8-5 CUP O' JO

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Congratulations to Tommy Everidge, named Texas League Player of the Week for 7/27-8/2! During the week, the Rockhounds were 7-0 and Tommy was a big part of it with 11 RBIs, two homeruns, and a .469 batting average. Usually the Hounds 1B, Tommy spent most of the week at third. Way to go Tommy!

Yesterday's Pearls:

JOEY GOMES (DH, Joliet Jackhammers, Northern League IND):
8-4: Hit a solo home run in the 2nd inning, but the game was suspended in the 5th inning due to torrential rains in Gary, Indiana. The Jackhammers trail 7-2 and the game will resume as part of a doubleheader this evening. .280 avg. Joliet (33-35) is 4 and 6 in their last 10 with a 2 game losing streak, 11 games back and 3.5 out of 2nd place. The Jackhammers made a number of roster moves yesterday, trading injured LHP David Moraga (8-1) to Schaumburg for Brad Mumma (6-6), picking up a replacement for injured Dennis Blackmon and a few other pitching moves.

CHAD FILLINGER - P, Joliet Jackhammers, Northern League - IND:
8-2: Entered an 8-5 game and maintained a Joliet lead in two innings pitched. Chad fanned 4 and gave up two earned runs on 4 hits and a walk. 3.64 ERA.

LOUIS OTT (DH/INF Detroit Tigers Organization - Lakeland Flying Tigers, A):
LOUIS TRANSFERRED TO BACK TO CLASS A LAKELAND FLYING TIGERS ON 7-26-08 AFTER SUCCESSFUL STINT WITH AA ERIE BATTING .238
8-4: 1 for 3 at DH with a double and a run scored in a 5-10 loss to Tampa .272 Avg. Lakeland is 5-5 in their last ten with a 1 game loss streak in second place, 5.5 games back of Dunedin.

TOMMY EVERIDGE (1B, Oakland A's Organization - Midland Rockhounds, AA):
8-4: The Hounds continue to be hot on the trail of the Division Leaders as they notched another victory yesterday, sweeping Corpus Christi with a 4-3 win. The 11th consectutive win extends an A's affiliation record for the A's Organization. Tommy was 0 for 3 with his 96th RBI of the season on a sac fly. He also had two K's on the evening he was named Texas League Player of the Week. .273 avg. The Rockhounds overtook San Antonio for second place over the weekend and are just one game back of Frisco who has won 4 straight, refusing to yield to Midland.

KONRAD SCHMIDT (C, Arizona Diamondbacks Organization - Visalia Oaks, High A):
PROMOTED TO CLASS A ADVANCED VISALIA OAKS 7-11-08
8-4: Day off for the Oaks. Konrad's .357 avg leads the team right now. He is hitting an impressive .405 against righties and .429 with runners in scoring position. He's short of the minimum number of plate appearances per game needed to make the league leader board.
8-2: 1 for 5 at DH with 3 RBI, one a two out RBI in last night's 11-12 loss to Stockton. Konrad went yard for the first time in AA against Bakersfield last night. The Oaks are 3-7 in their last 10 with a 1 game losing streak, 6 games back of Division leading Modesto.

STEPHEN PEARSON (1B, American Assn-Wichita Wingnuts, IND):
8-4: 1 for 4 with a single and a run scored in the Wingnuts 6-16 loss to the Lincoln Saltdogs. Wichita will spend the next two weeks on the road as they give up their stadium for the NBC World Series.

JONNY GOMES (DH, Tampa Bay Rays):
8-4: 0-4 as the Rays' 5 game win streak ended with a 2-5 loss to Cleveland. He hit it hard every time, but right to waiting fielderss. The Rays were hurt by the absence of Jason Bartlett, their regular SS who injured the index finger on his throwing hand in Sunday's game and LF regular, Carl Crawford who is nursing a sore hamstring. The team hopes both will be able to return without a costly DL stint. The Rays are 66-45, matching their 2007 win total with nearly two months remaining in the regular season.

Rays Chatter: After days of evaluation, the team has not yet made a decision to activate OF Rocco Baldelli. It's not clear exactly what the criteria for the decision will be, though the tea leaf reading seems to suggest he will play for the Rays and skip a AAA rehab stint. With SS Jason Bartlett and LF Carl Crawford being day to day, the decision is a bit more complex than it was over the weekend. OF Reserve Gabe Gross has played well this week, including a clutch hit off a left handed pitcher yesterday. He's struggled against lefties in particular and has generally been used only against RHP which have also shut down his bat for the last three weeks or so. He seems to be working out of the slump and could make the Rays decision a little easier about who stays with the team if Rocco is activated. With Crawford out again today, Jonny may get an unusual opportunity for ABs against a RHP if Joe doesn't decide to put the reserve catcher in the OF again. No kidding.

BRANDON MORROW (P, Seattle Mariners):
8-4: Did not pitch in yesterday's 11-6 win over Minnesota. The team is still trying to decide how to transition Morrow into a starting role. This seems like a good time to start stretching him out, with Seattle so far out of the runnning. But until JJ Putz is solid as the team's closer again, it will be tough to give Brandon some starts to see how he does.

PTOWN's UP AND COMERS:

DJ GENTILE (OF, Mat-Su Miners (Palmer, AK), Alaska Baseball League, Amateur):
8-4: DJ had a heck of a game playing RF for the Anchorage Glacier Pilots in the National Baseball Conference World Series in Wichita, KS. He was 2 for 4 with 3 RBIs and a run scored as Anchorage 10 runned the South Tulsa, OK Diamonjaxx 10-0 in the 5th inning of yesterday's opening game. Box and Game Recap They play the Colorado Sox on Thursday.

DJ bumped into Wingnut Stephen Pearson just before the Wichita team was booted from their home stadium in favor of the NBC World Series.