor, Hammel would be the first starting pitcher called up from Durham.
• Wade Townsend is off to a hot start at low-A Columbus, in his return from Tommy John surgery, and he was just recognized for his performance. The South-Atlantic League named Townsend their pitcher of the week. Both of his starts (prior to his last outing) were wins in which he gave upa combined 2 runs in 11 innings. He is now second in the SAL with 32 strikeouts (8 walks), and has an ERA of 2.25. Very impressive considering he is on a tight leash right now.
• James Houser was placed on the DL after having his wisdom teeth pulled. That’s a new one. Evan Meek, who went on the DL after being hit in the head with by a line-drive from his own teammate, replaces Houser on the roster.

Down On The Farm: Wade Townsend Is Still Human

Pawtucket 2, Durham 1. Jason Hammel finally allowed a few hits, but was still strong in his second outing of the season. Last night he worked 5 innings giving up 4 hits, 2 walks and 1 run. Chris Richard hit his 2nd home run and Jorge Cantu went 0-3.

Greenville 3, Columbus 0. After an impressive 2007 debut, Wade Townsend came back to earth a bit. He pitched 3 innings and gave up 3 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks. He struck out 4. Can we now calm down on the “Wade Townsend promoted to the Rays in September” talk? We have no reason to think that Townsend won’t be at Columbus all season. The first season after Tommy John surgery for a young pitcher is always about learning how to pitch all over again. The earliest we would see Townsend at the Trop is 2009.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

• Walks were the downfall for Wade Townsend in his start yesterday.
• JP Howell tries to rebound this afternoon from his first start of the season.
• Yesterday was the Biscuits first full off-day in over a month and they took advantage by goin’fishin’. Chris Seddon will get the start today.

The Hangover: Is Bob Gibson’s Arm Available?

• Game 2 of the 2007 season was rained out yesterday. No makeup date has been scheduled.
• If the game had been played, Jonny Damon would not have been in the lineup. He is suffering from a sore calf, which caused him to be removed from Monday’s opener. In fact, now it looks like he is headed for the DL.
• Four of the Rays minor league affiliates will start today. The starting pitchers are scheduled to be: Jason Hammel (Durham), Chris Seddon (Montgomery), Jake McGee (Vero Beach), Wade Townsend (Columbus). Hammel will be followed at Durham by JP Howell, Jeff Niemann, Andy Sonnanstine and Mitch Talbot.
• The rain-out pushes the rotation back a day which is already on an extra day of rest due to the off-day Tuesday. To compensate, Scott Kazmir will pitch ahead of Edwin Jackson on Sunday, with Jackson going Monday against the Rangers.
• Jorge Cantu’s agent reiterated that the former team MVP has not changed his position and he still wants to be traded.
• Expect the Rays to be even more aggressive on the base paths this season, with as many as four players swiping 25 or more bases. The Rays had three on opening day.
• According to Buster Olney, manager Joe Maddon is giving a Bob Gibson tape to Edwin Jackson, hoping that it will light a competitive fire in the young prospect.
• The state house might have just helped the Rays sign a new middle reliever, by granting the team a $2 million per year tax break.
• Here is your chance to vote for Devil Rays to make it to Cooperstown. Might be their only chance.

The Hangover: Wade Townsend? Never Heard Of Him

• The Rays fell to Cleveland 4-3. You can tell that Joe Maddon wants his pitchers working deeper in games this year. For the second time this week a starting pitcher worked 7 innings, a rare sight in spring training. This time it was James Shields, who gave up 4 runs on 8 hits and a walk. He struck out 7. Jorge Cantu had his first home run of the spring and Elijah Dukes doubled home the other run.
• Dioner Navarro was scratched from yesterday’s game which is not good news. Navarro has had hamstring problems in the past. The Rays may be better served to put him on the shelf for two weeks and make sure he is 100%. Carl Crawford was also a late scratch from Monda’s lineup although his injury appears to be less threatening at this point.
• Speaking of injuries, Wade Townsend pitched in a minor league game for the Rays yesterday. You remember Townsend, right? He was the Rays top pick in 2005 and then after 12 unimpressive outings, he threw out his elbow and needed Tommy John surgery. He missed all of 2005. He is 24 now and scheduled to pitch all season at single-A Columbus.
• B. J. Upton is playing more relaxed this season and it is probably going to translate into a position on the opening day roster. Now the question is will he be relaxed enough to duplicate something similar to his 2005 numbers at Durham?
• In 2006 Delmon Young drew one walk in 126 plate appearances with the Rays. That would normally be a red flag for a prospect. Young isn’t worried, and believes the walks will come when pitchers learn to fear what he can do with strikes. We are big believers in plate discipline for young hitters, but with Young, it won’t be a problem. For the record, Young has 2 walks in 62 plate appearances this spring.
• Al Reyes has no regrets and is just happy to be back, even if he is old enough to have fathered half his teammates.
• The Curse of LaMar-Naimoli.