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May 02
In the fourth inning tonight, Dustin Pedroia tagged up on a flyball to left field. Below is the result of Carl Crawford’s throw.
Like we always say, if you can’t throw The Hobbit out, hit him in the balls.
Archive for May 2nd, 2009
May 02
Up until first pitch, use the comments section to predict who you think will be the Sunburst Player of the Game. (be sure to use a valid email address while leaving the comment). The commenter that correctly predicts who we will name the Sunburst Player of the Game the most times prior to the all-star game, will win two tickets to a second-half game. Runners-up get their choice of a t-shirt. [Click HERE for rules]
Check Marc Topkin’s blog for the starting lineups.
May 02
[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss The Dynamic Duo And The Ghost Of Bullpens Past
Evan Longoria 7 Comments »
Time to bring back the GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.
click above image for boxscore
THE GOOD: The Dynamic Duo. It was a bases-clearing double on Thursday. Last night it was a bases-clearing home run for Evan Longoria. Two pitches later it was Carlos Pena with his league-leading 10th home run…Andy Sonnanstine. The Duke entered last night’s contest with an ERA north of 7.00, so their was only one way he could go. And he was better. He held the Sox to 2 runs in 5.2 innings despite 4 walks…Sacrificial Lambs. It was only the Rays second sacrifice of the season, but Dioner Navarro’s bunt in the 5th moved the runners over and led to the first run for the Rays on BJ Upton’s sac fly…Ghost of 2008 Bullpen. The Bullpen has been much better of late. JP Howell helped shut down the Sox after the Rays took the lead by striking out Jacoby Ellsbury to end the 6th. Then after walking back-to-back batters in the 7th, Dan Wheeler came on and struck out Jason Bay to end the inning. he then retired the Sox 1-2-3 in the 8th including 2 strikeouts.
THE BAD: The Baserunning, again. Two more would-be base stealers thrown out at third base. BJ Upton was out by 10 feet and Gabe Gross clearly missed a sign in the 6th.
THE TELLING: The Rays are now out of last place and only 3.5 games behind the Yankees and 4.5 games behind the Sox.
SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Evan Longoria. Duh. And did you see the new t-shirt in the Rays Index Store?
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- The Rays Party compares the Rays plate discipline in wins and losses. [The Rays Party]
- Sean McAdam of the Boston Herald says the Red Sox have already seen enough of Evan Longoria. [Boston Herald]
- Forgot to include this in the early post, but the Durham Bulls wore special Autism awareness jerseys last night. The jerseys will be auctioned off next week. [The Biz of Baseball]
- The Rays Party has their explanations for their choices in the Tampa Bay Rays Trade Pool. [The Rays Party]
May 02
Down On The Farm: Matt Joyce Continues To Sting Ball Versus Lefties
Jeremy Hellickson, Matt Joyce No Comments »Columbus 14, Durham 1. Mitch Talbot dropped to 2-2 after allowing 4 runs (2 earned) in 6 innings. He gave up 2 home runs…Chad Orvella had his second straight poor outing, allowing 4 runs on 5 hits in 2 innings. He has now allowed 7 runs in his last 4 innings after giving up just 1 run in his first 10 innings…Reid Brignac was 2-4 with a double and Matt Joyce had 2 doubles in 4 at bats. Brignac is hitting .293/.338/.467.
Mississippi 3, Montgomery 1. Aneury Rodriguez dropped to 0-4 after allowing 3 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks in 6.1 innings. Two of the runs came via a 4th inning home run…Chris Mason had his best outing of the season, pitching 1.2 perfect innings with 2 strikeouts…Desmond Jennings was 2-4 with a walk to raise his average to .356 and his OPS to 1.000.
Charlotte 5, Fort Myers 2. Alex Cobb allowed 2 runs in 4 innings.
Bowling Green 4, Augusta 2. Michael Jarman picked up his first win of the season, striking out 4 and giving up 2 runs in 5 innings…Tim Beckham was 1-3 with an RBI. He is hitting .278/.308/.361 with 20 strikeouts and 3 walks.
Notes from Down on the Farm…
- Stacy Long wants your thoughts on who was the Rays top minor leaguer in April. [Biscuit Crumbs]
- Jeremy Hellickson comes in at #11 on this week’s “Prospect Hot Sheet.” [Baseball America]
- Matt Joyce is hitting .283/.409/.434 overall and 6-15 (.400) versus lefties. And he might even be hitting better against lefties than the numbers suggest as his line drive rate is 45.5%.
- The Rays Party takes a look at the statlines of the top prospects. [The Rays Party]
- The Rays Party takes a look back at the 2008 draft. [The Rays Party]
