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.
After every game Todd Kalas will interview a player . As is customary in baseball, if that player was especially good that night, he will get a “pie” of shaving cream to the face during the interview. This happened last night to Jeff Niemann, with Dioner Navarro delivering the blow.
But last night something strange happened. It appears as though Navi got a little help from none other than Todd Kalas. For the first time all season, Kalas conducted his postgame interview while sitting down.
You see, Niemann is 6’9″ and Navi is only 5’9″. Trying to deliver a shaving cream pie to the face from behind would have been difficult for Navi if Niemann was standing. An obvious solution would be to get Niemann while he was sitting down. And Kalas delivered.
If we were Kalas, we would be watching our back for a while. We have a feeling Niemann will want to exact some “revenge.”
Unless you have tickets for tonight’s Rays game, you will not be subjected to the horror that is the Rainbow Warriors uniforms. First pitch is scheduled for 6:08pm, to accomodate the post-game concert. This start time, falls within Fox TV’s blackout restrictions. The Rays will be wearing throwback uniforms that were worn in the team’s first three seasons (1998-2000).
A big congratulations goes out to the Rays bullpen catcher Scott Cursi, who will be joining the coaching staff in St. Louis as part of the AL All-Star squad. Cursi has been with the Rays since their inaugural season, 1998.
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: Jeff Niemann. His second shutout of the season should start to wake people up to his Rookie of the Year chances…Extra Rest. Jeff Niemann loves extra rest. Both of his shutouts have come on 5 days rest. And this year the Giraffe is 6-0 in 7 starts with a 2.44 ERA on extra rest. Bases Loaded. The Rays have the 2nd highest OPS (1.061) in the AL with the bases loaded. Ben Zobrist’s bases loaded walk last night was the Rays 9th of the season. They have also been hit by a pitch 3 times with the sacks full.
THE BAD: 9 vs 13. We rarely bash umpiring around here. Bad calls happen. But last night was pretty bad. Jeff Niemann needed to make 5 outs in the first inning and then they blew another call in the 9th that would have ended the game.
THE TELLING: Jeff Niemann leads the Rays with 8 wins…Will editors and writers ever tire of the “Hello, Niemann” line? Apparently not…Ben Zobrist’s bases loaded walk was the Rays’ 9th of the season.
SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Jeff Niemann
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
Norfolk 5, Durham 3. Wade Davis dropped to 8-5 after allowing 5 runs in 6 innings. Michael Aubrey, who entered the game with just 5 home runs, hit 2 off of Davis. Wade did strike out 9 and walk just 2…Matt Joyce was 2-5 with a pair of doubles and Reid Brignac went 2-5…Jon Weber was 3-4 with 2 RBI.
Montgomery 15, Tennessee 1. Heath Rollins is now 8-7 after holding Tennessee to 1 run in 7 innings…7 different Biscuits had at least 2 hits including Desmond Jennings who was 2-5 with a triple and 2 RBI…Joe Gaetti went 3-4 with his 4th home run and 3 RBI.
Jupiter 8, Charlotte 1 (gm 1). David Newmann dropped to 4-4 after allowing 8 runs in 4.2 innings, 5 via home runs…Cody Cipriano had the only RBI and was 1-2 with a double…Emeel Salem stole his 21st and 22nd bases.
Charlotte 4, Jupiter 3 (gm 2). Jeremy Hall gave up 3 runs in 5 innings for his 10th win…Emeel Salem went 2-4 and Shawn O’Malley was 1-2 with an RBI.
Bowling Green 5, Charleston 4 (11). The Hot Rod won in the 11th on a walk-off single by Tim Beckham. It was his first hit in 6 at bats. He is hitting .276…Joe Cruz allowed 3 runs in 4 innings.
Notes from Down on the Farm…
