With the midnight deadline nearing to sign this year’s draft picks (non-college seniors), the Rays are now saying that they are unlikely to sign either of their top two picks, with second round pick Kenny Diekroeger deciding to attend Stanford and top pick LeVon Washington’s signing apparently “next to impossible.”
If Washington does go unsigned, the Rays will be awarded a compensation pick in next year’s draft comparable to this year’s first round selection.
Yesterday, Gregg Zaun hit a go-ahead grand slam in the 8th inning that proved to be the game-winner. But it may have been his actions before the game that made the biggest difference moving forward. Recently we noticed that the Rays had been playing poorly on getaway days on the road especially, but also during day games in general. Zaun may have found a solution. [Tampa Tribune]
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: Gregg Zaun. The Zaunbie Nation is growing with every swing of his bat. This time it was a grand slam that broke a 1-1 tie with 2 outs in the 8th. Could the stirrups be this year’s Rayshawk? We can hope, can’t we?…Carl Crawford. He was only 1-4 yesterday but he was 7-12 in the series…Jason Bartlett. 3 more hits on Sunday and Barty continues to shine in the leadoff spot.
THE BAD: Matt Garza. How in the world he only allowed 1 run is a testament to his stuff, as Garza was on the brink of disaster in 4 of the 5 innings he pitched. He allowed at least 2 baserunners in each of those 4 innings, once loading the bases with no outs and once allowing the first two to get on base. Both times he got out of the situation. But in the end, all of the close calls raised his pitch count and he was out after only 5 innings.
THE TELLING: Gregg Zaun is short. He is listed at 5-10, but do you think he is only 5 inches shorter than Ben Zobrist (above)?…The Rays have 11 games remaining with the Orioles including 8 of the final 19…After this 3-game set, the Rays have a 23 game stretch in which 20 games are against AL playoff contenders Rangers, Tigers, Red Sox and Yankees. Texas now leads the wild card race by a half-game over the Red Sox. The Rays trail by 3.5.
SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Gregg Zaun (Carl Crawford took the honors on both Friday and Saturday)
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
Durham 5, Scranton/WB 2. Joe Bateman made the start in place of Carlos Hernandez who suffered a wrist injury. Bateman pitched 3.1 scoreless innings, striking out 5…Desmond Jennings went 0-3 with 2 walks and his 5th stolen base…Matt Joyce was 1-4 with a double and Justin Ruggiano had a single and his 14th home run…Joe Dillon went 3-4…Akinori Iwamura had the day off.
Mississippi @ Montgomery. (canceled: wet grounds)
Palm Beach 2, Charlotte 1. Ryan Morse struck out 9 in 6 innings, giving up 2 runs on 3 hits and no walks…Nevin Ashley went 2-3 with a walk.
Hickory 8, Bowling Green 4. Frank de los Santos allowed 3 runs in 5 innings…Tim Beckham went 0-4 with a walk and 3 strikeouts…Jake Jefferies was 2-4 with a double, a walk and an RBI.
Princeton 3, Kingsport 2 (gm 1).
Kingsport 4, Princeton 3 (gm 2; 
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Notes from Down on the Farm…
