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.
Via Biscuit Crumbs we are pointed to the Sports Business Journal’s ranking of every minor league market. Overall, the Rays minor league affiliates did not fare well. Bowling Green, KY was not included in the rankings as data was derived from 2005-2008.
20. Princeton, WV
29. Wappingers Falls, NY (Hudson Valley)
69. Durham, NC
152. Port Charlotte, FL
203. Montgomery, AL
The rankings were based on a number of factors including market size and attendance.
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: Dave Kingman Lives. Carlos Pena smacked 2 more home runs last night. He now has 6 in the past 5 games and 3 multi-home run games in the last 12. But he also now has more home runs (37) than singles (35) on the year…James Shields. It was typical 2009 James Shields. Good, not great. He walked 2 and gave up 2 home runs, but he did manage to grit his way into the 7th inning. And the offense rewarded him with strong run support for the second straight start…OBP Hotness. Everybody in the lineup was on base at least once including 7 walks.
THE BAD: Short Bench. With Carl Crawford nursing a bad back and the Rays going with 8 men in the bullpen, Joe Maddon was left with only Willy Aybar available off the bench. JoeMa also had Gregg Zaun but generally the backup catcher is used only in emergencies.
THE TELLING: The Rays are now 8-2 in their last 10, but remain 3 back in the wild card race…For only the fourth time all season it was a two-fer Gabe-o’-the-Day, with both Gabe Kapler and Gabe Gross in the starting lineup.
SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Carlos Pena.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
Durham 9, Syracuse 6. Jeremy Hellickson does it again. This time he retired 18 of the first 19 batters he faced before giving up a 3-run run home run in the 7th for his only runs allowed. He gave up just 3 hits and 1 walk while striking out 10. In 7 starts (42.1 innings) he has given up just 24 hits and 13 walks with 49 Ks…Desmond Jennings was 2-5 with an RBI and 2 stolen bases. He now has 10…Reid Brignac went 0-5…Matt Joyce hit a grand slam, his 14th home run…Shawn Riggans was 3-5 and is now hitting .214, while Aki Iwamura was 2-5 with 2 doubles.
Huntsville, Montgomery. Brandon Mann gave up 4 runs in 4 innings on 8 hits, 3 walks and a hit batter…Jose Lobaton had 2 of the Biscuits’ 5 hits, including a double. He is hitting .309/.391/.582 in 16 games since being signed by the Rays.
Jupiter @ Charlotte. (ppd. rain)
West Virginia 3, Bowling Green 1. Chris Andujar dropped to 10-4 after giving up 2 runs (1 earned) in 5.1 innings…Tim Beckham went 2-4, extending his hitting streak to 8 games and raising his average to .283. He is 17-34 (.500) over those 8 games, with 6 multi-hit games. He did commit 2 errors, one leading to an unearned run.
Notes from Down on the Farm…
