Jul 10
Archive for July 10th, 2009
Jul 10
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.
Things are starting to get crowded near the top with only 3 games remaining in the first half. Updated leaderboard after the jump…
Jul 10
[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Price’s Rebound, Balfour’s Rebound And Hoping Halladay Stays In The East
Akinori Iwamura, Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, David Price, Julianna Zobrist 27 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: David Price. After the worst start of his career, he rebounded with maybe his best, striking out 7 and walking just 1, outdueling one of the best…Grant Balfour. The Mad Australian rebounded from his worst outing of the past 2 months to record one of his best. Balfour came in and closed the door on the Jays in the 7th, entering with the bases loaded and just 1 out. He got a line out and a flyout to get out of it…‘Los! He may not be an all-star, but he had the biggest hit yesterday, a 2-run double in the 5th to give the Rays the lead…Hallawho? Doc Halladay is now 10-3 on the year, but he is 0-2 against the Rays. Maybe we shouldn’t be worried about him being traded to the Red Sox or Yankees…Carl Crawford. We don’t care how well Dan Wheeler is pitching (only given up a run in 1 of his last 24 outings), we will always be nervous when he comes into the game in the 9th with the game on the line. And yesterday he would have put the leadoff hitter on second base, but Carl Crawford ran down the flyball to save Dan’s heiny.
THE BAD: Pat the Bat? Every starter got a basehit for the Rays except *drumroll please* Pat Burrell! Who also left 5 runners on base.
THE TELLING: Gabe Gross batted 7th, which means the 3rd leading hitter in the AL, Jason Bartlett was batting 8th. That my friends, is a deep and balanced lineup…Yesterday’s game was delayed for 20 minutes in the 7th inning after lightning strike in the area caused some of the lights to go out…Carl Crawford is just the 4th player in big league history with 100 hits and 40 steals prior to the All-Star break.
SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: David Price
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Carlos Pena will not be joining his 4 teammates in St. Louis for the All-Star game, finishing 4th in the final vote. [The Heater]
- Aki Iwamura was on the field before the game playing catch. [Tampa Tribune]
- David Price did not look at any scouting reports prior to the game. He went back to the basics and it worked. [Tampa Tribune]
- The Rays Party breaks down David Price’s latest start. [The Rays Party]
- John Romano discusses the power of the stolen base and the efficiency of the Rays on the base paths. [The Point After]
- The Rays, er Devil Rays, hold the record for largest signing bonus ever given to an international free agent. That would be the $7 million they gave Rolando Arrojo. Peter Gammons also reports that he once possessed Cuban baseball cards that listed a much different age for Arrojo than the one listed with MLB. [ESPN]
- Gabe Kapler is feast or famine, but when he hits the ball, he gets his money’s worth. [The Rays Party]
- Trop Talk wonders if it is time for Scott Kazmir to go. [Trop Talk]
- Rise of the Rays takes a look at what Jonny Gomes has been up to. [Rise of the Rays]
- David Chalk is slowly inching his way to the top of his Top 177 Devil Rays ever list. This week it is #72-69. [Bugs and Cranks]
- Michelle Bearden writes about Julianna Zobrist’s recent appearance at The Trop. [Tampa Tribune]
Jul 10
Down On The Farm: Dale Thayer Added As IL All-Star Replacement
Dale Thayer, Desmond Jennings, Tim Beckham, Wade Davis No Comments »Gwinnett 8, Durham 5. Matt DeSalvo was knocked out in the 4th inning after giving up 6 runs (5 earned)…James Houser relieved DeSalvo and pitched the final 5.1 innings…Reid Brignac went 1-4 and Matt Joyce was 0-4…Justin Ruggiano went 2-4.
Montgomery 6, Tennessee 3. Brandon Mann worked into the 7th inning and allowed just 1 run. He struck out 4 ans walked none…Desmond Jennings went 0-3 with 2 walks…Nevin Ashley hit his 1st home run since being promoted to double-A.
Charlotte @ Jupiter. (ppd. rain)
Charleston 9, Bowling Green 5. Shane Dyer dropped to 1-7 after allowing 6 runs (4 earned) in 4.2 innings…Tim Beckham went 0-4 with a strikeout…Jake Jefferies was 1-3 with a walk and 2 runs scored while John Mollicone, from Fordham, went 1-4 with an RBI.
Hudson Valley 7, Staten Island 3.
Pulaski @ Princeton. (ppd. rain)
Notes from Down on the Farm…
- The Rays have 3 players on Baseball America’s mid-season top 25 prospects list, including Wade Davis (16), Desmond Jennings (18) and Tim Beckham (20). [Baseball America]
- The Rays have released Dewon Day. Day was originally added to the 40-man roster off of waivers this past off-season and then was later DFA’d when the Rays signed Lance Cormier. [Baseball America]
- Dale Thayer and his ‘stache have been added to the IL’s triple-A all-star team as a replacement. [Biscuit Crumbs]
