Jays 6, Rays 2: Notes from a sloppy loss

Posted May 22, 2012 by Roger Mooney

Updated May 22, 2012 at 12:28 AM

ROGER MOONEY
ST. PETERSBURG The dome field advantage is a distant memory now for the Rays, who followed a 10-game home winning streak with losses in six of their last eight home games.

Monday’s 6-2 loss to the visiting Blue Jays was of the sloppy variety.

The Rays committed three errors – including two in the eighth inning – and handed the Jays four unearned runs.

The Rays have committed 15 errors in their last 10 games and 38 through the first 43 games of this season. Those are the second-most in team history through 43 games since the 2007 Devil Rays committed 39.

The miscues served to undermine a solid effort by Jeremy Hellickson, who allowed two earned runs in 7 1/3 innings but lost for the first time in his past 14 regular season starts.

Here are some other tidbits from a lost night at the Trop …

—B.J. Upton hit the first Trop aided home run of his career when his fly ball to center field in the first inning was, after further review, found to have struck something hanging from the roof behind the B-ring catwalk. Upton did hit a catwalk against Josh Beckett of the Red Sox during Game 6 of the 2008 ALCAS.

—Matt Joyce has seven walks in his last six games (five starts). He had just 10 walks in his first 35 games this season.

—In last five games, Carlos Peña is 0-for-16. He is batting .116 with one home run and five RBI this month.

—Ben Zobrist has two hits in his last 16 at-bats and was caught stealing second after both hits.

—Peña was out on strikes after bunting a third pitch foul during the eighth inning. It was the third time he’s done that this season, the most on the team. The Rays have done that seven times with Elliot Johnson (2), Jose Molina and Chris Gimenez joining Peña.

That’s the most times a team has done that since the 1991 Tigers.

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Maddon: Keppinger to be out 3 to 4 weeks

Posted May 22, 2012 by Roger Mooney

Updated May 22, 2012 at 12:10 AM

ROGER MOONEY
ST. PETERSBURG Rays manager Joe Maddon said Jeff Keppinger will be out three to four weeks with a broken big toe on his right foot suffered Saturday.

Keppinger was sitting in the dugout when he was struck by a foul ball off the bat of Atlanta’s Martin Prado.

Keppinger is the 10th Ray on the disabled list, the most at any one point since the 1999 season.

The Rays acquired switch-hitting infielder Drew Sutton late Sunday night from the Pittsburgh Pirates Triple A team to replace Keppinger.

Keppinger was hitting .295 this season second base, third base and first base. In fact, Keppinger is the only one other than Carlos Peña to start at first base.

Maddon said Elliot Johnson, Sean Rodriguez, Chris Gimenez, Sutton can serve as backups for first base.

Maddon also said Luke Scott is close to being able to throw well enough to play first base.

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Looking at the Yankees, New York Times style

Posted May 21, 2012 by Bob D'Angelo

Updated May 21, 2012 at 10:42 PM

he New York Times represents the kind of writing that college English professors love — formal, exacting, grammatically perfect. Did I say formal? Sometimes, written a little too earnestly. Oh yeah, and formal.

Critics have said the Times is not lively enough and sometimes a bit too ponderous when it comes to sports writing, but it’s hard to argue against the awards the paper and its writers have earned. Six Times sportswriters have won the J.G. Taylor Spink Award and have their names among baseball’s greats at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. Three columnists — Arthur Daley (1956), Red Smith (1976) and Dave Anderson (1981) — have won Pulitzer Prizes.

The Times has covered the New York Yankees since the team transferred from Baltimore and entered the American League in 1903 as the Highlanders. Anderson has now edited a compilation of some of the biggest stories about the Yankees, as seen through the eyes of the New York Times sports staff. “The New York Times Story of the Yankees: 382 Articles, Profiles & Essays from 1902 to the Present” (Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, $29.95, hardback, 544 pages), is a sturdy chronicle of major-league baseball’s signature franchise.

And it’s not only a formal reading of the previous day’s events. There are some good, snappy lines to be found.

“Yesterday St. Louis was a dangerous menace; this morning it is merely a city on the Mississippi River,” the Times reported on Oct. 1, 1922, when the Yankees edged the St. Louis Browns to win their second AL pennant. Many of the news articles did not carry bylines before the 1930s, and only the columnists were awarded that privilege. Later, beat writers like Murray Chass, John Drebinger, Leonard Koppett and Joe Durso were awarded similar status.

But even the anonymous stories are fun to read. “The Babe attached his signature to the contract without a struggle and Colonel Jake Ruppert added his without seeming to be in any agony,” the Times reported on March 5, 1927, when Babe Ruth signed a three-year contract at $70,000 per season.

Ten years later, Ruth would be quoted about salaries, and every current major-leaguer should smile after reading it.

“I don’t think salaries will ever get to the $80,000 stage again,” Ruth said in a story published on Jan. 27, 1937.

It was Drebinger’s Oct. 1, 1932, account of Game 3 of the World Series that helped immortalize Ruth’s “called shot.”

“A single lemon rolled out to the plate as Ruth came up in the fifth and in no mistaken motions the Babe notified the crowd that the nature of his retaliation would be a wallop right out the confines of the park.”

While the New York Daily News and New York Post capitalized on the sensational to sell newspapers, the Times took a more traditional approach. Chass’ article on the Fritz Peterson-Mike Kekich wife swap in 1973 handled a sensitive subject with dignity and class, and even the headline “family exchange” was a masterstroke.

Chass also bounces one of the better lines in the book., in his July 25, 1983, report about the “pine tar” game between the Yankees and Kansas City Royals.

“Baseball games often end with home runs, but until yesterday the team that hit the home run won the game,” Chass writes. “At Yankee Stadium yesterday, the team that hit the home run lost.

“If that unusual development produced a sticky situation, blame it on pine tar.” – Murray Chass, July 25, 1983.

If you are a Yankees fan, this book will give you a balanced history of the team. The book covers some of the biggest events in the team’s history — Don Larsen’s perfect game in the World Series, Reggie Jackson’s three homers in the 1977 World Series, Roger Maris’ 61st home run, the perfect games of David Wells and David Cone, and Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak.

It’s fun — and it’s formal.

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Keppinger headed to DL, Rays acquire INF Drew Sutton

Posted May 21, 2012 by Tribune Sports

Updated May 21, 2012 at 05:19 PM

ROGER MOONEY
ST. PETERSBURG The Rays acquired INF Drew Sutton from the Pirates for a player to be named later.

The team is expected to place INF Jeff Keppinger on the disabled list with a toe injury.

Sutton was traded Sunday afternoon from the Braves Triple A team to the Pirates Triple A team. He was told Sunday night he was headed to the Rays and the major leagues.

Sutton can play all four infield positions and the outfield. He said second base is his best position.

Keppinger, who was struck on his toe by a foul ball during Saturday’s game, will be the 10th Ray to go on the disabled list.

Sutton, who turns 29 on June 30, was acquired yesterday by Pittsburgh from the Atlanta Braves, where he had spent the season playing for Gwinnett (AAA).  He hit .270 (37-for-137) with 10 doubles, two triples and a .374 on-base percentage in 38 games for Gwinnett, playing mostly third base.

Sutton has spent parts of three seasons in the major leagues with the Cincinnati Reds (2009-10), Cleveland Indians (2010) and Boston Red Sox (2011) while spending time at all four infield positions as well as left field and right field.  Over three stints with Boston in 2011, he hit .315 (17-for-51) with seven RBI, seven doubles, 11 runs scored and a .444 slugging percentage in 31 games, appearing most often at third base (eight games) and second base (seven).  He is a career .258 (41-for-159) hitter with three home runs, 24 RBI, 12 doubles and a .403 slugging percentage.

Sutton was selected out of Baylor University by the Houston Astros in the 15th round of the 2004 June Draft, the same year the Astros drafted Ben Zobrist.

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Panthers get their state title rings

Posted May 21, 2012 by Bill Ward

Updated May 21, 2012 at 11:05 AM

Members of Plant’s 2011 Class 8A state championship football team received their long-awaited title rings Saturday night. The Panthers’ ring ceremony was staged at halftime of the school’s annual Black & Gold intra-squad scrimmage at Dad’s Stadium.

Head coach Robert Weiner presented the rings by calling out all the names of the players from the squad that knocked off nationally-ranked Miramar High last season in Orlando’s Citrus Bowl.

This is the fourth championship ring the Panthers’ football program has produced in the past six seasons. Each time, Weiner has been the ring’s chief designer. The 2011 rings feature a football helmet bordered by five stones. The four black stones in the corners of the ring represent the four state championships Plant has captured since its first in 2006.

Plant defeated Ponte Vedra Beach Nease 25-21 in Miami’s Dolphins Stadium for the 2006 Class 4A state championship, Tallahassee Lincoln 34-14 in Orlando for the 2008 Class 4A state title, Manatee 21-14 in Orlando for the 2009 championship and, last December in the Citrus Bowl, Miramar 31-20.

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Vegas oddsmaker skeptical of Bucs

Posted May 21, 2012 by Ira Kaufman

Updated May 21, 2012 at 11:02 AM

BY IRA KAUFMAN

TAMPA—In his position as sports book director at the Las vegas Hotel and Casino, Jay Kornegay is paid to remain objective while establishing betting odds.

In assessing the 2012 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Kornegay recognizes some positive offseason moves, but he is stressing patience for Buc fans looking for a quick turnaround from last year’s 4-12 finish.

“They are in a tough division and have a long way to go before they are challenging for the title,’’ said Kornegay, who has posted 100-1 odds on the Bucs winning the Super Bowl next season. “Vincent Jackson and Doug Martin will definitely help out, but it’s the defense that needs attention. Tampa Bay’s rush defense was horrible and I’m not sure they really addressed this problem.’‘

Under new coach Greg Schiano, the Bucs bolstered the interior of their defensive line by adding free agent tackle Amobi Okoye.

“Historically, college head coaches haven’t fared well in the NFL,’’ Kornegay said. “There are always exceptions, but most have failed. Greg Schiano will have his hands full and I hope the Tampa Bay community has patience.’‘

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Super Regionals: USF vs. Hofstra

Posted May 20, 2012 by Joey Johnston

Updated May 20, 2012 at 11:46 PM

It’s not just the biggest moment for the University of South Florida softball program.

When the Bulls host the Hofstra Pride in this week’s best-of-three NCAA Tournament Super Regionals, it will be perhaps the most important on-campus athletic event in school history.

USF (48-11) and Hofstra (41-13) will battle for a spot in the Women’s College World Series, set for May 31 through June 6 at Oklahoma City.

The Bulls reached these heights by defeating the No. 5-seeded Florida Gators 1-0 on Sunday afternoon in Gainesville. USF was lifted by the stellar pitching of sophomore left-hander Sara Nevins, who had 12 strikeouts, including two in UF’s sixth inning, when the Gators loaded the bases with no outs.

“We might be the most together team I’ve ever coached,’’ USF coach Ken Eriksen said. “Everyone understands their roles and how we’re going to be successful.’’

It was USF’s second victory against the Gators this season. The Bulls also won in Gainesville on March 28 – and that halted a 12-game losing streak against UF. USF players were happy with the victory, but didn’t get carried away.

“It’s a nice win, but it’s just another win,’’ said USF sophomore first baseman Stephanie Medina, whose double set up the game’s only run. We’re going to keep playing hard and keep on winning.’’

Gators coach Tim Walton said Nevins, one of 10 finalists for the USA Softball Collegiate National Player of the Year, was the difference.

“She throws hard, she has a good mix of pitches, she’s left-handed, she’s tall and she changes speeds enough,’’ Walton said. “But the one thing that you can tell is that the ball she throws is heavy. It’s very hard to elevate, very hard to lift, very hard to spin.’’

The Bulls had hoped to host an NCAA Regional at their home stadium, which opened last season. When USF went 7-6 down the stretch, just after a school-record 19-game winning streak, those possibilities were diminished.

But now USF has earned a homecoming that few observers predicted.

“It’s just another feather in the cap of the University of South Florida,’’ Eriksen said. “We just have to get back to taking care of business.’’

USF-Hofstra is the only NCAA Super Regional not to have a team seeded in the tournament’s top 16.

There are five Pac-12 teams remaining, along four from the SEC.

Of the five Big East squads that made the NCAA Tournament’s 64-team field, only one is left – the USF Bulls.
 
NCAA Super Regionals (best-of-three)

No. 1 California (54-5) vs. No. 16 Washington (39-17)

No. 9 Missouri (46-12) vs. LSU (37-22)

Hofstra (41-13) vs. USF (48-11)

No. 4 Oklahoma (48-8) vs. No. 13 Arizona (38-17)

No. 3 Arizona State (49-8) vs. No. 14 Louisiana-Lafayette (52-4)

No. 6 Texas (46-11) vs. No. 11 Oregon (42-15)

No. 7 Tennessee (50-11) vs. No. 10 Georgia (44-15)

No. 2 Alabama (52-7) vs. Michigan (42-15)
 

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Braves@Rays: The Notables

Posted May 20, 2012 by Joey Johnston

Updated May 20, 2012 at 07:53 PM

ST. PETERSBURG – One pitch.

That’s the only thing Rays LHP David Price would change from Sunday’s 2-0 loss against the Atlanta Braves at Tropicana Field.

Price (6-3, 2.88 ERA) served up a second-inning solo home run to Braves catcher David Ross. Other than that, Price was tremendous.

For the sixth time in nine starts, Price allowed two runs or fewer. For the first time this season, he received zero runs of support. He has worked seven innings or more in each of his last four starts.

“What a great performance,’’ Rays 1B Carlos Pena said.

“He battled and he used all of his pitches effectively,’’ Rays manager Joe Maddon said.

Price, who was trying to become this season’s first seven-game winner, was philosophical in assessing the defeat.

“For the most part, we were (pitching) down, threw some stuff over the plate with some movement,’’ Price said. “We threw the ball well. We had a chance to win.’’

Tweet success for Hellickson

Rays RHP Jeremy Hellickson (4-0, 2.77 ERA), who starts at home tonight against the Toronto Blue Jays, said he’s very content with the season thus far.

“I really like where I’m at,’’ Hellickson said. “The fastball command is better than it has been, since I can remember anyway. The curveball is coming along pretty good. I’ve just got to get ahead of guys and throw strikes. I’ve been doing that lately.’’

Hellickson’s biggest change is he’s now on Twitter—@jhell58 – at Price’s urging. It would seem an excellent forum for a soft-spoken pitcher who generally expresses himself in 140-word (or less) characters.

“I’m still learning how to tweet – period,’’ Hellickson said. “It’s kind of fast and hard to keep up with. I still have no idea (what it’s all about).’’ 

S-Rod on the move

Rays 3B Sean Rodriguez made another outstanding defensive play – actually, they have become routinely outstanding for him – when he dove across the third-base line for a backhand stop, then a perfectly rifled one-hop throw to Pena. It robbed Ross of a fifth-inning hit.

Maddon might be more impressed with Rodriguez’s offense. Rodriguez is batting .306 (19-for-62) with seven extra-base hits since May 1, the day Evan Longoria was placed on the 15-day disabled list. Rodriguez has hit safely in his last 15 starts, the longest such streak of his career.

“He’s just good, very athletic,’’ Maddon said. “It looked like (Ross’ ball) was beyond him, but what Sean does never surprises me. The difference is he’s having much better at-bats. He’s playing at a very high level.’’

Noteworthy

Rays CF B.J. Upton, who threw out Atlanta’s Martin Prado at second base while trying to leg out a double, has 44 assists since 2007, more than any other CF. … The Rays, who were shut out 15 times in 2011, were held scoreless for the first time this season. … Atlanta has won four straight interleague series against the Rays and seven of eight series overall against Tampa Bay. … Retiring Braves INF Chipper Jones, who missed his second straight game after suffering a calf injury Friday night, was saluted in a video tribute following the first inning. Fans gave a standing ovation to Jones, who emerged from the dugout and tipped his cap. … Rays LF Desmond Jennings, due to return on May 27, and Longoria, who hopes to be back in June, took some batting practice in the cage and looked good. … Braves RHP Tim Hudson, who once played for the Oakland Athletics, is 8-1 career against the Rays. … The Rays are 119-134 all-time in interleague play, but 63-48 under Maddon.

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Braves blank Rays, 2-0

Posted May 20, 2012 by Joey Johnston

Updated May 20, 2012 at 04:16 PM

ST. PETERSBURG – The Tampa Bay Rays had precious few opportunities on Sunday afternoon, but squandered them all in a 2-0 loss against the Atlanta Braves before 24,579 fans at Tropicana Field.

Atlanta right-hander Tim Hudson (3-1) kept the Rays off-balance all afternoon, surrendering just four hits in 7 2/3 innings. Rays left-hander David Price (6-3), bidding to become the first seven-game winner in the major leagues this season, allowed six hits and had seven strikeouts in seven innings.

The Rays, who were shut out 15 times in 2011, were held scoreless for the first time this season.

Carlos Pena figured heavily in two key moments.

In the sixth inning, with the bases loaded and two outs, Pena slammed a drive that was flagged down by Atlanta’s Michael Bourn at the edge of the center-field warning track.

In the eighth, B.J. Upton collected a two-out infield single to chase Hudson. Left-handed reliever Jonny Venters promptly hit Matt Joyce and Pena, loading the bases. Designated hitter Luke Scott, with an 0-2 count, hit what looked to be an RBI single to the right side. But it hit Pena’s leg as he ran in the basepaths, making for an automatic out (Scott was credited with a single).

Braves right-hander Craig Kimbrel worked a scoreless ninth inning for the save.

Atlanta scored on David Ross’ solo home run in the second inning, then Jason Heyward collected an RBI single in the sixth.

The Rays begin a three-game home series against the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night. Right-hander Jeremy Hellickson (4-0) is Tampa Bay’s scheduled starter.
 

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UPDATED: Brandon state baseball final moved to 4:50 p.m.

Posted May 20, 2012 by Rick Harmon

Updated May 20, 2012 at 04:16 PM

After an afternoon rain shower, the starting time for the Class 7A state baseball championship game between Brandon and Venice has been moved to 4:50 p.m. at Digital Domain Park in Port St. Lucie.

Click here to join Tribune prep writer Rick Harmon in a live chat from the stadium.

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