Jun 15
Archive for June 15th, 2009
Jun 15
[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Homefield Advantage, Howell In The 9th And Everyday Gabe
Ben Zobrist, Carl Crawford, Gabe Gross, Gabe Kapler, Jason Isringhausen, Reid Brignac 9 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 Trop. Gabe Kapler’s home run barely cleared the short wall in the left-field corner for 2 runs that tied the game in the 6th. Then Willy Aybar hit a routine ground ball down the third base line that hit the bag and caromed into left field to drive in the go ahead run in the 8th. Aybar probably beats the play anyway, but Carlos Pena would have stayed at second had the ball not been deflected…JP Howell. Outside of the 1 hit batter, Howell struck out the side in the 9th for his 3rd save and now looks like Joe Maddon’s go-to guy in critical 9th inning situations.
THE BAD: James Shields. Usually when James Shields is off his game it is 3-4 walks or a couple of home runs. Yesterday, he was doubled to death. But, in true Shieldsy fashion, he still managed to work into the 7th inning…Elijah Dukes. Dukes? Why did it have to be Dukes? Elijah, very dangerous.
THE TELLING: Pat Burrell batted second in what can only be described as Dusty Baker’s worst base-clogging nightmare…Gabe Gross started in right field despite the lefty on the mound for the Nationals. In fact, Gross has now started 6 in a row. Gabe Kapler got the start in left as Carl Crawford was given the day off…With Reid Brignac heading back to Durham and Joe Dillon remaining with the Rays, it looks like Ben Zobrist is now an everyday player and a lot of those days will be at second base…Prior to his 0-3 on Sunday, Brignac had hit safely in 5 straight and was 8-17 in that stretch.
SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Gabe Kapler.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Jason Isringhausen went on the 60-day DL to make room for Winston Abreu on the 40-man roster (players on 60-day DL do not count towards the 40-man roster) even though Izzy will not have an MRI on his elbow until today. [Rays Report]
- Jason Bartlett was activated and Reid Brignac was sent back to Durham. [The Heater]
- Scott Kazmir will start for the Charlotte Stone Crabs on Wednesday as part of a rehab assignment. At this point there is no word how long Kazmir’s rehab assignment will last.
- Sporting News has a Q&A with Carl Crawford in which he discusses his chances at stealing 100 and the toughest pitcher to steal against. [Sporting News]
- Around the Majors wrote a piece on their personal experiences with Ben Zobrist. [Around the Majors]
Jun 15
Buffalo 8, Durham 1. Wade Davis dropped to 6-4 allowing 5 runs (2 earned) on 8 hits in 6 innings. He struck out 4 and walked none…The Bulls managed only 6 hits, 5 of them singles…Matt Joyce was 1-4.
Montgomery 3, Chattanooga 2. Aneury Rodriguez picked up his first win in his last 5 starts holding Chattanooga to 2 runs in 7 innings. He is now 3-8 with a 6.52 ERA…Matt Fields was 0-4 with 2 Ks and is now 4-22 (.182) since being promoted…Joe Gaetti hit his first home run since joining the Rays organization…Desmond Jennings pinch-hit in the 7th, drawing a walk and then turned it into a triple with his 21st and 22nd stolen bases.
Dunedin 9, Charlotte 6. Jesse Darcy dropped to 1-6 after allowing 5 runs (4 earned) in 6 innings…Jason Bartlett was 2-4 with a walk and a triple in his final rehab appearance…Cody Cipriano was 3-4 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI to raise his average to .321.
Greenville 6, Bowling Green 4. Frank de los Santos allowed 4 runs (3 earned) in 4.1 innings. He struck out 4 and walked 4…Tim Beckham was 3-5 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI…Jake Jefferies was 3-5 and drove in 2.
Notes from Down on the Farm…
- No links today
