8-27 CUP O' JO

JOEY GOMES - OF, Joliet Jackhammers, Northern League - IND
Joliet's playoff hopes are fading fast with an 8-0 grilling by the Kansas City T-Bones last night. Joey was 1 for 3 with a single, a walk and a K. .301 average. The Jackhammers managed 7 hits, but couldn't push one across. KC only needs one more win to clinch a playoff berth. Some burly dude named Calvin Pickering edged Joey for Player of the Week honors. IMHO, the guys in the league office seem overly impressed with the guy's 4 home runs last week. Hrrrumph.

CHAD FILLINGER - P, Joliet Jackhammers, Northern League - IND
Chad relieved starter Aaron Trolia who pitched 4 shutout innings before giving up 5 runs in the 5th. Chad pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, striking out one and walking two. 3.68 YTD ERA.

LOUIS OTT (DH/INF Detroit Tigers Organization - Lakeland Flying Tigers, A)
0-4 with a run scored, a walk and 2Ks in Lakeland's 7-5 win over Fort Myers last night. .263 average. Lakeland is 13.5 games out with a week to go.

TOMMY EVERIDGE (1B, Oakland A's Organization - Midland Rockhounds, AA)
Four hard hit balls landed in San Antonio Missions' gloves last night in an 0-4 loss to Midland with no other groovy stats to pick up the "0". Here's the deal. The hounds either need to win the 2nd half or edge San Antonio for the best overall season record to make the playoffs. Midland is a game back of Frisco who also won the 1st half. They're a game and a half ahead of San Antonio in terms of the overall season record. The next two days are muy importante. Oh yeah... Midland plays Frisco for the last two games of the season so it ain't gonna get any easier. Let's go Midland!

KONRAD SCHMIDT (C, Arizona Diamondbacks Organization - Visalia Oaks, High A)
The Oaks had the night off to rest up after that whomping of Stockton Monday night.

8-25: Woo-dee-hoo! 5 for 5. Visalia pummelled Stockton last night 13-4. Konrad was just a HR short of the cycle, with 3 singles, a double (11), and his first striple at High A. That slugfest boosted his average to .336. Visalia is probably out of the playoff picture, but this article has a nice interview with Konrad and outlines the Oak's playoff chances.

JONNY GOMES (DH/OF, Tampa Bay Rays Organization - Durham Bulls, AAA)
The Bulls finally got to don the swim goggles and pop the champagne. Officially, they clinched early in the evening when the Norfolk game was rained out in a game that would not be made up. Ceremoniously, they clinched with a Dan Johnson solo homer in the bottom of the 8th, giving Durham a 3-2 win over the Indianapolis Indians. The night after hitting a walk off single, Jonny was 1-3 with a walk, a K and a .237 avg.

BRANDON MORROW (P, Seattle Mariners)
Brandon had another start in Tacoma last night. It coulda gone better but he showed once again that he can go 4+ innings without his arm falling off. He pictched consistently in the low-mid 90's last night and lit up the gun a 96 a few times. The not-so-pretty line went like this: 4.2 innings pitched, 6 earned runs on 5 hits (2HR), 3BB and 3K. That's an 11.57 ERA, but hey, he's new at this. He threw 79 pitches; 47 for strikes. Brandon did get the loss... to Sacramento. A powerhouse. Tacoma is 5 games back of Salt Lake with 6 games to go. 2 more against Sacramento then 4 at home vs. last place Portland. They've got a shot. I've seen several reports today that Brandon is slated to start against the Yankees on September 5th so it appears his transition to starting pitcher will continue in Seattle next month.

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Be sure to read yesterday's post and chime in on either of the two topics at the end. Or maybe sound off on Tommy's Beard-thing (Sunday 8-23). PTownFan is hoping to make the Pearls more interactive. Soon, only The Rays will still be smacking the ball around and I don't suppose too many of you follow them quite as passionately as I do. We've gotta find some other things to bla-bla-blog about ;-)