Canzler Crushes One; Hobbs Strikes Out Whammer

Game 58, June 7, Coca-Cola Park, Allentown, PA
Durham Bulls (Rays) 9, Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs (Phillies) 1
Season: 32-26; Trip: 1-0
Wrap, Box, The Morning Call (Allentown, PA), Bacon and Biscuits

Russ Canzler's grand slam in the very first inning set the stage last night for a much more Durham Bulls-like game than we've seen in recent days. Good hitting (13 hits) and good pitching (0 earned runs) made it an all-around great game.

Every Bull in the lineup except Chris Carter got at least one hit. A bit of a puzzle why Dan Johnson is getting so many walks. Guess it's just his reputation. He drew three of them last night (and scored three of the Bulls' runs).

Brian Baker has emerged as our only reliable starter (unless and until Alex Cobb comes back). He's won five of his last six starts. His ERA is still up there (4.80), but that has a lot to do with a three-inning, nine-run disaster against Louisville last month.

Former Bull Jeff Neimann is scheduled to start tonight. Too bad we're going to miss that. He is supposed to get at least two rehab starts before going back to the Rays, so maybe we'll see him on the mound against Norfolk this weekend. No word on his pitch count limitation, but if it isn't too low, it could be good news for the Bulls starters.

Marc Topkin is reporting that Elliot Johnson is going to get in a couple of rehab games with the Bulls. Elliot hurt his knee running the bases a couple of weeks ago. Topkin says Thursday and Friday. If so, that means we won't get to see him (and he won't get to spend a day at his home in Durham).

Alex Cobb got his first big league win last night against the Angels. Congrats to him. Still likely he'll be coming back after Niemann comes off the DL. Hope so.

MiLB.com has a nice article on Desmond Jennings. He's having a good year. Guessing he won't be with us much beyond the All-Star break, if until then.

About the headline —

Careful readers will recall a discussion regarding the music from The Natural early last month. Yesterday I sent in a query/comment to the Bulls regarding that music clip and discovered that up in the booth at the DBAP there is an even more serious baseball movie trivia geek than myself. I got a very nice note back pointing out that early in the film the Robert Redford character, Roy Hobbs, is a pitcher and he goes up against Whammer. Just as Redford is winding up for the third strike, guess what? Or, take a look/listen for yourself about 3 minutes into the clip here. 

So I regretfully have to concede that it is appropriate to play the music from that clip when the Bulls need a strikeout. In our (that would be my and Chris D's) defense, one has to admit that the clip is very similar to the music about 4 minutes into this clip. 

Did I waste a whole lot of time on that bit of trivia? You bet—and I'll never get it back. But I did get to watch some great movie clips.

Gonzalez Released; Cormier Signed

St Petersburg Times' Marc Topkin and MLB.com are reporting that Edgar Gonzalez has been released and former Tampa Bay Rays reliever Lance Cormier has been signed to a minor league contract with assignment to the Durham Bulls.

Gonzalez' departure just shows the world, or the minuscule portion of it that reads this blog, that I really can call them, or maybe not. I sat at the same table with Gonzalez at the pre-season luncheon and he came across to me as a heck of a nice guy. Unfortunately, particularly in the last couple of weeks—and especially today—he was not producing. Wish him well.

Thirty year old Cormier's last time in Triple-A was a few appearances with Norfolk back in 2008. He's essentially been a major leaguer since 2004. He started the year with the Dodgers, but wasn't doing so well. I'd guess the Rays would like to have him available and we'll be seeing him in the bullpen soon. Can expect the Rays bloggers to have a bunch of opinions and further background based on his years with Rays. He was the mysterious #6 throwing in the bullpen today.

Awful, Just Awful

Game 57, June 6, DBAP

Pawtucket Red Sox 11, Durham Bulls 3

Season: 31-26; Home Stand: 4-4

Wrap, Box

These guys had a good view of the park, but you have to wonder if they really would want to see what was going on down there. After Edgar Gonzalez gave up a single, a walk, and a run-scoring double to start the game a conference of manager, umpires, and groundskeepers was called.

After a bit of meditation, digging, scooping, raking, etc. Gonzalez got back up on the mound and gave up two more runs. But wait, there's more! In the second inning a single, a double, a sac fly, and a ground rule double for two more. We do get to the 5th, wondering why Gonzalez is still in there, when single, walk, walk, single puts two more across. 

Although Gonzalez leaves the game, it really doesn't get any better. Maybe I put a hex on Edgar this morning by praising him. Or maybe it was the national TV exposure. But it really was not pretty. In fact, just about all of this Pawtucket visit was not pretty.

At least they did not play in those ugly blue jerseys the last three days. 

Rather than the ugly game, lets get to some questions. I need some help here.

Does anyone know what happened to Brandon Gomes? The transaction page says he was assigned to Durham on May 31, but I haven't seen him.

Unless he was the mysterious unnamed #6 warming up today. Which is my second question. Who was #6?

And then there's an item on the Rays transactions page that mentions signing a RHP named Jim Paduch. There's a pitcher down in Montgomery of the same name, but why would he show up on a Rays' transaction roster? And is he the mysterious #6? 


Update: It looks like the mysterious #6 was Lance Cormier, recently signed by the Rays and assigned to Durham. See next post.

Walking, But Not Running

Game 56, June 5, DBAP
Durham Bulls 4, Pawtucket Red Sox 3
Season: 31-25; Home Stand: 4-3
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

In spite of an epidemic of walks from 3 out of 4 of Durham pitchers — 6 in 4 2/3 innings from Torres, 3 in 1 2/3 innings from Reid, and 1 in 2 from McGee, for a season-high 10 free rides — the Bulls stayed in the game through 9 innings. In the bottom of the 9th Ray Olmedo won the game with chip shot to right and the bases loaded.

In the spirit of full disclosure I will admit that I watched the game from my living room in high comfort and high definition that gave me a different view. It was sort of a warts and all closeup look I don't usually get. It left me wondering about the bandage on Chris Carter's chin, but we'll probably never know the answer. It also gave me a closer look at the full panoply of Alex Torres' mannerisms. They ain't pretty, particularly as they stretch out over several innings. In a short reliever you expect that sort of thing — last year's Winston Abreu comes to mind. But it gets old after a while. Then there's the fact that Mr. Torres simply isn't doing well. As you will see, as a group our starters leave something to be desired in recent games, so he isn't alone. But he is just about the least effective of the bunch.

On the other hand, it seemed that at the end of just about every inning there were a bunch of Pawsox on base. And just about every inning ending with a flyout or ground out. My thanks to the defense. You kept the Bulls in the game.

Today wraps up the Red Sox' only visit to Durham this year. This team has a lot of talent on it, even without the rehabbing major leaguers who've been giving the Bulls so much trouble. I'm not quite sure why they're in third place in the North Division. They seem to be a better team than that.

My favorite 2011 Durham Bull starting pitcher, Edgar Gonzalez is on the mound for today's. It begins at 12:05 and is on national TV. Should be fun.

Today's Chart — ERAs

The last time we looked, May 24, overall ERA was on the rise and the starters and relievers were neck and neck. Since that moment the overall ERA has improved slightly and the Bulls have won 7 and lost 4 games. The striking change is the terrific performance of the Bulls relievers compared to the starting crew. Remember, however, that Alex Cobb is gone. He likely would have made at least two starts during this stretch.

Bulls On National Televison

Monday, Jun 6, 12:05, MLBTV

Durham Bulls Vs. Pawtucket Red Sox

Game 4, Sox lead 2 games to 1

Let's Play Game Three

Game 55, Jun 4, DBAP
Pawtucket Red Sox 7, Durham Bulls 1
Season: 30-25; Last 10: 6-4; Home Stand: 3-3
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, Indy Week

Well, obviously I really don't have much to say about last night. We really didn't need a fan up our way given the breeze we were getting from Bulls' bats (12 strikeouts). Unlike Friday night, this time we didn't even get many runners on base.

Other than his hitting a very important home run for the Sox, it was nice to see Darnell McDonald back in the park. Even though 2006 had its dark moments, Darnell and Joey Gathright and even B. J. Upton provided some thrills for us. Darnell went on to get some Triple A and Major League time with Twins and Reds, finally sticking with the Red Sox last year. Wish him well. Just hope he doesn't get any more at bats during this series.

Let's just take a look at how the Bulls are doing in the South Division, and then get ready for today's game.

Today's Chart

Although the Bulls have been erratic over the last couple of weeks, the rest of the South Division has not been catching up. The Bulls are three games ahead of Gwinnett and no one seems to be on a winning trend. Maybe the Bulls can start one tonight.

Thinking About Third Base

Game 54, June 3, Durham Bulls Athletic Park
Pawtucket Red Sox (Boston) 6, Durham Bulls (Tampa Bay) 3
Season: 30-24; Last 10: 6-4; Home Stand: 3-2
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

What about Russ Canzler? At the moment he is the Bulls best hitter with a stellar wOBA of .415 and he is the Bulls worst fielder with 7 errors at third and 3 at first base. Last night his bobble of a grounder from the Pawsox's first batter got things off to a bad start, but it certainly wasn't the only problem that the Bulls had over the game. This is Canzler's first year in Triple-A. His career stats don't show him spending much time at third until last year. And last year his fielding percentage was worse than this year (.878 vs. .968).

To sit back and get some perspective, however, we Bulls fans put up with Joel Guzman at third base for over a year and B.J. Upton at shortstop for a couple of eternities. Russ Canzler is a better hitter (so far) than either, and a better third baseman than B.J. was a shortstop. OK, last night was painful, but let's cut him some slack.

In the meantime, I'm not sure about young Mr. Beunte. He's new to the Bulls, but he sure wasn't tearing it up last night. The rough start was not his fault, but let's hope for better performance over time.

Have to give Pawtucket's Andrew Miller some credit. Even though the Bulls outhit the Sox 10-7, he didn't let the Bulls put runs across.

Not only is Dirk Hayhurst back in town, he's starting tonight. Look forward to seeing him.

Fans get some modest say in choosing the Triple-A All-Star team (although, unless things have changed, we never find out how we voted). See the press release on how the voting works.

As mentioned earlier, Rays bloggers are not happy with their catching situation. Here's a recent comment from Rays Index. Why should we care? If the Rays front office agrees and doesn't find a catcher somewhere else (which is what they've done in the past), Lobaton or Chirinos could be given a tryout.