CUP O' JO: Friday, May 29, 2009

JONNY GOMES (OF,Cincinnati Reds):
Day off yesterday for the Reds who aim to overtake second place Milwaukee in a head to head battle on the road.  This 7 game roadtrip ends with 4 against Division leading St. Louis before returning home to face the Cubs.  The next week could really unknot the NL Central.  St. Louis, a team weakened by injuries and a few slumping players, is in San Francisco this weekend. Come on Giants, soften 'em up some more.  For those wondering when Jonny might patrol the outfield in AT&T Park, it won't happen until August 7, 8, and 9.  It's part of my Half-Centurian Celebration as I celebrate a Really Big Birthday that week. 

JOEY GOMES (DH, Joliet Jackhammers, IND)
Joey had a 2-for-3 night with an RBI Triple Wednesday as the Kansas City T-Bones edged the Jackhammers 5-4 in KC.  Gomes pulled a quad sliding hard into third and will miss a few more games.  At least it happened in KC where there's plenty of good food to help pass the time.   He's batting .209.

LOUIS OTT (DH, A Jupiter Hammerheads, Florida Marlins Organization)
Louis signed with the Jupiter Hammerheads where he was 1-for-2 at DH Wednesday night in a 3-0 win over his former team, the Lakeland Flying Tigers.  Drought ending bad weather in Florida suspended play yesterday and it looks like more of the same today.  The team is in third place in the Florida State League South Division, 7 games out.  Attaboy Louis.  Good to see you back!

TOMMY EVERIDGE (3B, AA Midland Rockhounds, Oakland Athletics Organization)
1-for-5 Wednesday and 2-for-5 with a home run yesterday in a pair of wins for Midland.  They are now 2 games ahead of Frisco.  Tommy continues to lead the team in home runs, hits, and total bases as he transitions to 3B defensively.  With injuries continuing to plague Oakland infielders (Garciapara back to the DL... first an ankle, now recurring calf tightness) maybe things will start to shake loose in Sacramento so Tommy can have a shot.

KONRAD SCHMIDT (C, High A Visalia Rawhide, Arizona Diamondbacks Organization)
1-for-3 with a double in Wednesdays 3-1 win over San Jose. 0-for-3 last night in a 6 hit squeaker of a 2-1 win.  The Rawhide lead the Division by a two game margin.  Konrad is batting .255.

STEVE PEARSON (1B, Wichita WingNuts, IND)
2-for-4 hitting in last night's 5-2 win over St. Paul.  Wichita is off to a red hot start with an 11-2 record and a five game lead in the Division.  Steve is batting .362, just a few points shy of the league Leader Board.

SAM BANISTER (1B, Senior, Arizona Wildcats Softball)
The top seeded Florida Gators shut out the nations' top scoring offense 3-0 last night in the opening round of the Women's Softball College World Series, limiting Arizona to just two hits in a dominant appearance by pitcher Stacy Nelson. The Cats got something going in the first with back-to-back hits, but a strikeout and a pop out by PTown's Banister ended the Wildcats only rally. PHS Grad, Samantha Banister had seven put outs at first base on the night.  Arizona will face Alabama in an elimination game for the second straight season on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT .  Whew.  PTownJr's game will be in the books by then!

DJ GENTILE (DH, Sophomore,  Cal Poly Mustangs)
What a season for Casa Grad, DJ Gentile.  For the first time at the Division I level, the Mustangs, ranked 26th nationally, have earned an NCAA Playoff berth.  They face Oral Roberts University today at 2pm in the West Regional:  Bracket  DJ is batting .311 in 49 games with 16 extra base hits including 5 home runs and two triples.  He leads the team with 11 sac flies.  Earlier this week, DJ was awarded All-Conference Honorable Mention honors.

CHAD KRIST  (C, Freshman, University of California Golden Bears)
PHS Grad and Valley Vista Elementary Alum, Chad Krist, saw a lot of action as a Freshman, with 16 starts in 27 appearances.  He batted .197 with 12 hits including 4 doubles and two home runs. Defensively, he had a .993 fielding percentage with 115 put outs, 22 assists and only 1 error in his first college season.

CASA GRANDE HIGH SCHOOL GAUCHOS
Uggghhh.  Clayton Valley got an early lead and never looked back Wednesday night.  I'll let Gauchos Beat Writer John Jackson tell you all about it: Bad Beginning Ends Casa Grande Baseball Season

Pre-Game: Casa @ Clayton Valley - NCS Div II Semi-Final

Casa Grande High School is two wins from its 5th North Coast Section Title in 6 years.  Its 7th in 11 years.  Tonight the  Gauchos travel to Concord to face Clayton Valley. The winner advances to the NCS Division II Final at the Oakland Coliseum Saturday afternoon at 4pm.

The Final Three's Road To The NCS:

Clayton Valley amassed a impressive 22-3 record this season.  They were undefeated in league play, losing only to top seeded Alameda, Monte Vista (a larger Div I school) and Div II Concord. MaxPreps currently ranks Clayton Valley #4 among all NCS schools regardless of size, taking stength of schedule and league record into account. 

Casa Grande is ranked #8 by MaxPreps.  The Gauchos won the Sonoma County League losing only to cross town rival, Petaluma High.  They were 9-4 in non-league play with key wins against Central Coast Section powerhouse Bellarmine (#5) and a close game against CSS top ranked Serra. Casa's other three losses were to Dublin, Ukiah and Analy.

Tonight's winner will face top seeded Alameda on Saturday, ranked 19th with a 21-4 record.  Their only league loss was to El Cerrito and non-league losses were to Irvington (Fremont), Newark, Antioch. Alameda's win over Clayton Valley loomed large in tournament seeding.

Scouting Report on The Clayton Valley Eagles... they'll need to do their own homework on our Gauchos ;-)

Offensively:

CV's offense is powered by Senior Vince Bruno, batting .548, slugging .881 and boasting a .581 OBP. He leads the Diablo Valley League in Average and has hit safely in all but one game this season. Bruno leads the team in hits (46) and RBIs (34).  Other hitters batting north of .400 include Darrel Matthews (.442 with 9 doubles and 7 triples), Cody Stephens (.407 with  33 hits and 34 runs scored), Julian Thornton (.407 with 7 doubles and 23 RBIs), and Wesley Darrow (.405 with 30 hits and 25 RBIs).  Clayton Valley holds the 2-5 positions on the league leader board for Home Runs with Andrew Lassen (5), Vince Bruno (3), Johnny Bekakis (2) and Julian Thornton (2).  The team also dominates the leader board for Slugging and RBIs.  Bruno and Matthews are base stealing threats with 15 and 10 respectively.

From the mound:

Clayton Valley's staff is anchored by Chaz Meadows with 8 wins, no losses, and a 3.05 ERA in 11 appearances.  Brandon Weller is 6-1 with 4 saves and a 1.91 ERA in 16 appearances. Ricky Dunley is 2-1 with a 4.31ERA in 11 appearances.  Peter Stoiber and Antonio Acosta have also piched 8 innings this season with 2.52 and 2.42 ERAs respectively.  Looking at CV's stats, it would appear that the team has only given up one extra base hit all season, a double. Gulp. But my network of stats cross-checkers believe some pitching stats to be "under reported" thereby making CV look more formidable than they actually are. Polly Anna is goin' with that explanation.

Gametime weather:

Looks like 85 and sunny this afternoon in Concord. Nice night for baseball.

Let's go Gauchos. Get it done and lead the parade to the Oakland-Alameda County McAfee Coliseum this Saturday.  PTown is behind you all the way!

Pearlacious... Potentially

Huge irrigation project to conquer in the back 40 today so the Cup O' Jo is just a sip today. 

Gotta lead off with this one.  Jonny Gomes almost had the defensive play of his season... maybe his career... yesterday, gunning Grady Sizemore at the plate after a heads up back up of an errant relay throw.  But an interference call on the Reds' 3B bumped Jonny's awesome play from Web Gem to simply whooped up on the Reds Website and Phront Page Pheature in PTown's Pearls of Wisdom.  You really do have to see it to appreciate it so here ya go: Obstruction Call Affects Indians Reds Reds Robbed.  Nevertheless, if there are any Little Leaguer's watching, this is why the Skipper is always reminding you to back up the throw.  Good things could happen. Jonny's had a hit in each of his appearances and the Reds already seem like a more energetic team.

Thanks to Anonymous for Commenting In a first hand report of Steve Pearson's weekend.  Looks like another PTown Product is off to a good start for the Wichita Wingnuts batting .343 in 35 ABs early in the season.

Joey Gomes is finding his groove with a handful of weekend hits and a pair of RBIs.  He's had two stolen bases so far. The Jackhammers are having a tough time stringing together some wins.  But it's early.

Tommy Everidge continues to hit north of .300 for the Midland Rockhounds.  He's got 12 doubles and leads the team with 39 RBIs. Already.  Yo... Billy...  let's see what he can do in Sacto? Whaddayasay?

Konrad Schmidt is batting .270 for the Visalia Rawhide, sharing time at Catcher with the recently promoted Jhoan Pimentel. He's got 6 doubles and 11 rbis so far this season.

And how 'bout those Casa Grande Gauchos!  They topped Brentwood's Heritage High School Saturday by a score of 4-1 to advance to the semi-finals of the Division II Northern California Section Championship Tourney.  They play Clayton Valley Wednesday in Concord at 5pm. Go Gauchos!

2000 feet of irrigation tubing awaits.  Ugghhh.  At least there are a lot of ballgames to pipe into the outdoor speakers today :-)

SCL Champs Casa Grande Take On Heritage in NCS Play Saturday

Details here: http://www.eteamz.com/CasaGrandeBaseball/news/index.cfm?cat=0&subsite=4584308

Go Gauchos!

CUP O' JO: Thursday, May 14th

Two PTown Area Pros have big night:

JONNY GOMES (OF, AAA Louisville Bats, Cincinnati Reds Organization):

Gomes received his American League Championship ring from Rays President Stuart Steinberg last night and went 1-for-4 with a double and a run scored in a 4-3 loss to his old club, the Durham Bulls.  People sometimes ask if Joe Dillon, a 1990 something Cardinal Newman grad, is still around.  He was recently traded by the A's to the Rays and is playing 3B for the Durham Bulls.  I've always wondered if his dad is the Joe Dillon I worked for at Firemans Fund a decade ago.

TOMMY EVERIDGE (IF, AA Midland Rockhounds, Oakland Athletics Organization)
Tommy blasted a 3 run homer off the left field foul pole in the 4th last night to give the Rockhounds a lead they held onto the rest of the night.  Another hit in the 5th drove in two more runs for a 5 rbi night.  Here's the complete story: Everidge's Three Run Homer The Difference.


 13 Inning Marathon On 5/13 Unlucky For The Gauchos

What a game. 13 innings and a tough loss for the Gauchos after a hard fought pitchers' duel. Fortunately, one that shouldn't matter too much in the scheme of things as the SCL Tourney really only influences seeding for the Northern California Section playoffs.  PollyAnna chooses to think that a one run 13 inning game can't hurt the Gauchos' position much, if at all. 

The Dragons fire breathing pitcher, Ben Graff, went 11 innings last night giving up 6 hits and notching 15 strikeouts before Nate Swanson took the mound for the final three innings.  Graff retrieved his arm from somewhere in Sonoma Plaza after throwing just under 150 pitches.  Pretty efficient, but woo... That's a herculean hurlin' effort.

Scott Harkin went 9 innings.  He gave up 4 hits, but a few of those may go down officially as something else ;-)  He fanned 8 batters and walked 3.  Spencer Finkbohner took the mound for the final 4 innings and cruised through the 10th and 11th with 5 strikeouts before Sonoma, the visiting team, finally pushed one across in the top of the 13th. Steven Filippi, who led the league with a .482 average this season, got on base for the second time with a one out drive to center.  Graff struck out for the second out and Rose, the Sonoma catcher, laced an 0-2 pitch up the middle moving Fillippi into scoring position.  On a steal attempt, Rose was caught in a rundown and Filippi scored from third on a play that many will rewind several times to see if it was a run scored or actually the third out.

The bottom third of the order was due up for the Gauchos in the 13th, but the crowd had witnessed lead off hitter RJ Busse, a freshman call-up from the JV team, lace a sharp two strike gounder into the left center gap to start the 11th as a pinch hitter.  The shot sparked a rally and Busse nearly beat out a two out ground out by Sean Purtell which would have won the game. In the 13th, Busse worked a full count for a walk.  Cardona struck out, but Matt Gallo drove a ball to right for his third hit of the night to put runners at the corners.  Coach Maytorena sent Busse but the throw beat him by inches.  Beaudry tried to get it going again with two outs and one on, but couldn't push Gallo across, striking out to end the marathon game.

On the bright side, the Pearls of Wisdom live blog worked out pretty well.  Looks like the iPhone can Twitter about 20 innings if need be during the NCS Playoffs.  God forbid.

Let's go Gauchos.  Bring the Bling.

Oops, They Did It Again

Casa Rocks The SCL With Big Win Over Petaluma Saturday

Casa tore it up, avenging their early season loss to the Trojans with a 7-1 win over Petaluma on Saturday, May 8th. The win iced the Sonoma League Championship for the Gauchos for the 6th time in 8 years. The team enters the NCS playoffs looking for a 5th NCS Championship in 6 years and 7th in 11 years. Beyond awesome. Outrageous. Dynastic.  Soon the bling of Championship Rings will become a source of sustainable energy in PTown.

Matt Nadolski pitched another complete game gem, giving up 5 hits, 1 earned run and just 1 walk. In the process of notching 13 strikeouts in front of a house packed with scouts, one Gaucho fan observed several 92 mph readings on their radar guns.  Smokin' hot. Matt went 3-for-4 at the plate with a double and scored a run.

Casa Grande Baseball is also chest thumping proud of its Frosh and JV teams who both won their League Championships. The JV team went 11-1 in League play and 19-5 overall.  Three Junior Varsity players recieved callups to the Varsity team for the remainder of the year. Congrats to RJ Busse, Brian Fingado and Jesse Perkins who had spectacular 2009 seasons and will be strong off the bench in May.

Next up: The SCL Tourney in Sonoma Wednesday through Friday. The Gauchos play at 7pm Wednesday night at Arnold Field with the Championship game on Friday.

And here's a Sportscenter-esque look at Sumner Fowler's excellent camera work on Saturday. and a tip of the cap to Adobe Premiere Elements for making me look like I know what I'm doing:

Casa Grande Gauchos Gearing Up For Playoff Run

The Casa Grande Gauchos Front Office is usually a pretty laid back organization.  Pretty low tech.  Except when it comes to stats.  Or rankings now that the Playoffs are within sight.  The coaching staff is now hanging on every electron as daily updates are posted.  The bottom line of the Division II, Division III, Bay Area and Statewide rankings mumbo jumbo is that the Gauchos are the North Bay's Top Team.

Casa has played exceptionally well the last few weeks getting great pitching and hitting at just the right time.  A quick peek at Max Preps tells the tale.  The Gauchos are 14-4-0 overall and 8-1-0 in Sonoma County League play. Those pesky purple PHS Trojans.  Casa is ranked #2 in the North Coast Section behind Clayton Valley.  Early season games against stronger teams have vaulted the Gauchos to a #15 ranking in the Bay Area Overall. Casa Grande loaded up its schedule with games against the big boys in the South Bay.  Not expecting wins, but hoping to gain respect, they knocked off the Bay Area's #6 Bellarmine Prep by a score of 6-1 early in the season and hung in there with top ranked Serra, losing a 6-4 game.  At least one organization has rewarded that effort by ranking Casa Grande #8 in the State within their Division. I'd tell you which organization, but frankly, I'm too confused ;-) Perhaps a loyal reader will comment with a cite.

A look at the Sonoma County League Leaderboards tells the tale. Three of the SCL's batting leaders are Gauchos. Senior Scott Harkin is batting .476  in 20 games and had the best average in the state for about a week last month. Scott is second in the league to Sonoma's Steve Filippi with Gaucho senior Sean Purtell close behind hitting .422, and senior Matt Gallo at #5 with a .406 average.  The Gauchos are also deep with long ball hitters, occupying the #2-5 spots on the Home Run Leaderboard.  Seniors Matt Nadolski and Sean Purtell have put 2 over this year while Matt Gallo and Scott Harkin have each pounded one.  The same group dominate the league in stolen bases. Harkin and Purtell have 14 with Gallo and Nadolski at 10. Harkin, Purtell and Nadolski are #3,4,& 5 in slugging at .635, .625 and .565 respectively.  Matt Nadolski leads the league with 24 rbis and Purtell is in the #5 spot with 17.

Harkin, Nadolski, and senior Spencer Finkbohner are also getting it done from the mound.  Harkin leads the SCL and the North Coast Section with a 0.00 ERA.  Nadolski and Finkbohner are #2 and 3 in the League with 2.10 ERAs. Nadolski has 46 Ks and Finkbohner 44, occupying the #2 and 5 spots on the League Leaderboard.  Nadolski has notched 4 wins and Harkin 3. 

The weather is wrecking havoc with the final week of the regular season. Today's scheduled game at Analy has been pushed to tomorrow.  Thursday, the Gauchos trek to Windsor and close it out Saturday with a rematch at Petaluma to avenge the green and gold's loss earlier this season.  PTownFan hopes PTownJr won't notice when she ducks out of his Junior Little League game to catch the cross-town show down. Thank God it's not on Mother's Day.

The post-season gets underway with the SCL Tourney in Sonoma and selection for the North Coast Section Tournament on May 18th.  PTownFan is clearing the calendar for playoff baseball as the Gauchos go for their 6th NCS Championship in 7 years.  You gotta believe.

Anyone Game?

Casa Grande is looking for a willing opponent to round out their 24 game 2009 schedule.  A couple of teams in the upcoming Adam Westcott Memorial Tournament over spring break, had to back out, leaving Casa with only two games in the tourney.  And a game short for the season.  The team is willing to play a team from any division so if you're game, or know a coach that might be, hit the reply button or email Head Coach Paul Maytorena directly at paul@21stcenturyhealthclub.com .  The Gauchos are 3-0 in SCL League play and 7-3 overall. 

Holy Ticketstubs Batman! Now, THAT is a fundraiser!

Excellent.  Got you to click ;-)

When I was in high school, we took for granted that the team would always have fields to play on, paid "staff" to make 'em pretty, new uniforms every couple of years, and plenty of decent equipment.  It never occurred to us that people might actually set fire to the equipment shed and snack bar built as a memorial to a beloved coach.  Not once, or twice.  But three times. It also never occurred to us that our coaches didn't get big fat paychecks for all the hours spent on the field or on long bus rides to distant games. Our high school coaches juggled behind-the-wheel Driver Education duties, coaching and teaching duties, but they answered to one boss. They didn't have to burn the candle at both ends to have a competitive team.

Times have changed.  Today's typical public high school coaches often do it for the love of the game.   They spend dozens of hours chasing donations for the facilities, equipment, unis, and supplies that tax dollars used to cover. Coaches and parents do the groundskeeping. Buses?  What buses?  Varsity uniforms are replaced occasionally and the Frosh and JV get the hand-me-downs.  If a coach gets a stipend, it's probably just enough to pay the babysitter or buy a burger on the way home cuz the rest of the family has already eaten.

With all sports facing these challenges, families are up to their eyeballs in spaghetti feeds, cookie dough, and other fundraisers by the end of the year. So we cooked up something a little different for Casa Grande Baseball.  A raffle with tickets that practically sell themselves.  Check it out. Or click the pic below for a better view. The most popular home electronics, gaming systems, a ZAP electric scooter and cold hard cash.  Sweet!

If you're a big-hearted fan of high school baseball or just think $15 or $25 worth of tickes is a pretty good bet on some of this great loot, let me know. I'll have a player get in touch with you. Out of towner?  No worries.  We ship!  Tickets are $15 each, 2 for $25, 5 for $50 and 11 for $100.  Then, join us at Beyond The Glory the night of the raffle for the thrill of victory.  Or take the sting out of the agony of defeat with a Glory Burger and an ice cold brew.

Pearl of The Week: Casa Grande Senior Scott Harkin Leads California In Hitting

Got to love it.  Scott is a the top of the leaderboard with his .765 batting average and .800 on base percentage.  Nice to see a NorCal player at the top of the list! Apparently Scott is out to have a career year as a senior shortstop and pitcher for the Gauchos in 2009.  Way to play Scott!  Pearlacious!

Springin' Forward CUP O' JO - March 9, 2009

Ahhh...  Daylight Savings Time, 65 degree weather,  WhodaThunkIt exciting WBC baseball in high def and TWO pros from the 707 on the MLB Home Run leader board during Spring Training.

JONNY GOMES (OF, Cincinnati Reds Organization)
Jonny got a start at 1B yesterday and had a two run homer in the 4th to break a 0-0 tie of LHP Brett Cecil. He's batting .429 with 2 home runs. At 9 RBIs, he is tied for the MLB lead with Chicago's Hoffpauir.

JASON LANE (OF, Toronto Blue Jays)

Wow.  Where have I been?  Sebastopol's Lane, a non-roster invitee with a minor league contract is having a helluva spring with the Blue Jays.  Batting .500 in 20 ABs, and leads the MLB in total bases with 20.  He had a 3-for-3 day against the Reds Saturday. Keep mashing Jason.

BRANDON MORROW (P, Seattle Mariners)

Morrow had his second start pushed back due to forearm soreness and then came down with the flu late last week.  Hopefully he's on track for a start later this week. More from the Everett Herald.

ERIC BRUNTLETT (INF, Philadelphia Phillies)
Santa Rosa's Bruntlett is batting .350 including 2 doubles in 20 ABs this spring.  Bruntlett's spot on the 25man seems solid.  Here's a bit on how Charlie Manuel plans to use him this season. 

DJ GENTILE (OF, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Mustangs)
DJ is batting .360 with a double and  3RBIs so far this season.  The team had an 8 game win streak snapped on a 8 game road trip which winds up in Berkeley for a three game series.  The Mustangs are 8-2 on the season.

SAM BANISTER (University of Arizona Wildcats Softball)
She's batting .363 with 7 doubles, 5 home runs and 20 RBIs. Sam has played in every game and is perfect defensively.  The team is 21-5 on the season after smoking St. Joseph's 20-1 yesterday to win the Hillenbrand Invitational.  They're ranked 13th.

CASA GRANDE H.S. GAUCHOS
The Gaucho Varsity season is off to a 2-1 start.  You can follow them here: http://www.casagrandebaseball.com/ .

PTown Loses A Pearl

Rich Leslie

Most Valuable Person

Friends of Rich Leslie will gather in Rohnert Park on Sunday afternoon to celebrate a long, full life and the friendship of a very generous human being.  Rich passed away on Monday afternoon, February 23, in Louisiana. He was a passionate supporter of Casa Grande High School baseball, anything, and anyone connected to the program. His late son, Bob Leslie, is the much loved coach that the Gauchos' home field is named for.  Follow this link to Rich's obituary which contains details of Sunday's service: Rich Leslie

Have A Glory Burger & Support Casa Baseball

Click the pic to enlarge it...

Catch A Foul Ball, Win A Fowl Ball?

Sometimes the most amazing things await you in the morning email. Check out this pearlacious bit of concession stand goodness. 
From BallPark Digest:

"We continue our announcements of the 2008 Ballpark Digest awards with the winners of...  Best New Food Item... We had a ... clear choice on the food front. Really, how could you go wrong with Fowl Balls, the deep-fried turkey testicles developed by the Sioux Falls Canaries (independent; American Association)? Fowl Balls are marketed by Dakota Provisions (giving the Canaries a sponsorship as well -- nice touch!), and the testicles were sold with a side of dipping sauce. Runners-up included the crab-filled pretzels from the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs (independent; Atlantic League) and Funnel Dogs from the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (Class AA; Texas League)."

Perhaps a "Catch a Foul Ball, Win a Fowl Ball" promo is in PTown's future... It occurs to me that the Willie Bird Turkey Farm is just up the road from Casa Grande High School.  The home of The Gauchos.  Jonny Gomes' Alma Matter.  Could Fowl Balls become the signature cuisine of the Gaucho Baseball Snack Shack? With Willie Birds'  "Sonoma Fresh... You'll really tast the difference." tag line, how can they go wrong?  Pity they cannot be enjoyed with a Budweiser Shooter on school property.

The 2008 Ballpark Digest Awards announcements continue through Halloween. You can bet I'll be checkin' 'em out. A big thanks to budding field reporter and Princeton Rays Team Photographer Samantha Craig for digging this up Sunday morning treat.

Rays Playoff Bubbly In Bubble Wrap One More Night

PTownJr's Back To School Night topped the priority list last night. However, I managed to follow the ebb and flow of the Rays/Twins game on my most awesome and completely indispensable iPhone. Lot's of flow early. Followed by an ugly ebb. Really, it was more of a victory sucking vortex that swallowed the Rays 8-6 lead in the 9th.

Blowing a late lead has been a mighty rare occurrence this season so let's break it down with the return of The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly.

You owe it to yourself to cue the music for this one. Just click that play button on the right:

THE GOOD:

• A five run first!
• Three long balls for Long-o.
• Pena and Navi went yard.
• Pena and Longo went yard back to back, the 8th B2B set for the Rays this year.
• Some fine defensive plays... or so I hear. The iPhone MLB dudes were pre-occupied with the highly offensive top of the 9th.
• The home debut of David Price, the 1st overall draft pick of the 2007 draft. King David went 2/3 of an inning in relief of a somewhat shaky Shields. Coming in with one out and two on, he K'd two tough lefties after giving up a 2 run single.
• Percy pitched a scoreless 8th! !!!!! !!!!! !
• The Rays could clinch a wildcard spot tonight with a win. But only if the White Sox, Jays and Yankees all lose. I hope all 18 eyeballs are on the game and not the scoreboard tonight.

THE BAD:

• A crowd of only 17,298. People! What gives out there? Are all the Back To School Nights in Florida on September 17th? I don't think so!
• Those three long balls of Longo's tied Jonny's Team Record for most home runs in a game vs. KC in July, 2005. C'mon Evan. You're a stud, but is nothing sacred? You already have my vote for Rookie of the Year without raiding the trophy case.
• The dart board Joe is using to pick the Closer Du Jour needs some grease. Or fairy dust. Or something.

THE UGLY:

• The Twins scored 5 in the top of the 9th sparked by some local kid named Span playing in front of the hometown crowd for the first time.
• Delmon Young was among those that piled on. (Remember him? The Skipper got on him for not running out an infield hit last year so he declared a sick day and got himself traded... for Bartlett and Garza. Neener neener.)
• The Twins used a slug bunt to inflict more damange. Gardenshire credited head coach Paul Maytorena of the Casa Grande High School Gauchos for that move. Thanks Paul. You got some 'splainin to do. From now on, you're limited to one copy of the playbook.

Last But Not Least:

The Pearls have become pretty Rays centric of late, but we need to send some love to Brandon Morrow. His latest outing wasn't so pretty so we won't dwell on it, but just want to send the good vibes to a good kid who has pledged more memorabilia for the silent auction at our 2008 Camp For A Cure. More news on Camp coming soon.