Game 1: The Rays put up 5 in the 1st inning on their way to yet another win, 11-5 over the Angels in the first of a 4-game series at Publix Park. Josh Beckett, Seth Williams, Mike Willis and Doug Johns each drove in a pair to pace the attack while Brad Jackson kept on rollin' with a 6.1 5 4 4 2 7 outing (with the last two runs allowed to score by Jon Harbour) and improved to 9-3, 3.79.
Some monthly awards:
Game 2: Jose Mendoza was brilliant and the bats did their usual thing in a 9-1 romp over the Angels to make it 10 straight wins and 25 in their last 26. The lefty went 7 4 1 1 1 10 to improve to 10-2, 2.59. Jon Callahan was in the lineup to give Seth Williams a rest and did his best Williams impersonation by going 3-3 with a pair of solo homers (#3 & 4) and an RBI double, Josh Alexander was 3-5 with 2 RBI and Doug Johns was 2-5 with a double and 3 knocked in.
Game 3: The Rays romped again 9-4 over the Angels thanks to a 5-run 5th, but the win proved costly in terms of injuries. Jon Callahan followed up his 3-3, 2-HR performance of yesterday by going 3-3 with a double and 4 RBI while spelling Dave Frick, but his red-hot run - and his season - was cut short when he broke a kneecap going into 3rd after that double. Andy Ruggles was 2-5 with 2 RBI and Mike Willis went 3-4 with 3 runs scored. Jeff Brockman did his usual short & mediocre thing today going 5 6 3 3 1 6 but it was good enough to go 9-3, 4.53; however Dan Anderson in relief sprained his ankle bad enough to be out 7-8 weeks to join Callahan on the shelf.
July 3: Placed IF Jon Callahan on the 60-day IL with a broken kneecap; placed P Dan Anderson on the 10-day IL with an ankle sprain, purchased the contract of IF/OF Jeff Googins from AA Montgomery and recalled P Alex Stephens from AAA Durham.
The news here is the recall of Googins, acquired along with C Tony Cordova in the deal which sent Daniel Vazquez to Colorado a few years ago. The former #1 pick of the Rockies has bounced between Durham and Montgomery this year and has good power (9 HR in 84 AB at Montgomery), good speed and is an average-to-plus defender at 2B,SS,3B,LF and CF, making him a Ben Zobrist/Dane Ayers-type. The catch though is that Googins has difficulty making contact and is a career .215 hitter in the minors. Still he should man the infield positions as a guy with pop off the bench who can also pinch-run when needed. As for the pitching end of things, Stephens is a stop-gap for a few days as I've decided to recall Joel Gird and put him into the rotation, moving Vinny Willard to the bullpen where hopefully he can replicate Anderson's 6th-7th-inning effective righty role.
Game 4: The Rays looked headed to their 12th straight win and 27 in 28 after they went up 5-2 after 5 against the Angels in the series finale at Publix Park, but an LA 5-spot in the 6th turned the game around and they suffered a rare loss 8-6. Two of those five early runs came on a 441-foot blast from Jeff Googins, in his 2nd career at-bat as he made his MLB debut and lost his first hit in the stands. The homer came off former Ray Joe Trader, and Josh Beckett also knocked in a couple of runs off him. But Johnny Soland, who looked good through 5, couldn't get anyone out in the 6th and then Ken Burgess poured gasoline on the fire, giving up a 2-run homer to cap the inning after wild-pitching in a run. Soland dropped to 11-3, 4.06 after finishing 5 7 6 6 2 2.
Team record: 73-16. Next up: We spend the July 4 weekend at venerable Wrigley Field for 3 against the Cubs, can't get much more American than that.