Syracuse 3, Durham 2. Mitch Talbot allowed a run for the first time in 3 starts. Yesterday he was touched for 3 runs in 6 innings on 8 hits. He struck out 6 and walked none...Dan Johnson provided all the offense with a 2-run home run, his 4th since being demoted...Fernando Perez was 1-4 with his 7th double and Reid Brignac was 1-4 with his 9th double.

Mississippi 5, Montgomery 4. Wade Davis struck out 6 in 6 innings, but allowed 3 runs on 6 hits, 3 walks and 2 hit batters. He got the no-decision...Matt Spring (3) and Rhyne Hughes (4) hit home runs for the Biscuits. Spring had 3 hits in 4 at bats.

Vero Beach (DNP)

Columbus (DNP)

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM...

• No links today.
  

Last night, Scott Kazmir, shutout the Angels for 6 innings, and earned his 36th career win. Still only 24, Kazmir has already made 99 career starts and is now the Tampa Bay Rays all-time winningest pitcher, having surpassed Victor Zambrano, for whom he was traded from the Mets Organization.

The Professor laid out the reasons that Kid K will be the next 300-game winner in the original post.

To add a couple of thoughts...

• Keep in mind that even though the Rays have an incredibly young rotation, Kazmir is the youngest of the group.
• Also, it amazes me that so many people think we have seen the end of 300-game winners considering there are only three pitchers with 350 wins since 1920 and two of those pitchers (Greg Maddux and Roger Clemens) were active just last year.
  

DRG here again to get you through the weekend. I can be reached here..

• The Good: The 2nd inning was Scott Kazmir's coming out party. In the 1st inning, Kid K'd fastball was only 88-89, much like it was in his first start off the DL. However, in the 2nd inning, Kazmir struck out Juan Rivera to lead off the inning with only one fastball that broke 88. That seemed to be the at bat that gave him his confidence back, because in the next at bat, threw four fastballs that were clocked at 92. He walked that batter, but from that point forward, Kazmir was consistently 92-93 with his fastball including his 108th, and last, pitch in the 6th which was 93.
  
• The Bad: Mimosas, Coronas and whatever that blue crap was.
  
• The Telling: Stuart Sternberg predicted 50 home win in 2007. We laughed. They won 37. 2008 came and Sternberg predicted 50 home wins again. Again we laughed. The Rays have now won 8 straight at home (a record) and now sit at 12-7 at home this season. Brace yourselves. The Rays are on pace for 51 home wins in 2008. I can't make it up...PS, the Rays are now in second place and 1 game back of wild card lead...PPS, take a look at those standings above and soak it in for a moment. The season is now 20% completed and the Rays are not only not in last place, but they are in 2nd place, ahead of the O's. Ahead of the Jay. And ahead of the Yankees.
  

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• ManRay is baaaaaaaccccccckkkkkkkkk. [Armchair GM]
  
• James Shields and Joe Maddon discuss the possibility of Shields throwing a no-hitter. [Tampa Tribune]
  
• Marc Topkin says that the Rays have narrowed their top choce down to 5 players...Prof loves the high school shortstop Tim Beckham. Personally, I am starting to lean towards one of the two catchers. I know the Rays do not draft for need, but with Dioner Navarro behind the plate and no obvious catching prospects in the system (John Jaso is not a catcher long-term), I love the idea of drafting a high school catcher. But hey, what do I know. [St. Pete Times]
• Beyond the Boxscore breaks down the two most likely candidates for the #1 pick. Tim Beckham and Florida State catcher Buster Posey. My Gator allegiances aside. Um. What? nevermind. Momentary lack of respect for my alma mata. Screw Posey. [Beyond the Boxscore]
  
• The New York Times takes a look at New York City native and potential #1 overall pick Pedro Alvarez. He says he would love to join David Price, his former Vandy teammate, in the Rays system...Sorry. As long as Scott Boras is his agent, he will not be drafted by the Rays. Even if the Rays thought they could afford his signing bonus demands, the bigger factor is that Boras almost always takes his clients to free agency and never signs away arbitration and free agency seasons. A key to the Rays franchise. [New York Times]
  
• Gary Glover and Al Reyes threw bullpen sessions yesterday. Sounds like Reyes is still a few days away, but Glover could be back today or tomorrow. [The Heater]
• Joe Maddon says that Akinori Iwamura is getting better at leading off and says that there are no plans to move him out of the spot. [Tampa Tribune]
  
• Her Rays thinks Akinori Iwamura's luck is a' changin with his new haircut. [Her Rays]
• Several Rays will use pink bats today for Mother's Day in honor of breast cancer awareness. [St. Pete Times]
  

Durham 3, Syracuse 0. Chris Mason had his strongest outing yet in AAA with 5 shutout innings. He struc out 4 and walked 1...Grant Balfour picked up his 5th save...Reid Brignac was 0-2 with a sac fly...Justin Ruggiano was 2-4 with his 3rd home run.

Montgomery 9, Mississippi 6. Jake McGee was shaky, allowing 4 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks in 5.1 innings. McGee only allowed 2 singles and no walks in the first 4 innings...Rhyne Hughes had a double and 2 RBI, while Rahsad Eldridge went 4-5 and drove in 3.

Lakeland 6, Vero Beach 2. Matt Walker dropped to 0-5 after giving up 6 runs in 4.1 innings...Ben Zobrist was 1-4 with a single and an RBI...Garrett Groce had the other RBI on a sac fly.

Columbus 9, Augusta 1. Brian Flores picked up his second win with 7 Ks in 5 innings. He allowed 1 run...Emeel Salem and Greg Sexton each went 3-5, while Shawn Williams went 5-5 and raised his average to .355.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM...

• MiLB takes a closer look at Shawn Williams 5-5 performance. Williams is the son of Jimy Williams, the former Blue Jays, Red Sox and Astros manager. [MiLB]
  

Carl Crawford may throw like a girl, but he has mad speed.

Two years ago on Rays Index we realized that the Tampa Bay Devil Rays were going to be changing their name. We came up with a suggestion that had a chance to please everybody.

Name Change Suggestion? [Rays Index]

DRG here again to get you through the weekend. I can be reached here..

• The Good: Best. Rays. Game. Ever...James Shields, 1 hit and one controversial hit batter short of a perfect game...Evan Longoria a 2-run walk-off home run with 1 out in the bottom of the 9th...Diving catches from Carl Crawford and BJ Upton...And let me point out one at bat at this point. Gabe Gross leading off the bottom of the 8th, may have been the best at bat I have seen from a Rays hitter this season. Gross had in mind getting on base at any cost. He was taking until he had a strike. He got ahead 2-0 before the first called strike. A foul ball on the next pitch and it was 2-2. Outside of the first pitch, everything was up-and-away. On the 5th pitch he fouled off a tough fastball. Next pitch he laid off a fastball off the plate. He then fouled off another fastball away. The 8th pitch was in very much the same spot as the last pitch, and Gross drove the pitch to left-center for a double. He didn't score, but that at bat sold me on Gabe Gross.
  
• The Bad: Did you guys see Joe Magrane's suit? Pinstripes with a diagonal striped tie. Doesn't he know that diagonal stripes clash with Dwayne Staats hair?...
  
• The Telling: James Shields only needed 92 pitches to pitch the 1-hit shutout. If the Rays do not score in the bottom of the 9th, Shields would have come out for the 10th inning...In his last 2 starts at home, James Shields has thrown 2 shutouts. In those two starts combined, 3 hits, 1 walk, 15 strikeouts...The Rays are 2 games back in the wild card chase...With the Rays winning this year, these out of division games have a different feel. In years past, I would look forward to these series, because I got a chance to watch some other teams and it was a respite from the grind that is the AL East. This year, I find myself dreading out of division series. The Rays are good, and I want every game to be a divisional rival.
  

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• My fellow RAYSHEADS, you have been heard. Nathan Haynes has been DFA'd. The move comes with the Rays activating Cliff Floyd from the DL. [Rays Report]
• The Rays effort last night inspired the poetic side of Her Rays. [Her Rays]
  
• The Mockingbord takes a look at Troy Percival's pitches from Thursday when he blew a 3-run lead in the 9th. [The Mockingbird]
• Fire Joe Morgan questions why the Rays are on the list of the 10 worst franchises, considering that the team looks pretty darned good this year. [Fire Joe Morgan]
• Rays of Light argues that the Rays should no longer seek outside help for the lineup noting that the Rays are ahead of schedule and should just play out the 2008 season as is. [Rays of Light]
  

Syracuse 7, Durham 2. Jeff Niemann made his first start since being demoted on April 20th. He was limited to 3 innings, and allowed only 1 hit. He struck out 4 and did not walk a batter...Juan Salas made his first appearance of 2008, giving up 5 runs in 2 innings...Justin Ruggiano was 2-4 and hit his 2nd home run...Reid Brignac was 0-3 with 2 strike outs.

Montgomery 4, Birmingham 3 (gm 1). Gabby Martinez led off the bottom of the 7th with a home run to win the game, his second of the game. He drove in 3...Richard De los Santos gave up 2 runs in 5 innings...

Birmingham 9, Montgomery 5 (gm 2). Wade Townsend made his first start of 2008 and took the loss, as his defense let him down. He gave up 4 runs in 3 innings, but only 1 was earned...John Jaso was 2-4 with his 3rd double.

Vero Beach 5, Lakeland 2. Ryan Morse gave up 2 runs, but was not around long enough to pick up the win...Garrett Groce was 3-5 and is now hitting .330...Matt Fields was 2-3 with his 7th home run.

Columbus 5, Augusta 3. Jason Ragan picked up his 5th win, on 6 innings of work. He gave up 3 runs...Emeel Salem and Maiko Loyola were each 2-5 and Loyola stole his 15th and 16th bases.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM...

• Jeremy Hellickson and Emeel Salem were the pitcher and player of the month, respectively, for the Rays minor league system. [Biscuits Batter]
  

One year ago on Rays Index we showed you what you already knew, that Jae Seo was one of the worst pitchers in baseball even though Gary Shelton of the St. Pete Times was telling the fans to be patient.

Jae Seo Reaffirms His Position As Worst Pitcher In Baseball [Rays Index]

Two years ago on Rays Index we found out that Delmon Young received a 50-game suspension for "Dishin' Out A Delmon" to a minor league umpire.

50 Games For Delmon Young [Rays Index]

THE GOOD: Edwin Jackson. 112 pitches, 73 strikes. His 112th pitch was 97 mph. One pitch in the 8th registered 99 (although we are skeptical) and he was consistently 95+ in the 8th inning. No runs. 6 hits, no walks 1 walk. Great game, even if the Jays bailed him out on a number of occasions. But that is the benefit of a 95 mph fastball. It is much more difficult to lay off a pitch out of the zone. He only had 3 Ks, but his strikeout of Shannon Stewart leading off the 6th was a perfect example of just how good Jackson can be. After falling behind 2-0, he followed that up with a 93 mph fastball called strike on the inside part of the plate. Then he went away with a 94 mph fastball for strike 2 swinging. Finally, he came back inside with a 95 mph fastball that completely overpowered Stewart for strike 3 swinging. Stewart, a 14-year veteran looked like a rookie...Good is also having your closer blow a 3-run lead in the 9th and still win the game. Those blown saves won't happen often, but still picking up the W is almost like a bonus victory...Akinori Iwamura and Jason Bartlett combined on a huge double-play to end the 6th...Dan Wheeler in the 10th inning was pure guts. After giving up a lead off triple, he battled back and struck out the side to leave the bases loaded (there was also an intentional walk and an unintentional, intentional walk)...JP Howell was magnificent. Coming in to the game in the 11th, and shutting down the Jays for 3 innings...Seeing Shawn Camp enter the game in the 13th. We have been screaming for a while that Camp owes the Rays a few. Last night was the first. 1 inning, 4 hits, 1 walk, 5 runs. Seeing that line next to Camp's name brings back more than a few bad memories. We would love to put Dioner Navarro here for the grand slam, but it was all Shawn Bleepin' Camp...Still. Dioner Navarro. 3 more hits. .368 on the season. If you have been around these parts for a while, you know that we have long said that Navi has the ability to hit .320-.330 for a season. So this is not a complete shock, but man. .368?!?

THE BAD: Akinori Iwamura just doesn't seem to have any idea where the strike zone is right now. And we have never seen anybody hit so many fly balls on pitches 6 inches off the ground. It is as if he is swinging a 7-iron...Sometimes Edwin Jackson doesn't seem to know where the strike zone is. When he misses his spot, he misses his spot...In the 10th inning that Dan Wheeler barely got through after a leadoff triple, there were actually 3 pitches in which the game was almost given away. With a runner on 3rd, Dioner Navarro actually dropped the third strike to Matt Stairs. Afterwards, Wheeler threw a 58-footer and a 55-footer to Alex Rios that Navi blocked saving the game...Greg Zaun has "Z-Man" written on his chest protector. This is why we will never refer to Ben Zobrist as "Z-Man". Every payer in the history of sports with a last name that begins with Z, has the nickname "Z-man". Why 'Z'? How come we never hear the nickname "L-man" or "F-man"?...

THE TELLING: Evan Longoria was supposed to get the night off, but came in late in the game and ended up getting 3 at bats (1 hit).

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• If you read between the lines, it sounds like the Rays may forgo an official rehab assignment for Cliff Floyd. He went 3-4 in an extended spring game and Joe Maddon said he will not be activated from the DL today. [Tampa Tribune]
  
• Jayson Stark revisits a number of off-season trades and how they are working a little more than a month into the season. It sounds like a lot of people that thought the Rays got robbed when they sent Delmon Young to the Twins, are starting to back-pedal. And this review doesn't even consider Jason Bartlett. [ESPN]

Six weeks into the season, the Garza-Young debate is still raging. "This was one of those change-of-scenery deals," said one scout, "because both clubs had about had it with the makeup issues of both guys. Right now, Garza looks like he's going to be a big rotation piece for that team as they go forward. But I'm not so sure about Delmon anymore. He swings at everything. And he's not a very good breaking-ball hitter. You spin it, and he can't lay off it. And if he hits it, he doesn't do much with it."

• Another story on Troy Percival and his leadership on the field and in the clubhouse. Yes, they are getting old, and we wouldn't link this one except it is Ken Rosenthal so it is worth the read. If anything, check out the sidebar quote from Percy on why he came to the Rays. [Fox Sports]
  

Pawtucket 3, Durham 2. After scoring 2 in the 6th, the Bulls' last 10 batters went down in order...Mike Prochaska started and gave up 3 runs in 4.1 innings...Reid Brignac was 1-3...The Bulls only managed 5 hits total...Fernando Perez was 0-3 with a walk.

Birmingham @ Montgomery, ppd. rain. The Biscuits and Barons will play a double-header today.

Lakeland 4, Vero Beach 3. Jeremy Hellickson actually walked a batter. He worked 5.2 innings, giving up only 1 unearned run. He struck out 3 and walked 1...JT Hall was 2-2 with a walk and a triple and his 2nd home run.

Augusta 6, Columbus 4. Josh Johnson allowed 3 runs in 5 innings, but got the no-decision...Henry Wrigley keeps the torrid pace, with his 3rd multi-hit game in the last 5. He was 3-4 with an RBI...

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM...

• Juan Salas is scheduled to join Durham this weekend. [Biscuits Batter]
• We *kinda* linked to this yesterday at DRays Bay, but for the sake of repetitiveness, Desmond Jennings, who has yet to play this season, has suffered a "setback" and there is now no indication as to when he will return. Jennings is yet to play 100 games in any given season. [Biscuits Batter]
  

There are a lot of things to be embarrassed about as a Rays fan (Rainbow Warriors unis, The Hit Parade, 9 last place finishes in 10 seasons, Dick Vitale). But the one that has always bothered us more than the others is the retirement of Wade Boggs' number 12. When people bring this little diddy up to us, we just shake our head in shame. He spent only two of his 18 seasons wearing purple, green, blue, yellow and chartreuse. Of Boggs' 3,010 career hits, only 210 came with the Devil Rays. He did that in three separate seasons with the Red Sox. In 1999, he had as many GIDPs as doubles (14) and never posted an OPS+ of 100 with the Rays).

Still, with the Rays playing in Toronto, we are reminded of one of the most amazing baseball stories we have ever heard. The following story is why we love Wade Boggs so much and why we refer to beers as "Boggs" (even if we still think it is idiotic that his number is retired).

[An excerpt from Drunk Jays Fans]

For your enjoyment, a conversation between Steve Sandmeyer and Jeff Nelson on 950 KJR:

Sandy: Who would you say drank the most beer out of everyone you ever played with?
Nelson: Easy, Wade Boggs…..easy
Sandy: (laughing) Really!? Wade Boggs?
Nelson: Oh, yeah, without a doubt. I’ve never seen anyone drink as much beer as he did in my life.
Sandy: (laughing) Get outta here, alright, give me an example, like how much did he drink?
Nelson: Oh, I’d say, on a typical road trip, east coast to west coast [Nelly played with Boggs on the Yankees], say a road game to Seattle……Wade would drink anywhere between 50 and 60 beers.
Sandy: NO WAY!! 50 or 60 beers. That is impossible.
Nelson: I’m not kidding you Steve. Seriously. Wade was the kind of guy who was always the first one at the club house. So he’d get to the clubhouse, and he’d bring a six pack with him. He’d be there drinking a beer when someone showed up, and as we were all packing our stuff up out of our lockers and getting our bags ready for the trip, Wade would sit there and drink that whole six pack....Now, at the time, we were flying out of New Jersey, so it was somewhat of a drive from Yankee stadium to the airport in New Jersey. Wade would drink another couple of beers on the bus to the airport. At the time, we were flying this older airplane, it couldn’t make it across the country without refueling, and it wasn’t the fastest airplane in the sky. So we would stop in North Dakota or something. Wade would drink about a half rack between New Jersey and North Dakota, and it would take about a half-hour to an hour to refuel once we got there, so he’d have a few more beers while we were grounded in North Dakota...Once we got back up in the air, Wade would drink another 10, 11, 12 beers on the way out to the west coast. The whole flight from coast to coast ususally took us well over 7 hours. We’d touch down at Sea-Tac, hop on the bus headed to the Kingdome, and Wade would have another beer or two on the bus. Then, all of us would get to the Kingdome and unpack our bags and sit around and BS with each other, and Wade would have a beer in his hand the entire time. He was always one of the last people to leave the club house too. So I’d say that all in all, he drank over 50 beers on the trip, and this wasn’t just an isolated incident, he did that almost every time.

[commercial break: When the commercial end, Paul Sorrento, a former Mariner and Devil Ray, and Boggs’s and Nelly’s former teammate, is on the phone]

Nelly: Alright Paul, we’ve been talking about Wade Boggs up here today in Seattle.
Sorrento: (laughing) Yeah, ole Wade huh.
Nelly: Yeah, alright Paul, I need you to answer one question for me, truthfully now….How many beers would Wade Boggs drink on an east coast to west coast road trip?
Sorrento: Oh, jeez, (exhaling like a flat tire) I don’t know, like 70.
Nelly, Sandberg, Sorrento, Hank: (Rolling on the ground laughing)

This story spawned the "The Boggs Head" on Drunk Jays Fans.

This story never ceases to amaze us. I drink more than my fair share of beer, to the point that most of my friends hate drinking with me because they say I have been cursed with a "high tolerance". And I'll be honest, one of my favorite things is "Drink-all-day Day", but I doubt I have ever even come close to 70 beers in one day. A truly amazing feet. And Boggs did this on a regular basis.

So this weekend, when we toss back a few "Boggs" we will toast the god of baseball drinking, Wade Boggs...and curse the Rays for retiring his number.

Have A Wade Boggs Weekend [Drunk Jays Fans]
The Boggs Head [Drunk Jays Fans]

One year ago on Rays Index we told you that Juan Salas had been caught injecting himself with IEDs.

Juan Salas Caught Injecting Himself With Idiot Enhancing Drugs [Rays Index]

THE GOOD: The Red Sox lost...The Yankees lost...The Orioles lost...So the only team that the Rays lost ground to last yesterday was the Jays. Oh and the O's are now in their rightful place, last place...

THE BAD: Shaun Marcum faced the minimum through the first 6.2 innings. The only hit prior to the 9th inning was a double single by Dioner Navarro in which he was promptly thrown out at second base because people that chubby should only sprint 90 feet at a time....For the second game this series, the Rays struck out at least 10 times, led by the Sombrero-loving Carlos Pena. Three nights ago it was a regular sombrero with 3 Ks in 4 at bats, Two nights ago it was the golden sombrero with 4 Ks in 4 at bats. And last night it was a regular sombrero again with 3 Ks in 4 at bats...We are still trying to figure out how Vernon Wells caught up to and actually caught Aki Iwamura's long drive to center in the 7th...We know it was only 1 run in 6.2 innings, but we are not giving Matt Garza credit for a 'good'. We can't quite figure it out, but he either walks too many or strikes out too few. Maybe both?

THE TELLING: We like to call this a "tip your cap" game. When the baseball gods gathered yesterday morning and reviewed yesterday's matchups they declared that the Jays would win. At that point there was just nothing that the Rays could do. It was predetermined. For you Maddon players out there, it is like when you are rolling through a season and your Bucs squad sits 10-0 and all of the sudden the computer opponent goes into "49ers Dynasty Mode" in which it can do nothing wrong and you can do nothing right. Your undefeated team is guaranteed to fumble at least two kickoff returns that will both be returned for touchdowns, and no matter how many of your "sure-thing" plays you run, nothing goes right. Sometimes, when the gods speak, it is not in your favor.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Our apologies for the lack of Live Blog-A-Baloos. They will return with full-force next week. Not sure what day yet. Any suggestions? And next week's will be held here.
• Joe Maddon and Carlos Pena had a closed-door meeting that lasted for 20 minutes following last night's game. During the meeting, which was heated at times, Maddon threatened to bench the slugger if he didn't pull his head out of his ass...Oh, who are we kidding. This is Papa Joe we are talking about. They hugged it out and Papa Joe sang El Gato sweet nothings, and told him some tales of lollipops and daffodils. [Rays Report]
• More injury updates from Marc Lancaster: Ben Zobrist had his first rehab start for Vero Beach. He DH'd and went 1-3...Cliff Floyd played in another extended spring game as a DH and should rejoin the team within a week...Willy Aybar also played DH in the same game but is still a ways off. Which begs the question: Why is he playing in an extended spring game, if his hamstring is no where near ready to come back? Is there more to his injury?...Al Reyes and Gary Glover played catch (we assume Reyes played the role of 'Dad'). Reyes has a bullpen session scheduled for today, while Glover will do the same on Saturday...Scott Kazmir had "spectacular" command in his bullpen session yesterday. [Rays Report]
  
• Bugs & Cranks wonders if Joe Maddon was trying to bait the Jays fans with his comments of their booing of Eric S#!tske. [Bugs & Cranks]
• And Drunk Jays Fans, proprietor of the aforementioned nickname, S#!tske, are a little perturbed that there is a chance that Eric Hinske does not know why he is being booed in Toronto...For the record, we understand. But we also love that the Toronto fans are fanning the fire that is Eric S#!tske, because right now? Hinske is The S#!tske. [Drunk Jays Fans]
• The Strike Zone sees Andy Sonnanstine as a strong candidate to win 20 games. [The Strike Zone]
• Jays fans didn't take losing to Andy Sonnanstine too well. [primoz forever]
• One blog takes a shot at the upcoming auction at the Trop for "extraordinary baseball experiences"...We gotta admit, they are pretty ridiculous. Also, the name of the website It Is High, It Is Far, It Is...caught is pure awesome. For those not familiar, it is a reference to John Sterling, Yankees broadcaster/blowhard and his home run call, which he uses for anything approaching the outfield wall. And it doesn't matter if the home run was actually a line drive that just cleared the fence. He will still use the same idiotic call...P.S. The slogan for the website is "The road to the New York Yankees' 27th World Championship". Might as well have made that the name of the site, because the "road" is going on 8 years and it does not look like the number is changing anytime soon. [It Is High, It Is Far, It is...caught]
  

Pawtucket 12, Durham 7. Kevin Lynn got the start in place of JK Ryu who went on the DL. Lynn gave up 5 runs in 5 innings...Reid Brignac was 2-4 with his 8th double. He also committed his 4th error...Fernando Perez was 0-4 with 3 strike outs, and Justin Ruggiano was 1-3 with a triple and a walk...Dan Johnson was 2-4 with 3 RBI including a 2-run single in the 9th when the game was already decided.

Montgomery 16, Birmingham 10. (Just curious...are we contractually obligated at this point to point out that the Biscuits "missed an extra point"? Just wondering, because in the world of overused sports cliches, the "high-scoring baseball game, as a football score" is right there near the top. Just behind "crafty lefty" and just ahead of anything Joe Magrane says)...James Houser's suspension for hitting Matt LaPorta was only for 3 games, so he did not miss a start. He should have as he could not manage to pick up the W despite receiving a touchdown and three field goals worth of run support (see what we did there; much better on the hypothetical kicker's ego). Houser needed only make it through the 5th inning, but he could not and was knocked out with 1 out in the 5th after allowing 6 runs on 10 hits...3 different players had 3 RBI apiece, including Erold Andrus, Gabby Martinez and Rashad Eldridge... John Jaso had 3 hits, including 2nd double and an RBI...Erold Andrus added his 12th double and Sergio Pedroza knocked his 10th double.

Lakeland 8, Vero Beach 4. Heath Rollins struck out 7 and walked none, but fell to 1-2 after allowing 4 runs in 5 innings on 9 hits...Ben Zobrist DH'd and went 1-3 with an RBI in his first rehab start.

Augusta 4, Columbus 3. Glenn Gibson struck out 6 in 5 innings, but walked 3 and gave up 3 runs on 4 hits...Maiko Loyola was 3-4 to raise his average to .287 and stole his 14th base.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM...

• David Price had his first extended spring training start yesterday. He worked 3 innings and allowed 1 run on 2 opposite field singles and no walks. He struck out 4. [Rays Report]
• A resounding 'YES!'...Just further evidence why we wait until a player has done something...anything at AA or AAA before praising their "prospectness". [Drays Bay]
  

The Rays Confidence Graph will appear every Wednesday and is a look at how much confidence Rays fans have in the Tampa Bay Rays. The graph is designed to give us a look at how our emotional bias as Rays fans fluctuates through time. The "confidence" in the team is an inexact measure of how fans feel about the team's current strength as well as how much confidence fans have in the franchise for the next 3-4 years. Notes on this weeks agida-level can be found after the graph..

Notes on the RI Confidence Graph...

• The most common response for "Confidence in 2008 Rays" was 7 (If things break right, they could be in race for playoffs) with 57.3%.
  
• The most common response for "Confidence in future of franchise" was 9 with 41.7%.
  
• 74.2% of respondents feel the Rays have a shot at the playoffs in 2008. That number is down from 80.4% a week ago.
  
• 96.7% of respondents feel the Rays should be at least a .500 team in 2008. Last week that number was 97.2%.
  

In an ESPN.com story about the Tampa Bay Rays' bullpen, there was a telling quote from Joe Maddon about his own managerial style.

"My role has shifted," Maddon said, "from being the eternal optimist to being the more pragmatic one. And I recognized both goals in advance. When I first came here, I knew it was going to be necessary to prop things up, and now I know it's going to be necessary to somehow curb the enthusiasm."

So, annoying the fans to no end was all part of Papa Joe's master plan. And now that the team is doing well, it is now OK to be a curmudgeon. Now if we could get Maddon to actually tighten the leash on players as opposed to just promising.

Then again, this may explain why Papa Joe's Chernoff face was frowning. Or maybe he is just worried that the Rays are playing above his goals.

Improved bullpen big reason Rays have high hopes [