Chicago Socks Rays for a Loss

White Sox 5, Rays 1   As I was leaving the ballpark, a Rays staffer let me know about the team’s roster decision after the game. Rays super sub infielder Ben Zorbrist was optioned to Triple-A Durham, and the Rays called up Reliever/Closer Grant Balfour for tomnorrow night’s game. This is kind of curious, because Balfour has no more options, and if he  is designated  again for assignment, we might lose him for good this time. Balfour will be bringing his Triple -A stats with him. He was 1-0 with a 0.38 ERA in 15 games for the Bulls. Balfour also saved 8 games and has 38 strikeouts in 23.2 innings this year ************************************************************* Trivia Fact of the Night: During the excavation for the building of Orioles Park at Camden Yards, the remains of a saloon were discovered. It turns out that Babe Ruth’s father had owned the place. *************************************************************                                        The Good,The Bad,and The Ugly                                                                            The Good Carl Crawford  hit a single to right that scored Wily Aybar in the 3rd of the game for the Rays. It was the lone Tampa Bay scoring play of the night. Aybar had doubled to get into position for the run. Carl now has 30 RBI’s for the year, and is hitting .274 for the Rays.                    *** Rays starter Edwin Jackson (3-4) took the loss tonight, but it was for lack of pitching effort. Jackson threw 101 pitches over 6 innings. The Sox got 4-runs off 10 hits and Jackson struck out 4 batters. The reason he is listed as a “good guy” is that his pitching loss is for lack of team production, not for lack of pitching. Jacskon did miss the catchers’ mitt a bit tonight He hung a few sliders and a odd looking curve, but he was consistant in his pitches  and just made a mistake to Joe Crede, which resulted in a homer for the Sox.   ** Wily Aybar was inserted in the lineup tonight at DH. Aybar was activated off the DL yesterday after the injury to Troy Percival. Aybar produced a great double in the third  and scored the only run for the rays tonight. Aybar is hitting  .286 for the season.   * Jason Bartlett was racing around the bases tonight like a man possessed. He did his part by getting into scoring position three times tonight and was stranded each time. In the 5th inning, Bartlett had an infield single and proceeded to steal second and third before B J Upton struck out to end the inning. In the 7th inning, Bartlett got a double on a throwing error by White Sox third baseman Joe Crede, and again stole third. He was stranded there by an Iwamura strikeout and Crawford;s ground out to the shortstop.                                                               The Bad         The Rays’ Carl Crawford had a bit of a time tonight in leftfield. The White Sox were hitting the ball so hard it took him out of position a few times  and the ball fell to the turf. Carl made a few lunges at dying balls that he could not bring into his glove. The Rays offense stranded  9 on base tonight, 6 with two uts in the inning. Among those were 4 men stranded on third that could have produced at least a tie in the ballgame if the team executed in the game. That word, “executed” is a powerful word in this years’ club. Execution is going to be paramount the entire season. And the only reason we lost this game tonight was on execution. Former Tampa Bay Bucs coach John McKay was once asked, “What do you think of your team’s execution?” McKay without missing a beat  came back with, “I am all for it.”    Execution wins tight ballgames.                                                                                              The Ugly Sometimes a team has a opposing pitcher that just seems to have an edge on the  club. He seems to get the outs when he needs them, or gets out of  jams without  alot of effort. John Danks of the Chicago White Sox seems to be  that thorn in the Rays side.  This is the second time this season both Jackson and Danks have squared off, and Danks has been the victor both times this season. Tonight Danks got 8 strikeout in 6 innings against the Rays. The only two Rays to have any success so far against Danks is B J Upton and  Dioner Navarro, both going 2-6 against him. Danks is 2-0 at the Trop with an ERA of 3.0 against the Rays.   ************************************************************ I was checking out Grant Balfour’s Durham Bulls’ stats, when I spyed a few ex-Rays that are pitching in the International League. Here are the guys I found still going to the mound for other teams in the International League: Casey Fossum        Toledo Mudhens           3-0                   1.96 ERA Esteban Yan           Norfolk Tides               1-2                   5.32 ERA Jon Switzer           Pawtucket Red Sox       2-0                   5.00 ERA Rob Bell               Charlotte Knights         1-5                    7.68 ERA Damian Moss       Richmond Braves          1-4                   4.72 ERA Ken Mercker        Louisville Bats              0-1                    5.40 ERA