8-25 CUP O' JO

Sheesh... the Baseball Gods did not give our boys any love this weekend. They were a combined 3 for 33. Thats a .090 average. No shiny, lustrous pearls in that stat. Let's go boys. Most of you are either tuning up for a pennant race or gunning for a wild card spot. We gotta see your best stuff. Find the gaps. Patient at bats. Throw nasty strikes. Make some headlines. Let's do this thing.

JOEY GOMES - OF, Joliet Jackhammers, Northern League - IND
Rough weekend for Joliet as they dropped two games to Gary and remain 3 games out of the playoff race with only 6 games to go. They have today off then face Kansas City for a three games which will likely determine which of the two teams' season will end on Sunday. Joey was 0-5 on Saturday in an extra inning loss and 0-3 yesterday in a 5-1. So we won't dwell on the details ;-) but his avg is still .300.

CHAD FILLINGER - P, Joliet Jackhammers, Northern League - IND
Did not pitch this weekend.
8-22-08 vs Gary: Chad entered the game with a two run lead in the 7th. He struggled in the 7th, loading the bases and walking in a run. The 8th was better and Chad ended up with two innings pitched, a hit, an earned run, 2 walks, 3 Ks and a 3.83 YTD ERA. What sounded like control problems on this end of the broadcast may have been something more as Chad was tossed in the 8th for arguing balls and strikes with the man in blue. Gary's Manager, Vacaville native Greg Tagert was tossed for the the same reason in the 6th. Maybe Blue needs Wichita's bat ring binoculars.

LOUIS OTT (DH/INF Detroit Tigers Organization - Lakeland Flying Tigers, A)
Did not play in Saturday's 6-2 loss to Dunedin. Yesterday, was 0-4 at DH in a 3-2 loss to Dunedin. Batting .263. Lakeland has been sinking in the standings and are now 4 games out of 2nd place with a week to go.

TOMMY EVERIDGE (1B, Oakland A's Organization - Midland Rockhounds, AA)
The Hounds lost two games to Division Leading Frisco this weekend and slipped two games back after jumping to the top of the Division briefly last week. The good news is that they're still 2.5 games up up on the San Antonio Missions in the wild card race. Frisco won the first half, so if they hold on to win the second half, the wild card (best overall record) will decide whether Midland or San Antonio goes to the playoffs. The Hounds and the Missions go head to head this week so Midland's got to play some of that awesome ball they dazzled us with a few weeks ago.

Tommy was 2 for 4 with two singles, knocking in the only run in Saturday's 10-1 loss. He notched his 110th RBI of the season in that effort. He went 0 for 4 in Sunday's 9-3 loss. His average is now .279.

Now for some good news... Tommy's rocking the leader board in the Texas League. He leads the league in RBIs by a margin of 19 (101), is 4th in home runs (21) and runs scored (85), and 5th in hits (139). If Midland doesn't make the playoffs, gotta wonder if the AAA RiverCats might add him to the roster as a hot hitting reserve during the AAA playoffs as they did last year.

KONRAD SCHMIDT (C, Arizona Diamondbacks Organization - Visalia Oaks, High A)
8-23 vs Stockton: 0 for 4 at catcher in 7-5 win. .309 avg. Did not play in Sunday's 7-5 loss to Stockton. The Oaks are 7-3 in their last 10 and in 4th place. If San Jose repeats as Division Champs for the second half, Visalia could nab the wild card spot if they sweep Stockton this week. Let's go Visalia. Git 'er done!

STEPHEN PEARSON (1B, American Assn-Wichita Wingnuts, IND)
The Wichita Wingnuts finished their season witha 10-5 loss to Lincoln on Saturday. Steve was 0-2 with a sac fly RBI in the finale. The Nuts finished in 4th place, 12 games out.

JONNY GOMES (DH/OF, Tampa Bay Rays Organization - Durham Bulls, AAA)
The Bulls continue to make their playoff status more dramatic than necessary with two more losses this weekend. To the last place team in another division. Not the best way to tune up for a pennant race. The Bulls magic number is 2 games. C'mon boys, let's do it with wins, OK?

8-23-08 vs Indianapolis: Jonny was 0 for 3 with 2 Ks in the 6-3 loss.
8-24-08 vs Indianapolis: 1 for 4 with a two out RBI single and a K in the 10-6 loss.

BRANDON MORROW (P, Seattle Mariners)
Mariner Chatter: Brandon is scheduled to pitch in Tacoma on 8-31, the day before the rosters expand. His 72 pitch 10 K outing on Thursday has Seattle fans smiling. Throwing in a 5 day rotation, he could get two more starts in Tacoma before the September callups with the second of those starts falling on 8-31. If he continues to do well, September would give him enough time for 4-5 starts. 4 innings in AAA probably translates to 3+ in the majors due to the quality of hitters who can keep an at bat against a young power pitcher alive with patient at bats and foul balls on 3-2 counts. It would sure be exciting to have a Major League starter at Camp For A Cure this year. Gotta believe.

8-21-08: Brandon pitched 4.2 innings giving up two hits, two earned runs and striking out 10 batters before being relieved. His pitch limit is now north of 70. The game was suspended in the 7th inning due to a power outage in Portland. Brandon got his ERA down to 3.86 as he continues to stretch out his appearances and transition to a starting role. Hopefully in time for September call ups.

The Amazing Rays...
...got sucker punched yesterday. I'm glad I was at work and didn't have to watch that replay for 2 hours. The highlight reel last night was bad enough. Per-what's-his-name-ski is a schmuck and I can't believe all the Men In Blue couldn't get that call right. That's twice in a week! I hear Riggo didn't make an earlier play at the plate that would have prevented the extra inning debacle so I won't say the blown call cost the game. But sheesh. I've seen "the worst call ever" twice in one week! Disturbing trend. Let's get it right Blue. They've played too well for you to mess it up. Every game counts at this point. A 4.5 game lead over Boston might seem like a comfy cushion to you, but we Rays fan-atics prefer multiples of 5.