THE GOOD: Eric Hinske hit his 4th home run and is red hot. That is a home run in back-to-back games and 3 in the past week, of which he has started 6 games. Since April 9, he is 9-24 (.375) with 3 home runs and 5 RBI…We would be remiss if we did not point out the great stop and throw made by Jason Bartlett for the 2nd out in the 3rd. With a runner on first and 1 out, Bartlett ranged to his right to grab a ground ball in the hole, spun 180 degrees and fired to Akinori Iwamura at second base for the force…The bullpen continues to shine. JP Howell picked up his first career save, of the 3-inning variety. He did not allow a run and gave up only 2 hits, no walks. The bullpen now has an ERA of 3.08, which is a little better than the 6.20 ERA posted in 2007…We don’t want to go crazy about Jason Hammel’s performance, 6 hits, 2 walks, 3 runs in 6 innings, but he has given the Rays exactly what any team needs from a 5th starter. He goes out and gives the Rays 6+ inning, and gives the team a chance to win.

THE BAD: Carlos Pena left the game in the 4th inning with “hamstring tightness”. He is listed as day-to-day…In the 4th inning, with the Rays up 3-1 and with Justin Morneau on second base after a lead off double, Delmon Young came to the plate. Why would anybody ever throw Young a first-pitch strike? There is ZERO reason. Hammel throws a pitch down, but in the zone and Young ropes it for an RBI single. Not smart…Will the baserunning brainfarts ever end? With 2 outs in the 6th, Carl Crawford was picked off first base.

THE TELLING:The Rays are now 1-2 in games started by Hammel, meaning that the Rays have lost at most 2 wins so far due to the injury of Scott Kazmir, but more likely only 1 win…Evan Longoria is not about to sell out on any pitches. With 2 strikes in the 5th inning, he nearly spun himself into the ground with a huge swing. He struck out…Jonny Gomes started for the 3rd straight game and the 2nd straight against a right handed pitcher, going 1-4 with a double and RBI…Mike DiFelice got his 3rd start in 5 games, and we have to wonder if he stays once Dioner Navarro comes off the DL and it is Shawn Riggans that is sent to Durham…The Yankees play in Baltimore this weekend and we have no idea who to root for? It depends on whether you are rooting for the Rays to finish 4th or if you think there is still a chance for the Rays to make a run for the playoffs…San Diego and Colorado did not score a single run for the first 14 innings last night. Considering the Rays offense, the offenses of the rest of the AL East and the still shaky nature of the Rays pitching staff, what is the over/under on most innings the Rays will go this year in a game with a scoreless tie? We say 6.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Another power ranking with the Rays in the top 10? Hell is a little colder today. [Bugs & Cranks]
• Jayson Stark takes a look at some early season performances and tries to determine which are real and which are not. Edwin Jackson comes in a third category “Hung Jury”. [ESPN]

“…while he had more “for real” votes than “not for real,” he even makes his supporters nervous. One scout praised his improved take-a-little-off-to-get-strike-one approach, quipping: “He’s like a NASCAR driver working the gas pedal. When he goes into the corners, he slows up. When he gets into a straightaway, he lets it loose.” But another spoke for just about everyone when he said: “I’d lean more toward ‘for real’ than not. But even when he’s good, your instinct is not to believe it because you’ve seen too much of the other way.”

• Juan Salas has finally arrived. It is like the Beatles landing in the U.S. for the first time. WooHoo! Salas was placed on the 30-day restricted list, in essence giving the Rays 30 days before they have to decide what to do with him. [MLB]
• If you are curious, Marc Lancaster explains why the Rays just played back-to-back 2-game series. [Tampa Tribune]
• In a move about as surprising as a Shawn Camp implosion, St. Petersburg’s Council of Neighborhood Associations voted against the Rays proposed waterfront stadium, 19-3…The council cited reasons such as “will block view of the bay”, “fear of crowds”, “fear of change”, “onorariness”, “worried other people will want to live in downtown St. Pete” and “a love of being pains in the ass”…OK, maybe they didn’t give those reasons, but those are the real reasons. [Bay News 9]

THE GOOD: Not a god damned thing..OK…Evan Longoria’s first major league home run to tie up the game was a nice moment…And Joe Maddon actually sounding pieved in the post-game press conference was a refreshing change…Outside of that? Not a damn thing.

THE BAD: We don’t want to talk about it…wait..ok, We want to talk about it…Andy Sonnanstine. This is Andy Sonnanstine. If you want the good you are going to have to put up with the bad. We all love the underdog. The righty that tops out at 88 on a good day. The guy that overcomes all the scouts and naysayers. But when you can’t overpower major league hitters, there are going to be nights when you are VERY hittable. Sonny throws strikes. Yes. But his fastball is a batting practice fastball. If it doesn’t have movement or if he misses over the plate, it is sayanora, adios, arivaderce, ciao, auf wiedersehen, good fuckin’ night…Al Reyes? Just go back to the last part and substitute “Al Reyes” for “Andy Sonnanstine”…One stat on Sonnanstine: He faced 20 batters and threw only 17 balls. He walked 1 batter. That means to the other 19 batters he threw only 13 balls. Fine we fucking get it. You can throw strikes. But guess what? It is kinda hard to get a batter to swing at a bad pitch if you don’t occasionally throw one out of the strike zone.

THE TELLING: Until Cliff Floyd and Dioner Navarro come back, the Rays are going to struggle against right handers. As it is, the bottom of the order against righties now is Shawn Riggans, Nathan Haynes and Jason Bartlett. There is not a legit major league hitter in that group and is darn near a cruise-control inning, whenever the opposing pitcher gets the bottom of the order…At least on nights like this, we have an excuse to drink.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Don’t forget, tonight will be the “Rays Index Live Blog-A-Baloo Of The Week” over the RAYSHEADS Facebook group. Crowd participation is encouraged, but not required. [RAYSHEADS]
• Doeth our eyes deceive us? One writer has a Power Poll with your Tampa Bay Rays coming in at…drum roll please…#10. It’s true. We are even willing to forgive the Eva Longoria joke. [Yahoo! Sports]
• Scott Kazmir pitched 2 innings in an extended spring training game. He will make the first of three scheduled rehab starts on Friday and is still on schedule to be back for the Rays on May 3 at Fenway Park…In addition, Dioner Navarro had the stitches from his hand removed and played catch. He could be back as early as Sunday. [Rays Report]
• The Rays have the top pick in the draft (again) in June, and DRays Bay will take a closer look at four players from which the Rays are likely to make their selection, starting with Pedro Alvarez. [DRays Bay]
• We thought we had put this whole “Rays need to sign Barry Bonds” crap? First they say that Jason Bartlett is a worse fielder than Brendan Harris now they are on to Bonds. Nevermind that he will want $10+ million. Nevermind the cancer-in-the-clubhouse thing and maybe a bad influence on all the young players. But how about the Rays already have 3 DH-types in the lineup and gave Cliff Floyd several million to be the most-days DH. Suppose the Rays should just throw that $3 million out the window? Tampa Bay Sports Blog is just trying to bait us. And it is almost working. But not yet. Now if they come back tomorrow and say Carlos Pena is overrated than we got a problem. [Tampa Bay Sports Blog]
• Pitchers have begun to take batting practice in anticipation for interleague play. [MLB]
• “The Sports Comedian” at FoxSports? Not so much. He makes a lame attempt to make fun of the Rays in relation to the entire “Red Sox jersey buried in the new Yankee stadium” mess. Let’s hope for his sake, he is actually funny sometimes. [Fox Sports]
• Andrew Friedman does not make the cut in the poll to determine the “Worst GM”. [Bucs Dugout]

Tampa Bay Rays (14 days until pitchers and catchers report)
Baseball Prospectus profiles James Shields. Take five minutes to read this and you will know more about James the Greater than you thought possible.

Two things stood out to us: 1) Shields scouting report from Baseball America’s list of the Rays’ top 30 prospects of 2002 (Shields was #27). This was after his first professional season as a 16th round draft pick. He would not show up on the list again until 2006.

Shields has good command of his fastball, which was clocked as high as 91 mph last summer. He also has a plus curveball that features sharp, late-breaking action, making it particularly troublesome for right-handers. Shields has impressive determination and excellent endurance…His changeup is no better than average, but the Rays believe that once he makes it more consistent, he could move rapidly. Shields made the most of his opportunities last year.

As pointed out in the piece, Shields’ change-up has come a long ways in seven years, as it was almost an after-thought early in his career. The profile continues to evaluate each of his minor league seasons and concludes by looking at how Shields used each of his four pitches in 2007, which is an excellent look at how a pitcher can attack righties and lefties differently.

As is typical of most right-handed pitchers, he uses his traditional breaking pitches much more frequently against righties by utilizing his slider (19 percent) and his curve (12 percent) at the expense of his changeup (26 percent). He’ll start off most right-handers with either a fastball (55 percent) or a slider (27 percent) and then if he gets ahead, he does a good job of mixing up his pitches. If he falls behind it’ll primarily be fastballs until he evens the count and can begin to work in the other pitches again.

His changeup has more tailing than downward action, moving over 8.5 inches on average (relative to a reference pitch thrown without spin) and he threw it over 43 percent of the time against lefties and a quarter of the time against righties. Although he doesn’t get a lot of called strikes on it, it is where he gets 60 percent of his swinging strikes and a fair percentage of his foul balls. As his out pitch, against right-handers he’ll pull it out a majority (60 percent) of the time on 0-2, 1-2, and 2-2 counts.

If you’re a left-handed hitter, 90 percnt of the pitches you’ll see from Shields are the riding fastball or changeup. He’ll usually start lefties with the fastball (64 percent) but employ the changeup 60 percent of the time when he’s ahead or even in the count. One would think having to choose from just two pitches would make things easier on the hitters but that proves difficult, as lefties hit worse (.243/.278/.393) on the season than right-handers (.250/.289/.428) because of his ability to changes speeds and locate both pitches very effectively. The other two pitches are just for show, as over 50% of the few sliders and curves he threw to lefties ended up in the dirt for balls.

The profile concludes by stating that Shields should not see a let-down in 2008 and will likely be better with an improved defense behind him.

Player Profile: James Shields [Baseball Prospectus]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• The Philadelphia Daily News speculates that the Rays may be one of five teams interested in acquiring third baseman Wes Helms. The signing of Pedro Feliz by the Phillies makes Helms expendable. Still, there is little chance the Rays would be involved after the recent trade that brought in Willy Aybar. And the Daily-News’ assertion that the Rays front office is considering keeping Evan Longoria in the minors for the entire 2008 campaign is dubious at best. [Philadelphia Daily News]
• Armchair GM has the first power rankings of 2008 out. The Rays come in at a somewhat respectable #22, eight spots ahead of the Baltimore Orioles. There is a lot of hope this year for the Rays, and third base is strong possibility. But if the Rays do not finish ahead of the O’s in the AL East, heads will roll. [Armchair GM]
• It has been well-documented that the 2007 Tampa Bay Devil Rays had one of the worst bullpens in the history of baseball. Now 28.5% of the Rays 2007 opening day bullpen will be backing up newly acquired Johan Santana for the Mets in 2008. After acquiring Brian Stokes earlier this off-season from the Rays, the Mets have now claimed Ruddy Lugo off of waivers from Oakland. This is typical Mets. They distract their fans with shiny objects and hope they don’t notice that the front office just plugged one hole with a diamond, and yet there are still several other holes. This team is destined to be just good enough to break the fans’ collective hearts…again. [MetsBlog]
• The St. Pete Chamber of Commerce will form a 35-member task force to investigate the impact of the Tampa Bay Rays proposed stadium. The task for will be made up of local business and community leaders. The task force will help decide if the Chamber of Commerce will ultimately support or oppose the new stadium. [St. Pete Times]
• Bill Chastain continues his preview series of each of the Rays “positions”. The latest installment is “starting rotation”. [DevilRays.com]
• 365 Days of Dough, Rays and Me also takes a stab at the Rays 2008 starting rotation. [365 Days of Dough, Rays and Me]
• DRays Bay interviews Marc Normandin. [DRays Bay]
• The Diamond Cutter takes a look at the Rays top 5 prospects. [The Diamond Cutter]

Tampa Bay Rays (66-96)
The Rays are in the market for a veteran catcher to backup or split time with Dioner Navarro. One possible target that was mentioned in numerous circles is Michael Barrett of the Padres, a free agent. At the end of last week, Barrett decided to accept arbitration from the Padres and is now no longer a free agent. However, this does not necessarily mean that Barrett will not be on the Rays roster in 2008. In fact, this might have improved the chances.

For those not familiar with the process, the top free agents at each position are given a label of either a “Type A” or “Type B” free agent. If a team signs one of these free agents, they must forfeit either a first or second round pick in the next amateur draft. The top 15 picks are protected, so in the case of the Rays they would forfeit a second round pick in either case. In order for the former team to receive this compensation draft pick, they have to offer the free agent the option of arbitration. Of course, the risk to the team is that they are forced to keep a player they no longer want.

Barrett was a Type A free agent and losing a top draft pick may have been hurting his stance among potential suitors in the free agent market. Therefore, Barrett accepted the arbitration offer from the Padres. He now remains their property for one year. Most likely, the Padres will now trade Barrett, and the cost could be less than the second-round pick the Rays would have originally needed to give up. If a team trades for Barrett’s rights, they will have to go to arbitration or negotiate a long-term deal.

Last week we speculated that surrendering a second-round pick, was too high a price for a back-up catcher, and that in the end the Rays would pass on Barrett. The Rays recent second round picks have included Will Kline, Josh Butler, Chris Mason, Reid Brignac and James Houser. Now that the cost of Barrett will likely be a mid-level prospect, the chances of the Rays signing him may have improved. On the other hand, the number of teams that would be interested in Barrett may have gone up, especially from teams that would have had to originally surrender a first-round selection for the catcher.

Barrett accepts arbitration with the Padres [MLB]
The Professor’s Take On “Jake’s Take On The Winter Meetings” [Rays Index]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• DRays Bay has landed an interview with the Rays’ Vice President of Branding and Fan Experience. We would tell you the guy’s name, but we already forgot. So, if you ever cared about who’s came up with the idea for the “Rays Tank” in center field, or why the concession stands sell Yankees and Red Sox ice cream cups (they don’t anymore) then click the link. [DRays Bay]
• The City of St. Petersburg has set a deadline of May 1 to pick a contractor for the redevelopment of the Tropicana Field site. [Florida Times-Union]
• In one recent “Power Rankings”, the Rays were no longer the only worst team in the league. In fact they are tied with the other 29 teams for 30th. [Bugs & Cranks]
• A sarcastic look at the new stadium proposed by the Tampa Bay Rays. [St. Pete Times]

One complaint has been that the team should be named “St. Petersburg Rays” instead of “Tampa Bay Rays”. This is a short-sighted viewpoint indeed. Most people associate St. Petersburg with a city in Russia that is very cold and undesirable in the winter. Why not be creative — St. Petersburg is the city of the Rays and it should be renamed Tampa Bay Rays City. I’m sure the Rays owners would agree to this.

• Evan Meek, formerly of the Rays, was not shy about showing his excitement about be drafted last week in the Rule 5 Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates. [Post-Gazette]

Devil Rays 1, Red Sox 0.
Reports that Scott Kazmir’s had relinquished the title of Rays’ Ace were apparently premature.

If you missed last night’s Devil Rays game, you missed one of the best games of the season and more importantly you missed a defining moment in the young career of the Rays young hurler, Scott Kazmir.

Last night, Kazmir had 96 pitches after 6 innings, yet Maddon let Kid K go out to the mound to start the 7th inning, protecting a 1-0 lead. We were surprised by the move considering Maddon had kept a tight leash on Kazmir recently. In five of his previous 10 starts, Joe Maddon pulled Scott Kazmir before he even reached 100 pitches, throwing more than 110 only once. Also, Kaz needed 21 pitches to get through the 6th inning including 9 before he finally got Mike Lowell on strikes to end the frame.

With the elevated pitch count and the close lead against a good ballclub, we assumed that Kazmir would be pulled as soon as he allowed a baserunner. Bobby Kielty led off the 7th with a hard line drive to left field. The ball was hit so hard, that Kielty was held to a single despite hitting the ball off the monster. Still, Maddon let Kazmir stay in the game.

Kazmir then made Kevin Youkilis look bad striking him out on three straight pitches. Jason Varitek followed with an 8-pitch at bat that resulted in a walk, including 3-2 pitch that was a foot outside.

At this point it appeared as though Kaz was starting to labor. He had thrown 111 pitches and Joe Maddon came out to the mound. Usually a visit by the manager means the pitcher is done, but Maddon once again let Kid K stay in the game. With the tying run on second and the go-ahead run on first, Kazmir responded by getting Jacoby Ellsbury out on strikes, for his 10th K of the game. Finally, Kazmir got Alex Cora out on a ground ball to third base to get out of the inning.

118 pitches. After Maddon visited the mound, Kaz threw 7 more pitches. All 7 were fastballs. pitch 117 hit 96 mph.

Yes it was Ellsbury and Cora and not Manny and Big Papi, but Kazmir took the ball with the game on the line and rose to the occasion. And with those 7 pitches we saw Kid K grow up right before our eyes.

That 7th inning was as big an inning we have ever seen by a Devil Rays pitcher. It was as excited as we have been during a game all season long. Waking up neighbors. Kissing Dogs. Shots of tequilla, and calling every Red Sox fan we know. We even called a couple of Mets fans, because with that final groundball to third base, the fateful sound of thousands of Mets fans screaming Dan Duquette’s name in pain, could be heard all the way from Queens.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• The Devil Rays are now only 1 game behind the Orioles for 4th place in the AL East. They now have the same record as the Chicago White Sox and the Florida Marlins. Even more amazing is that the Rays are now within 4.5 games or fewer of NINE different teams. At one point this season it appeared as though the Rays were well on their way to the #1 pick in the draft again next season. Now they have an outside chance to fall all the way to #10.
• The Rays are 61-83 with 18 games remaining.
• They need to finish 2-16 to avoid 100 losses
• 10-8 would give the Rays the most wins in franchise history
• 12-6 and the Rays would avoid 90 losses.
• Yesterday we learned that an equipment bag was included on the Rays charter for Rocco Baldell, although he was not with the team. Today we learn that Rocco could rejoin the team tonight…or tomorrow…or Friday in Seattle…or Saturday…or possibly Sunday. Well, that clears things up. And if he returns, chances are he will not be in the lineup. According to Joe Maddon, Rocco is rejoining the team in his new capacity as a member of the training staff. Well if there was any player that knows his way around the trainer’s room, it’s Rocco. [TBO]

Manager Joe Maddon said Baldelli, who has been out since May 16 with a bad left hamstring, is expected to join the team either the next two days in Boston or in Seattle over the weekend…”I just would like to have him here, even if it’s just taping ankles,” Maddon said. “I just want him here to be part of the group.”

• If the Devil Rays started playing better, would anyone notice? YES! Nothing get past John Donovan of SI.com who moved the Rays up from #30 to #27 in this weeks power rankings, ahead of the White Sox, the Marlins and Orioles. [SI]

An extension for skipper Joe Maddon, 12 wins in their past 16 games, five straight series wins … “Right now, it looks like it’s the start of something,” Carl Crawford told the St. Pete Times.

• Dioner Navarro was limited to batting right-handed last night due to a sore wrist. [TBO]

Rangers 7, Devil Rays 4.
Remember that 2-game winning streak and series-split in Detroit? Seems like a distant memory after last night’s loss and knowing that Edwin Jackson is on the mound tonight.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Andy Sonnanstine is learning that what worked in the minors is not necessarily going to work in the majors and that he will need to take a different approach on the mound. The Duke is learning that he cannot get away with bad breaking pitches like he could at other levels. The breaking balls were so bad last night that even Joe Maddon was critical. [TBO]

“The breaking ball’s what’s getting him in trouble right now,” said Maddon. “He did a lot better job with his fastball today and he made some bad pitches with his breaking ball that they hurt us with. … We have to get beyond that with him. We have to make better pitches in those moments and he’s got to get his breaking pitches to better locations.”

• Did the Devil Rays cost the Red Sox a World Series title in 2005 and a shot at back-to-back championships? Gee we hope so. [Sully Baseball]
• Casey Fossum had to choose between being sent to AAA Durham and free agency. He opted for Free Agency and the Rays released the veteran on Friday. Fossum may choose to stay home for the rest of the season with his newborn as the Rays are still on the tab for the rest of Fossum’s 2007 salary as well as his 2008 buyout of $300,000. [Bradenton Herald]
• In the latest Baseball Prospectus Power Rankings (Devil Rays are 29th), they summed up the 2007 version of Casey Fossum better than we could have ever hoped. We would have chosen “vomit-inducing”. [Baseball Prospectus]

The Rays finally take mercy on their fans and demote Casey Fossum, whose VORP is so low we have to get special permission from Keith Woolner just to display it (if you’re looking at just the Rays staff, you’ll want to invest in appropriate protection). Fossum’s 7.70 ERA may be dreadful, but consider that it’s dressing up a major-league worst 9.21 Fair Run Average. Kudos to the Rays for taking only until the first week of August to figure out that wasn’t working.

• Carl Crawford was named the MVN “MLB Power Slugger of the Week”. [Power Rankings]
• There is a lot of talk that the Rays are interested in released relief pitcher Fernando Cabrera. We don’t mind taking a flyer on the kid, but we are weary. He has impressive minor league numbers but has been given several chances to succeed at the major league level. In 33.2 innings this season he has a 5.61 ERA and 39 strikeouts to go with 22 walks. Last season he posted a 5.19 ERA in 60.2 innings with 71 strikeouts and 32 walks. [tampabay.com]
• Rocco Baldelli is hoping to make a rehab appearance by the end of the month and be back with the parent club soon thereafter. But when he does return he will not resume his role of starting center fielder. BJ Upton will continue to be the regular center fielder and Baldelli will get spot starts there occasionally. He will also see time in right field and left field when Carl Crawford and Delmon Young need days off. [TBO]
• Marc Lancaster says that “all indications are the Devil Rays will be able to work out a deal with top overall draft pick David Price by Wednesday’s deadline…” yet he does not let the readers know what those indications are. No quotes. No hunches. No actions. If Price does sign there is no indication as to whether or not he will make his professional debut this season. The minor league seasons end in 2-3 weeks. [TBO]

“If he does sign with the Rays,” [Bo] McKinnis said (David Price’s representative), “then he is definitely in shape to pitch in games, if the Devil Rays choose for him to do so…David is extremely competitive,” McKinnis said. “He hasn’t been in competition since early June, so he’s anxious to pitch in any game – a Vanderbilt game, a Hudson Valley game, a Columbus game, etc.”

Devil Rays (off day)
The schedule makers must have seen this past weekend coming and mercifully gave the Rays and their dwindling fans base a much needed day off.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• BJ Upton and Robinson Cano were selected as AL co-players of the week. Upton hit .414 with 2 home runs and 8 RBI. [The Sports Network]
• The Devil Rays at their current pace would finish the season 54-108 and become just the 12th team in history to allow 1,000 runs. Since June 12, the Rays are 9-27 and have allowed 7.26 runs per game. [The New York Sun]
  
• Jay Witasick was placed on the 15-day DL and JP Howell was optioned back to Durham. Jason Hammel, who never even left the ballclub is back on the active roster and Juan Salas was promoted back to Tampa for the first time since being suspended for 50-games for steroid use. Hammel who was being sent back to Durham so that he could return to being a starter, will instead take Howell’s spot in the rotation and be a starter for the Rays. [tampabay.com]
• Casey Fossum will miss a couple of games to be with his family after the birth of their child on Tuesday. That sound you just heard was the moan from Orioles hitters. [tampabay.com]
• What happened to James Shields, indeed? We doubt it is a hidden injury. The Rays are going to be extra careful with guys like Scott Kazmir and Shields. An injured arm is usually easy to spot in a young pitcher. They will change their mechanics or they will be afraid to throw a certain pitch. More likely, Shields is just fighting through a “dead-arm” period. [armchairgm]
• A new low for the Devil Rays? How about a power ranking of #32. For those of you that haven’t had your coffee yet, there are only 30 teams in baseball. And frankly, we are in no position to argue. [Chicago Tribune]

White Sox 5, Devil Rays 4.
Surprise: The top four hitters in the Rays lineup went a combined 0-12, so it was not a surprise the Rays couldn’t score past the 4th inning.

Not a surprise: A member of the middle relief struggle mightily. Casey Fossum faced 4 batters and allowed 3 hits and 2 runs blowing the Rays 3-2 lead.

Hell Apparently Froze Over Then Again It Didn’t: Shawn Camp gave up a base hit to the first batter he faced. But something happened after that base hit. Camp faced 9 more hitters and struck out 7 of them. s-e-v-e-CAPITAL N…after the game, we imagine Bud Selig showing up and immediately administering a urine test…Entering last night’s game, Camp only had 17 strike outs in 26.1 innings. Of course Camp gave up the base hit that allowed the go-ahead run to score. No surprise there. Camp’s ability with inherited runners is well-documented. It might have been the single most dominating performance of Shawn Camp’s career and yet he still managed to let an inherited runner score to give up a Rays lead. The bitter irony.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Tim of Journeys of Jack Tripper has written and recorded a song titled “Elijah Dukes is My Daddy”. Our favorite line? “I’ve got 1,034 siblings, that’s 2,068 shoes”…If you’ve got a couple of minutes, it is highly recommended and you can hear the song HERE.
• BJ Upton is likely to play for Vero Beach on a rehab assignment on Wednesday or Thursday and could possibly rejoin the Rays this weekend in Cleveland. Upton will initially play second base. Fans sitting behind the first base dugout have been warned.
• James Shields is on pace to be only the third Rays pitcher to throw 200 innings. Normally that would be cause for concern for a young pitcher’s arm. But Shield pitched over 180 innings combined last season between AAA and the Rays and 200 won’t be the huge jump that is usually followed by a drop-off in performance the following season.
• Speaking of innings. We can’t say this stat surprises us…Scott Kazmir leads the AL in pitches thrown (1,734) and pitches per inning (18.1). As a result, the team is monitoring Kid K very closely to make sure he does not struggle or add any undue strain to his arm.
• You may not agree with all of Andrew Friedman’s moves, but it is hard to argue with the idea that the Rays may have made the three of the most valuable free agent signings this past off-season in the form of Carlos Pena, Al Reyes and Akinori Iwamura. He also pulled off a trade that netted the Rays a shortstop with all-star numbers (Brendan Harris) without giving up much in return.
• The Rays offense has been very strong this season. Amazing considering that the Rays have two members of the “All Lost Potential Team.“
• The Rays are hanging on to their second-page status in the latest SI.com Power Rankings.
• Happy Birthday wishes for Elijah Dukes. Lets hope his celebration is muted.

Devil Rays 11, Padres 4.
Shhhh. *in a hushed tone* The Rays have now won 7 of 9. We are afraid to say it too loud. If other people find out, they may think it is some sort of mistake and take some of the wins back. Last night it was the Scott Kazmir from the first half of 2006…at least for the first 5 innings. He was sharp. His slider was great. He was striking batters out and not walking anybody. Most importantly, he was managing his pitches. After 5 innings, he only had 77 pitches, which is not great, but is good for Kid K. Then came the 6th inning. 40 pitches (!) and 2 runs later, Kazmir had 117 pitches and couldn’t come out for the 7th. baby steps.

And of course Carlos Pena. El Gato. For those that want to knock Joe Maddon and his staff, you have to give them credit for resurrecting Pena’s career. Once considered one of the top prospects in baseball in the Rangers organization, he bounced around to 5 different organizations in 6 seasons. Coming into this season he had a .243 career batting average and a .790 OPS. He was reduced to accepting a minor league contract from The Tampa Bay Devil Rays with only the promise that he would have a chance to compete for a roster spot. Then Joe Maddon and George Hendrick convinced Pena to use the whole field. They reminded him that he has enough power to hit home runs to the opposite field and straight away. Now? Pena is hitting .311 with a 1.055 OPS. He is 5th in the AL in home runs despite having 50% fewer at bats than anybody else in the top 10. His .656 SLG would be good for 3rd in the AL if he had enough at bats to qualify.

A look at the standings and the Rays are now tied with Toronto for 3rd place in the AL East, a game ahead of the Orioles. The Rays are actually a game up on the Jays in the loss column and only 2 games behind the Yankees. Is it a mistake? Others will think so. It is now the middle on June and the Rays should be in their customary last place position…right?

Rather, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays are now only 4 games below .500. Only 4 games below The Charlie Hough Line. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays are 4 games below Charlie with 31 starts by the Axis of Evil (Seo/Fossum/Jackson). 4 games below .500 with one reliable relief pitcher who can’t pitch every day.

But like they say in baseball…Momentum is only as good as tomorrow’s starting pitcher. So our excitement is tempered by the knowledge that Edwin Jackson is on the mound tonight and the Rays must face Jake Peavy who is 7-1 with a 1.97 ERA. In Jackson’s defense, the Rays have actually won 2 of his last 3 starts, despite his 0-7 record. And should the Rays lose tonight? Tomorrow it is JP Howell, and we’ll take that over Jae Seo.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• The Rays made it official yesterday and signed Jay Witasick to fill the vacancy in the bullpen.
• Joe Maddon stated that Jay Witasick will be the 7th inning set-up man. Of course, knowing Papa Joe, that might last as long as a Delmon Young at bat.
• The Rays designated Ruddy Lugo for assignment to make room for Jay Witasick. They will need to remove another player from the 40-man roster in two weeks when Juan Salas returns from his suspension and a second player will have to be designated if David Price signs a major league contract, which is the standard for top picks. It would not surprise us if a trade is made in the next two weeks to free up at least one of those roster spots.
• According to Heath Bell, the Rays tried to acquire him from the Padres after the Padres acquired him from the Mets. The Rays were interested in making Bell the closer and from the sound of it, Bell would have liked the move.

“I eventually would like to be a closer,” said Bell, who lives some two hours from Tampa Bay, in Port St. Lucie. “The Devil Rays didn’t have a closer. I would have been pretty fine with that. I was a closer in the minors. It was just so much fun doing it.”

• This must be a mistake…Every week SI.com releases their “MLB Power Rankings”. The Rankings actually cover three pages with 10 teams on each page. We always go straight to page three to find out exactly where the Devil Rays are ranked that week. Well, this week, the Rays were no where to be found on the third page. They have jumped up from #24 all the way to #19. PAGE 2 BABY!

Devil Rays 4, Twins 3.
Delmon Young likes to throw things very hard and very far and very accurately. We call it Gettin’ A Delmon…Jason Kubel Got A Delmon…In the 4th inning, Kubel rambled a little too far towards second base on a line drive to Delmon Young in right center. Despite catching the ball while moving away from first base, Young turned and fired a pea to Carlos Pena at first to double-up Kubel and get the Rays out of the inning…Justin Morneau Got A Delmon…In the 6th inning, Morneau hit a rocket off the right field wall that would be a double on any other night. But on this night Delmon Young was roaming the FieldTurf II of the Trop. He played the ball off the wall, spun and fired a rocket to Brendan Harris at second base. Both Kubel and Morneau should just be grateful that Young wasn’t throwing a bat.

As for the rest of the game, the Rays once again were able to get to Twins closer Joe Nathan, scoring 2 in the 9th to tie the game. In 3 appearances this season against the Rays (3 innings) Nathan has given up 9 hits and 4 runs. In his other 10 appearances (10.1 innings) he has allowed only 10 hits and 1 run. In the bottom of the 10th inning (the Rays first extra inning affair of the year) Ben Zobrist fell rounding third base on Harris’ double, but made up for the gaffe beating the throw home on Dioner Navarro’s ground ball to short.

The Rays are now in sole possession of third place in the AL East, 5.5 games behind the Red Sox and only 1 game behind the Jays for 2nd place. Even more intriguing is that the Rays are only 4 games back in the wild card. But that is the last time we will mention that number until the Rays reach a more important milestone, .500. In our minds there are three numbers the Rays are chasing. 6.5 games is the Rays “mark” in the AL East. 4 games in the Rays mark in the wild card race, but neither of those numbers mean anything until the Rays reach “The Charlie Hough Line”. For his career Hough was 216-216. The knuckleballer was the epitome of a .500 pitcher. The Rays cannot think of any other teams until they first surpass Hough’s career winning percentage. So from now on we will only speak in terms of “Games behind Charlie Hough”. Right now the Rays are 1.5 games behind Charlie Hough.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• The Rays base stealing is greatly improved in the last 10 days. After only being successful on 14 of their first 27 attempts, the Rays have stolen 14 of their last 17.
• Josh Hamilton was named NL Rookie of the Month for April. During the month, Hamilton, who started the season as a reserve, hit .266 with 6 home runs, 16 RBI and a stolen base.
• Akinori Iwamura finished second in the AL Rookie of the Month voting to fellow Japanese rookie Hideki Okajima of the Red Sox.
• Greg Norton has been getting at bats in extended spring training, and will begin a rehab assignment in Montgomery on Friday, where he will get 27-30 at bats (6-7 games). Norton should be back with the Rays a week from Friday when the Rays begin a series in Toronto.
• Now that Benny Boo Boo is on the bench, he has more free time to visit local school children. The upsetting part is that apparently BenZo was accompanied by his wife and mlb.com could not provide us with any pictures. That’s ok, we still have Julianne’s MySpace page.
• FoxSports has their first power ranking of the season and the Rays come in at #22. Might be the highest we have ever seen the Devil Rays ranked in any power rankings. Of course they mention that Jeff Niemann is returning from Tommy John surgery. Must have him mixed up with Wade Townsend.