May 17
Durham 8, Louisville 2. Kevin Witt, went 3-5 and hit a 3-run home run in the first, his league-leading 9th on the season. B. J. Upton also had a big day at the plate going 3-5, raising his average to .299, the first time all season he has been within earshot of .300. Elijah Dukes, went 4-4 with a double and is now hitting .328. We have to wonder where Dukes fit into the future of this franchise. He has all the tools and appears to be getting it together this season, but with the logjam in the Devil Rays outfield, will we ever see him in a D-Rays uniform? Chris Seddon picked up his 4th win, going 6 innings and giving up 6 hits and no walks.
Montgomery 2, Birmingham 0. Big game from Andy Sonnastine. He went 8 without allowing a run and only 4 hits and 3 walks. He struck out 4.
Visalia 6, Modesto 3. John Jaso hit his 4th homer for the Oaks as he is beginning to show some power in the past week to compliment his .333 average. Reid Brignac went 1-3 with a double and a walk, and shhhhh…Don’t tell anyone, but no errors. Strongest outing yet for Brandon Mann. He went 8, allowing only 3 hits, 2 walks and 2 runs to earn his 2nd win of the year.
South Bend 6, SW Michigan 2. Big game for Alex Jamieson. He went 3-4, with his 1st home run of the season and a triple, scoring both runs for the Rays.
May 17
Baltimore 4, Boston 3. “We are 1-13!! We are 1-13!!” Those were the calls heard from the O’s clubhouse after the game last night, as they snapped a 13 game losing streak to the Red Sox. Baltimore did try their best to lose the game, allowing 2 runs in the top of the 9th before Chris Ray finally put out the fire for his 10th save, sorta…After Big Papi hit a 2-run home run, Willie Harris was thrown out trying to steal 2nd base.
New York 4, Texas 3. The Spankees’ bullpen needed the night off, and Chien-Ming Wang provided it by going 8 innings before yielding to Big Mo to close off the game. The Bronx Roiders are now tied with the Sox for 1st in the AL East and all is normal in the world.
Toronto 3, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim near Disney Land 0. Casey Janssen had a perfect game through 5 before Donald Duck lined a single up the middle. Duck and Snow White weren’t enough and the Disney Characters fell to the Jays.
May 17
Where would this team be if they had even an average bullpen? We are trying to be patient. The addition of Tyler Walker helped, but the team needs more. Last night the bullpen wasted another strong performance by Seth McClung. In fact, we haven’t done the math (we are too busy drinking our sorrows away), but this bullpen may in fact go down as one of the worst in the history of baseball. There is not ONE major league pitcher in this bullpen. This time it was Ruddy Lugo. Is Lugo a major leaguer? Not yet. Is Chad Orvella a major league pitcher? Not yet. Is Walker a closer? No. We do think Walker is a serviceable pitcher, but he is not a closer. He would probably make a good setup man. But who would close? Nobody on this team, that is for sure. “BARTENDER!! Another, and make it a double.”
May 17
Durham 8, Louisville 2. Kevin Witt, went 3-5 and hit a 3-run home run in the first, his league-leading 9th on the season. B. J. Upton also had a big day at the plate going 3-5, raising his average to .299, the first time all season he has been within earshot of .300. Elijah Dukes, went 4-4 with a double and is now hitting .328. We have to wonder where Dukes fit into the future of this franchise. He has all the tools and appears to be getting it together this season, but with the logjam in the Devil Rays outfield, will we ever see him in a D-Rays uniform? Chris Seddon picked up his 4th win, going 6 innings and giving up 6 hits and no walks.
Montgomery 2, Birmingham 0. Big game from Andy Sonnastine. He went 8 without allowing a run and only 4 hits and 3 walks. He struck out 4.
Visalia 6, Modesto 3. John Jaso hit his 4th homer for the Oaks as he is beginning to show some power in the past week to compliment his .333 average. Reid Brignac went 1-3 with a double and a walk, and shhhhh…Don’t tell anyone, but no errors. Strongest outing yet for Brandon Mann. He went 8, allowing only 3 hits, 2 walks and 2 runs to earn his 2nd win of the year.
South Bend 6, SW Michigan 2. Big game for Alex Jamieson. He went 3-4, with his 1st home run of the season and a triple, scoring both runs for the Rays.
May 17
Baltimore 4, Boston 3. “We are 1-13!! We are 1-13!!” Those were the calls heard from the O’s clubhouse after the game last night, as they snapped a 13 game losing streak to the Red Sox. Baltimore did try their best to lose the game, allowing 2 runs in the top of the 9th before Chris Ray finally put out the fire for his 10th save, sorta…After Big Papi hit a 2-run home run, Willie Harris was thrown out trying to steal 2nd base.
New York 4, Texas 3. The Spankees’ bullpen needed the night off, and Chien-Ming Wang provided it by going 8 innings before yielding to Big Mo to close off the game. The Bronx Roiders are now tied with the Sox for 1st in the AL East and all is normal in the world.
Toronto 3, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim near Disney Land 0. Casey Janssen had a perfect game through 5 before Donald Duck lined a single up the middle. Duck and Snow White weren’t enough and the Disney Characters fell to the Jays.
May 17
Where would this team be if they had even an average bullpen? We are trying to be patient. The addition of Tyler Walker helped, but the team needs more. Last night the bullpen wasted another strong performance by Seth McClung. In fact, we haven’t done the math (we are too busy drinking our sorrows away), but this bullpen may in fact go down as one of the worst in the history of baseball. There is not ONE major league pitcher in this bullpen. This time it was Ruddy Lugo. Is Lugo a major leaguer? Not yet. Is Chad Orvella a major league pitcher? Not yet. Is Walker a closer? No. We do think Walker is a serviceable pitcher, but he is not a closer. He would probably make a good setup man. But who would close? Nobody on this team, that is for sure. “BARTENDER!! Another, and make it a double.”
May 17
Louisville 6, Durham 5. 3B Sean Burroughs went 2-5 and hit a his first home run since being sent back to Durham. B. J. Upton went 1-5, to lower his average to .289. He also committed his 14th error on the season, ending an impressive 10-game errorless streak. Darnell McDonald, went 0-5, but stole his 9th base. Jamie Shields got roughed up, giving up 5 runs in 7 innings. He did strike out 10 and walked only 2.
Montgomery 9, West. Tennessee 7. 2B Elliot Johnson went 2-5 with a double and his 8th home run, driving in 2. He is now hitting .325. Juan Salas picked up his 10th save with a perfect 9th. In 19.2 innings, he has given up 4 hits, 9 walks and 2 UNEARNED runs. He has also struck out 29. This kid is legit.
Visalia 15, Modesto 8. The Oaks had 3 hits, including SS Reid Brignac who went 3-6, scored 4 runs, drove in 5 and hit his 7th home run. He also stole his 5th base. John Jaso hit his 3rd home run.
SW Michigan 1, South Bend 0. Wade Davis was at it again. In what may have been his most impressive outing to date, Davis went 5, allowing 2 hits and no runs. He struck out 8 and walked none. His ERA is now 1.08.
May 17
New York 14, Texas 13. Just more evidence that they need to change the “13-run” pools across the country. For those that aren’t familiar, some people run pools in which each participant has a team and the first person to have a team reach 13 runs wins the money in the pot up to that point. In the old days, a pool could go 2 or 3 weeks without a team reaching 13 runs. Including this game, in which the Bronx Roiders were down 9-0 in the 2nd inning, there were 3 such teams last night, with the Astros also reaching 14 runs.
Boston 6, Baltimore 5. It is kinda like when the older brother puts his hand on younger sibling’s forehead and the smaller child is swinging like crazy, but can’t quite hit the older brother. That is what Boston is doing to the Orioles right now. The Sox won their 13th straight over Baltimore despite hitting 3 home runs off of Curt Schilling.
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim near Disney Land 8, Toronto 3. We have already wasted too much ink.
May 17
Louisville 6, Durham 5. 3B Sean Burroughs went 2-5 and hit a his first home run since being sent back to Durham. B. J. Upton went 1-5, to lower his average to .289. He also committed his 14th error on the season, ending an impressive 10-game errorless streak. Darnell McDonald, went 0-5, but stole his 9th base. Jamie Shields got roughed up, giving up 5 runs in 7 innings. He did strike out 10 and walked only 2.
Montgomery 9, West. Tennessee 7. 2B Elliot Johnson went 2-5 with a double and his 8th home run, driving in 2. He is now hitting .325. Juan Salas picked up his 10th save with a perfect 9th. In 19.2 innings, he has given up 4 hits, 9 walks and 2 UNEARNED runs. He has also struck out 29. This kid is legit.
Visalia 15, Modesto 8. The Oaks had 3 hits, including SS Reid Brignac who went 3-6, scored 4 runs, drove in 5 and hit his 7th home run. He also stole his 5th base. John Jaso hit his 3rd home run.
SW Michigan 1, South Bend 0. Wade Davis was at it again. In what may have been his most impressive outing to date, Davis went 5, allowing 2 hits and no runs. He struck out 8 and walked none. His ERA is now 1.08.
May 17
D-Rays 10, Chicago 7. Before the season began we envisioned a team with solid starting pitching, lots of speed, occasional power surges and a terrible bullpen. We saw all those elements last night in the first game of a 3 game set at the Trop against the defending world champion Chicago Whit Sox. SP Scott Kazmir continues to show that he can be the stopper every team needs. The guy who can take the mound and stop a losing streak. It is hard to believe that this kid is only 22, and even more unfathomable that the New York Mets let the Rays have him for Victor Zambrano. Of course, as much as we listen to New York City sports radio, believe us, the Mets fans have not forgotten about Kazmir and follow his every move in disgust. Kazmir won his 4th straight start going 7, giving up 5 hits, 2 walks (both in the first inning) and 1 run. He struck out 8. The only ball hit hard off of Kazmir, was a sixth inning ground rule double by Tadahito Iguchi that CF Joey Gathright appeared to lose in the lights. Kazmir is now 6-1 with a 1.90 ERA since his opening day loss in Baltimore, allowing more than 2 walks in only 2 of those 8 starts and more than 2 runs in 1 start. The offense broke open the game in the 5th in true Devil Ray fashion. A lead off base hit was followed by a sacrifice attempt in which Gathright reached on an error. Gathright’s speed clearly made pitcher Boone Logan rush his throw pulling 1B Paul Konerko off the bag. Julio Lugo then attempted to move the runners over with a sacrifice bunt, but he too reached first with a beautiful bunt down the third base line, loading the bases. Carl Crawford then hit an infield single in which the pitcher failed to cover first, scoring Hollins. Crawford likely would have beat the pitcher to the bag anyway. After scoring one run and loading the bases with speed, the Rays flexed their muscles. Jonny Gomes hit a double to the gap in right center that easily cleared the bases. Eventually, the Rays would stretch their lead to 10-1. Not wanting to have too easy of a win, the bullpen tried their best to blow the game, giving up 6 runs in the 8th, before Tyler Walker came on in the 9th to record his 6th save in 7 chances with Tampa.
