Well, the Rays had an off day last night, but there were a few games of interest to keep me busy. I spent the night mostly glued to my computer, watching the Durham Bulls entertain the Pawtucket Red Sox. I do admit that I strayed on occasion to watch the Mets versus Cardinals game and when both were over; I watch the College World Series matchup between LSU and Texas, which lasted 11 innings of nail biting baseball. Mikie Mahtook hit a single in the top of the 11th which scored D.J. LeMahieu to give LSU a 7-6 lead. They shut Texas down in the bottom half of the inning to take the first game. I still have that PING sound of the aluminum bat in my head…
So, back to Durham. There were 8,666 fans packed into the Durham Bulls Athletic Park (they set an attendance record this week) to watch the epic battle between two lefties, both of whom are undefeated in International League (AAA) play this year.
I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that these two may face off again when their Major League ball clubs play in September, so I was looking at this a sneak preview. I’m gonna spoil the surprise right now and tell you that Bucholz (now 5-1) took his first loss of the year last night. He was a victim of bad defense behind him, little offense, but mainly he just wasn’t hitting his spots.
He lasted only 3-2/3 innings, striking out 4, but walking 5. He threw 82 pitches, only 43 (52%) for strikes. He only gave up 1 earned run before leaving the game, but was down 2-1 when he was yanked, courtesy of a throwing error by (rehabbing) shortstop Jed Lowrie which allowed the second run to score... Incidentally, in his rehab start, Lowrie was 0-3 with a throwing error and was replaced by Travis Denker in the field in the seventh inning. I don’t think he’s quite ready to return.
The Bulls struck first, scoring a run in the 2nd inning when Ray Olmedo singled home Ray Sadler, who had hit a two-out double. That was about it for the Bulls bats with men on. Leadoff hitter, second baseman Henry Mateo (.330 BA) did his job setting the table for the Bulls. He was 0-2 officially, but reached base on three walks. He did not score a run because Durham was pathetic (2-12) with runners in scoring position. Ten Bulls were left on base in the game.
Kazmir looked sharp on the mound all game. His pitches had good movement and he was throwing strikes. His velocity didn’t look as good as it did last week in Port Charlotte, but I was watching on a tiny computer screen. He went a full 6 innings, earning the win and striking out 5 Paw Sox. He allowed 1 earned run and did not walk a batter. He threw 79 pitches on the day, 55 (70%) for strikes. He was aided by his defense, which not only didn’t commit an error, both Jon Weber and Justin Ruggiano gunned down base runners trying to stretch a hit to a double. The lone Sox run came when Angel Chavez singled home Bubba Bell, who had doubled, in the second inning.
Kazmir faced the minimum 3 batters from the 3 inning on. I don’t know if his strength is there yet to join the big team, but his composure, mechanics and location are right on. Joe Maddon has not yet announced if Kaz will rejoin the Rays in St. Pete for this home stand.
Bucholz was pulled in the bottom of the 4th. After Lowrie’s error allowed a run to score, he walked the next batter (John Jaso) he faced. He was lifted in favor of Randor Bierd. Bierd did not look too impressive. He allowed a double to Justin Ruggiano
, walked 3 batters and served up a home run to John Jaso before being yanked after 2 innings. Javier Lopez replaced him and went 1-1/3 scoreless. Billy Traber pitched the bottom of the 8th for the Sox and sent the Bulls down in order.
Jason Cromer, the originally scheduled starter for Durham, started the 7th for the Bulls. He pitched 2-1/3 innings of shut out ball. He didn’t look on his game; he walked 2, but didn’t allow any runs. Dale Thayer got two ground ball outs in the top of the ninth to record his 9th save.
I don’t know if the matchup lived up to its hype, but Kazmir got the better of Bucholz last night. Time will tell if he is ready for the Majors yet. Bucholz, who was in the running to replace the injured and poor pitching Dice K, did not make a good case for himself. He will still likely start the International League All Star Game.
In other “rehab” news, Phillies closer,
Brad “Lights Out” Lidge will likely see action with the Florida State League’s (A) Clearwater Phillies tonight.
Just a few miles away, in St. Pete, the Rays will play the big league Phillies. 46-year-old lefty Jamie Moyer (4-6 6.32 ERA) will be going for his 251st career win. He will be facing 24-year-old lefty, David Price, going for his 2nd career victory. Game time is 7:08 at the Trop.
In other news, Rays center fielder
BJ Upton was named the American League Player of the Week. He hit .429 with 3 doubles, 2 homers, 2 steals and 9 RBIs. Way to go BJ!!
Go Rays!!!
After receiving an awesome and unexpected package from Madding of Cards on Cards fame on Friday (post to come) along with 2 TTMs, there were three more packages today. One of them came courtesy of the Mojo Hand. Mojo chases the same products as the Troll and chases one of the same players-the super awesome Cat Osterman, but we were somehow able to pull off a trade anyway. There were 4 very awesome cards in that package, but 3 are going to be trade bait with one card going straight to the Rays display case. The trade bait cards are of Rickie Weeks, Fausto Carmona and this 2003 Upper Deck Team USA jersey card of Conor Jackson. 
Jackson had a breakout year in 2008 for the D-Backs, batting .300 with 12 homers and 75 runs batted in. He has been on the disabled list since May of this year suffering from Valley Fever which gives him a combination of symptoms similar to pneumonia, chronic fatigue syndrome and the flu. He will participate in the D-Backs fall instructional league program starting on Monday to ready for the 2010 season. The gem of the trade is a 2008 Bowman Chrome Draft Pick Rookie Autograph Refractor (wow that’s a long title) card of Durham Bulls catcher John Jaso. 
The card is #BCP264 and is both a certified autographed card (serial #270/500) and an uber-shiny refractor. John has spent 7 seasons in the Rays system since they picked him in the 12th round of the 2003 draft. During that time Jaso has a minor league career average of .290 with 57 homeruns and 329 RBIs. He is rated as the Rays number 1 organizational catching prospect. It is really awesome that the card arrived today because today (September 18th) is Jaso’s 26th birthday. Happy Birthday John!!! That isn’t all John Jaso has been celebrating this week either. On Thursday night his team, the Durham Bulls defeated the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees 3-2 in twelve innings to win the Governors Cup and International League (AAA) Championship. The game-winning hit (in the top of the 12th) was a double off of Jaso’s bat, which scored Elliot Johnson to give the Bulls the lead. With that win, they won their league’s crown, but they have one more series to determine the best AAA team in baseball. Beginning on Tuesday night, the Durham Bulls will travel to Oklahoma City to meet the Memphis Red Birds (PCL Champs) to compete for the AAA National Championship. The game will be televised on ESPN2 (the Deuce!) and will begin at 6 PM (Eastern). I will be watching to see Jaso, Desmond Jennings, Elliot Johnson, Matt Joyce, Justin Ruggiano 
and the rest of the Bulls kick some Redbird booty! The feathers will be flying, no doubt! Thanks to the Mojo Hand for the very awesome cards! If anyone out there should pull any Cat Osterman cards, contact Mojo first. If he already has the cards, send ‘em my way! On a different note, I didn’t make it out to the Trop tonight as I had hoped. My empty bank account got in the way again, but it didn’t stop the Rays! They won their 3rd game in a row (longest streak in a month) as Matt Garza (on Matt Garza figurine night) outdueled Ricky Romero (now 12-9) beating the Blue Jays 4-0. Garza lasted over 7 innings, striking out 10 and allowing just 3 hits, all singles. In fact, there wasn’t a single extra base hit in the game and after the Rays 4-run first inning; both pitchers put up zeros the rest of the game. Garza improved his record to 8-10 with a 3.80 ERA and 177 strikeouts. Since joining the Rays, Garza is 6-2/0.81 ERA versus the Jays. 
Three of his 8 wins this year have been against Toronto. The Jays and Rays conclude their series tomorrow (Sunday) with Roy Halladay facing David Price at the Trop. The Rays welcome the Mariners to Florida for a two-game series beginning on Tuesday. The Rays will be heading to Texas for a three-game series beginning on Friday. Switching gears back to cards and what was in my mailbox this weekend… There were a (Troll record) 17 autographed cards in the mailbox this weekend. The other two trade packages came from Wicked Ortega of South Florida and Jeff (another Rays fan!) of Largo, Florida. These were two of the best packages I think I have ever got (gets better every day!) and I will post them on Monday and Tuesday. There was also a pair of TTM autos, including the 5th card for my Ginter autograph quest, this one from Legendary player and Coach Frank Evans. 
I also stopped at my parents storage (Mom found an old box of my stuff) and I picked up a bunch of goodies that I thought for gone forever including a box of letters (correspondence from former White Sox players) from my 1999 book. Some notes from my interview with Johnny Sain and an autographed poster that he gave me,
a ’87 Topps Traded set and a very OLD box of Necco Wafers. 
Treasures. Till next time, Happy Birthday John Jaso! Thanks for trading with the Troll! Go Bulls! Go Rays! Troll out.
