Split, Bulls Hit the Road

Season: 9-9; Home Stand: 5-2
Wrap, Box 1, Box 2

A 5-2 home stand is a very good showing. Especially since we have to say that the weather was not good for baseball the entire time.

Alex Colome’s start in game 1 was very, very nice. Unlike some rehab experiences we’ve had over the years, this was a good one for the Bulls. Since the Bulls are off to Pennsylvania, my guess is that if Colome gets another rehab start before going back into the Rays rotation, it won’t be with the Bulls.

Meanwhile, Alexi Casilla had a terrific game with 3 hits (two doubles) and 2 RBI in the 7-inning game. The two that he got across with his double in the 6th turned out to be game winners. The other two RBI were from, who else, Mikie Mahtook. He’s having quite a year.

Have to mention Gwinnett’s young pitcher (at least I don’t have to try to guess how to pronounce his name), Mike Foltynewicz. He took the loss, but a guy who routinely chunks 97 mph fastballs is going to get some big league time. And he’s fun to watch.

Old-time Bulls fans would recognize the kind of shuffle in the lineup for the second game. We saw Vince Belnome, who has started at 1B almost every, if not all, games this season, playing third. Leonard Reginatto, who had played 3B since come up, was moved to 2B. J.P. Arencibia was at first. Taylor Motter (who is not having a very good year so far was in right.

Meanwhile, the one pitcher we Bulls fans would have chosen to come in the game in relief, had an awful night. Kirby Yates gave up three runs in just 2/3 of an inning and took the loss. All reports had been that the only reason Mr. Yates was back with the Bulls had to do with the Rays roster shuffling and his option status. I hope that’s the case. He’s only had three outings with the Bulls and, except for yesterday, he’s done well.

Not much to say about Bulls bats in the second game.

Outside the game —

• The Bulls are off for their first games outside the division. They start with the Phillies affiliate, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, for four games, then over to Pawtucket, Rhode Island for three games with the Red Sox AAA team. 
• The ‘Pigs are off to a rough start at 5-13. They are followed by one of the rare fan blogs in minor league baseball. Kram has just put up his assessment of the pitching staff.
• A couple of places (e.g., here) are reporting that Alan Dykstra is on his way back to the Bulls. Guess we’ll have to see how that plays out. My initial report didn't not mention that he'd been designated for assignment which meant that might have been claimed by another team.

House of Durham Victorious!

Wool E. Bulls Arrives (check video board behind him)

Season: 7-8; Home Stand: 3-1
Wrap, Box

Wool E. Bull rode in on a horse and everyone had a great time to the sound of Game of Thrones music. A terrific GoT-themed video (see below) played a couple of times and every ballplayer was given a GoT-themed image for his at-bat. Good idea, hope the auction went well.

Meanwhile there was a lot to like and a lot that was worrisome about the game. Likes included Scott Diamond’s start and Andrew Bellatti’s first appearance as a reliever (he’s had two starts so far this year). I’m just guessing, but possibly Alex Colome’s rehab start allowed the Bulls to move Bellatti into the role he was hired for.

Likes also included a walk, two singles, a RBI, and decent 3B play by Leonardo Reginatto in his first AAA game; a breakout game at bat by Curt Casali with 3 singles, a walk and an RBI (more about that RBI later); and a home run by Alexi Casilla.

Worrisome aspects were the 14 men left on base; yet more errors leading to unearned runs; DH J.P. Arencibia’s 4 K’s; and the fact that only one of the first 24 batters got the ball out of the infield.

But we would not be doing our job if we didn’t point out the oddity of the game that led to the first Bulls score. Vince Belnome got to first base when Charlotte pitcher Erik Johnson botched a routine toss to 1B. He moved to 2B on a walk handed out to Joey Butler. After J.P. Arencibia K’d for the second out, Johnson got to a 3-2 count on Curt Casali. So the runners were going. Groans from our part of the stands as he hit a sky-high popup over the middle of the infield. Suddenly we were visited by a flashback to our little league days as the ball landed in the dead center of the pitcher’s mound with the pitcher, shortstop and first baseman all staring at as it rolled off. Meanwhile Belnome trotted on home.

Rosterization —

• Mikie Mahtook called up to the Rays (sigh). Bulls are one short at the moment. He did not play last night. The Rays have twelve players on some sort of disabled list, but that doesn’t count the four on the Bulls roster also on a disabled list. At least I don’t think it does.

Outside the Game —

• My blogging colleague over at Noise Nation (KramsKorner) who follows the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Phillies), has put up a cautionary post I commend to all of you. Fortunately, no one reading this blog is likely to need the caution. None of us ever turn our backs to the game when someone’s at bat, do we?

Meanwhile, here’s the very cool Game of Thrones video that won’t mean a thing if you’ve never seen the show, but nice music anyhow.

Education Day Win

Season: 6-7; Home Stand: 2-0
Wrap, Box

If you have never been to an “Education Day” at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, then you have missed an experience. Just imagine the park seething with thousands of youngsters (mostly middle schoolers, I think). No chance of getting to a concession stand, so bring your own snacks. Most of the children seem to be moving in colorful packs through the concourse. And they can be LOUD. But it’s fun. However, as an indication of their interest in baseball, they were collecting autographs from the peanut guy, who was able to get his call and response thing going late in the game. The next, and only other, Education Day is May 7th, against Buffalo. Check it out.

The baseball was fun as well. Alex Colome, who spent most of the last two years with the Durham Bulls, is with the team on a rehab assignment. Not sure for how long. He’s recovering from a bout of pneumonia and is on a limited pitch count. Today it was reportedly 75 pitches and he left the game at 77 pitches.

How did he do? Just OK. Plenty of velocity and a slowish curve ball that I don’t recall seeing last year. Odd collection of hits (4), walks (3), and strikeouts (6) over his 3⅓ innings. Did not hear how much longer he will be with the Bulls.

Meanwhile Joey Butler and new guy J.P. Arencibia were having fun at bat. Butler tripled and scored two runs. Arencibia had a timely sacrifice fly and a late inning RBI single. A home run from leadoff man Eugenio Velez was a pretty thing to watch.

Speaking of watching, Mikie Mahtook firmly established his credentials as a center fielder. Chasing down a fly ball in the 5th he crashed into the wall, and broke it, knocking one of the padded panels out. Game was delayed for several minutes while the ground crew went out to fix the panel. Then in the 7th he timed a catch and throw perfectly, making it an easy out on the runner trying to move from second to third.

Outside the game —

• For all the stats geeks out there: Jeremy Dowdy, the Charlotte Knights catcher, was playing in his first game at the Triple A level. In four plate appearances he had two singles and two walks. What’s his OPS? 

The Durham Bulls in 2014 — The Pitchers — Part 1

Twenty-six different players pitched for the Bulls this year, but when it comes to looking back I left off four of them: Erik Bedard pitched in just one game; Mayo Acosta, a catcher, pitched in 2 lost causes; infielder Robby Price in one lost cause; and reliever Bryce Stowell came up from Montgomery for two innings in the last game of the season.

This table is sorted by innings pitched, and that’s the sequence in which we’ll discuss this year’s pitchers. However, in Part 2 we’ll have tables sorted by ERA and WHIP. Players on the Rays 40-man roster are marked with an asterisk (*). Data are from BaseballReference.com, FanGraphs, and WDBB spreadsheets.

Durham Bulls Pitchers in 2014 Sorted by Innings Pitched

Name	Age	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	WHIP
Matt Andriese	24	11	8	3.77	28	25	0	162.1	1.24
Nathan Karns*	26	9	9	5.08	27	27	0	145.1	1.40
Mike Montgomery*	24	10	5	4.29	25	25	0	126.0	1.31
Enny Romero*	23	5	11	4.50	25	25	0	126.0	1.43
Merrill Kelly	25	9	4	2.76	28	15	0	114.0	1.26
Alex Colome*	25	7	6	3.77	15	15	0	86.0	1.33
Doug Mathis	31	2	3	3.63	26	3	0	67.0	1.64
Adam Liberatore	27	6	1	1.66	54	0	4	65.0	0.89
C.J. Riefenhauser*	24	3	3	1.40	39	0	1	57.2	1.14
Steve Geltz*	26	3	3	2.38	29	0	1	41.2	1.06
Josh Lueke	29	0	1	3.38	32	0	12	37.1	1.10
Brandon Gomes*	29	0	2	3.62	27	0	0	37.1	1.29
Jeff Beliveau*	27	0	0	1.50	30	0	11	36.0	0.92
Jake Thompson	24	4	1	3.15	24	1	0	34.1	1.54
Juan Sandoval	33	0	1	3.12	14	1	1	26.0	1.35
Kirby Yates*	27	1	0	0.36	21	0	16	25.0	0.76
Jeremy Hellickson*	27	1	4	7.23	5	5	0	18.2	2.30
Cory Burns*	26	2	2	2.77	7	0	1	13.0	1.54
Braulio Lara	25	0	3	9.00	9	0	0	11.0	1.73
Jimmy Patterson	25	1	1	2.70	5	1	0	10.0	1.30
Brad Boxberger*	26	1	0	1.93	6	0	2	9.1	0.86
Juan Carlos Oviedo*	32	0	0	3.86	7	0	0	7.0	0.86

Matt Adriese (Right Handed Starting Pitcher) (162.1 innings, 28 games) was the best of a not particularly distinguished starting crew this year. Before the season started I was tipped that he might be the best arm of the bunch, and that’s the way it turned out for 2014. He had the most wins and the best ERA of the regular starters of 3.77; however, that ERA ranked 15th among all the pitchers. His WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched) of 1.24 was a respectable 9th. He also led the team in home runs (18) and hit batsmen (8). The only regular starter not on the Rays 40-man, there’s a good chance he’ll be back. He induces a lot of ground balls which makes his games fun to watch. He also got two of the four postseason wins. Stats.

Nathan Karns* (RHSP)(145.1 innings, 27 games) did not have a good year as a Bull. He was one of those players for whom what the fans see is not what the big club sees. We fans saw an awful ERA of 5.08, a WHIP of 1.40, and a string of losses at the end of the season. But we have to note that he had 153 Ks, an amazing number, and he tied for the most Ks in the entire International League. (I have to point out that he also led team in walks at 62.) The Rays called him up in September where he got two starts, one very good and one not-so-good. Likely to be back next year for more development. Stats.

Mike Montgomery* (LHSP) (126 innings, 25 games) was to be this year's ace and he came out of the gate with 8 wins and no losses in his first 15 games, including 8.1 no-hit innings on 26 April. But there was a long stretch between his 8th win on 25 May and his 9th win on 10 July and his next 7 starts were either losses or no-decisions. He did finish out on an up note with an end-of-season win on 28 August, but he was the back of the rotation for the post-season, getting in 6 pretty good innings in the 4th game, 13 inning loss. If it can be figured out what happened to him in the second half of the season then maybe next year will be his breakout. Stats.

Enny Romero* (RHSP) (126 innings, 25 games) is another statistical mess that leaves you puzzled, but for him there’s an answer — not an answer that Bulls fans would appreciate, but an answer nevertheless. He’s a left-handed reliever in training. The 23 year-old only managed 5 wins in 25 starts, carried a poor ERA and a WHIP of 1.43. So why is he around? Because he routinely hits 95+ with his fastball and he’s left-handed. My guess is that the Rays will keep on stretching him out until they think he’s ready to come up as a reliever. And we have to admit that he’s fun to watch. Sure would not want to be his catcher, though. Stats.

Merrill Kelly (RHSP/RP) (114 innings, 28 appearances) was Charlie Montoyo’s go-to guy for long relief and a starter when needed. He had 15 starts, 13 relief appearances, and uncounted calls to warm up. He has the only decent ERA among the starting crew of 2.76, has a good WHIP of 1.26, and is an all-around solid performer. No reason for him not to be back next year and keeping on working towards his shot at the majors. Stats.

Alex Colome* (RHSP) (86 innings, 15 games) joined after the beginning of the season because of a 50-game drug suspension. He won three out of his first four games before putting himself into a statistical hole he had trouble getting out of before the end of the season. That was from a game in late June where he gave up 9 runs before getting the first 4 outs. Here’s the real oddity: after that game he got called up for a spot appearance with the Rays (5.2 innings and he got the win). He was erratic throughout the rest of the season, which leads us to think that he was being coached to work on specific aspects of his game. Decent overall numbers. September call-up. Stats.

Doug Mathis (RHRP) (67 innings, 26 appearances) arrived in mid-April and ended up being one of the players who got shuffled on and off the roster all year, much like Robby Price and Mayo Acosta among the position players. I count ten separate transactions, so about 5 times back and forth. One of those pairs was to/from the disabled list, but that’s hard to judge the veracity of that move. I was surprised to see how many innings he put in. He was needed for those 26 appearances. Yes, he had a poor WHIP of 1.64, but an OK ERA of 3.63. He was called on for three spot starts. He was the kind of guy that the Bulls have to have to survive the season, but I’m guessing he won’t be back. Stats.

Adam Liberatore (LHRP) (65 innings, 54 appearances) had a brilliant season. Unquestionably the star of the relief crew as he picked up 6 wins in relief, had a stunning ERA of 1.66, a vanishingly small WHIP of 0.89, and earned a bunch of kudos at the end of the season. He’s never had a shot at the majors and at 27 he’s running out of time. But he’s also banging on the door. Stats.

Game 5; The Last Hurrah

Wool E. Bull waves good-bye
Chris Baird, WRAL

International League Governors’ Cup (Best of 5); 2-3
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, International League, News & Observer

It seems to strange to not have a game to look forward to, but that is how the end of the season feels.

Last night the Bulls were out-hit and out-pitched and now they’ve scattered, mostly, to their homes.

We are going to be a long time trying to forget how they were one strike away from another championship. But surely the Pawtucket Red Sox feel the same way. I wrote much earlier that sometimes the playoffs come down to who has the better AA team, and that was a piece of it. Two pitchers and a hitter were new to the Sox and they did just fine the last two games. They helped.

The Pawtucket Red Sox took the trophy away. Maybe next year. In the meantime, plenty to like about this year.

I’ll dig back into my numbers and put up some thoughts about this year’s team and this year’s season. All things considered. It worked out just fine.

Outside the game —

• Nick Franklin, Alex Colome, and C. J. Riefenhauser were called up to the Tampa Bay Rays. Colome will be getting a start with the Rays tomorrow. All the best to all of them. Sure wish that Adam Liberatore had gotten a shot as well.

Game 2 to the Durham Bulls; Greatest Game of the Year?

Wrap, Box, Providence Journal, International League (video)

This should go down as one of the great games in Bulls history, certainly one of the greatest this season.

It started off, however, even worse than Tuesday’s loss when Alex Colome began the 1st inning by giving up a single and two walks to load the bases. Only one run scored, though. But then the leadoff batter in the 2nd inning hit a triple and that was followed by a home run. Colome did get a K, but then walked the next batter. That would be 3 hits (single, triple, and homer), 3 walks, 3 runs, on 54 pitches in 1⅓ innings. Jake Thompson came on and got the Bulls out of the inning stranding two runners.

That was the Bulls pitching story for the rest of the night. Durham relievers Thompson, Merrill Kelly, C.J. Riefenhauser, Josh Lueke, and Adam Liberatore dominated the Red Sox. They did let a few on base, but some heads up baseball kept any more runs from scoring.

Nevertheless, into the 9th inning the game was creepily similar to Tuesday. The Pawsox were still up by a run and Bulls were rarely even getting on base after Justin Christian singled in the 3rd and was brought home by Mikie Mahtook’s home run. In fact, until the 9th, Mahtook had the only RBIs of the Governors’ Cup series.

The fun (for Bulls fans) began in the 9th with Vince Belnome’s home run to tie the game. What a thrill to see him come through after all his struggles this year.

Both managers went into playoff mode. Wilson Betemit came in as a pinch-hitter, Pawtucket switched out pitchers, etc. But in the bottom of the 9th Josh Lueke, who’d come on in the 8th, managed to keep things under control. Lueke stayed on until after the first out of the 10th when Adam Liberatore came on.

So there we were in the 11th. Essentially out of pitchers (more about that later) and only six hits in the entire previous 10 innings. Vince Belnome drew a walk. Ali Solis gets on base on a catcher interference call (good call, you could see the dust come off the catcher’s mitt on TV). And Mike Fontenot singled Belnome home.

Adam Liberatore, who’s most difficult game this year only went 33 pitches, dug in and threw 44 in this outing to close things out and earn, really earn, the win.

But that’s the 2014 Bulls. Solid relief pitching, solid defense, and occasional clutch hits.

Outside the game —

• About that 11th inning. The last man standing in the bullpen was Cory Burns, who’d pitched 2 innings on Tuesday. What about some of the other pitchers (e.g., Bryce Stowell or Andrew Bellatti) whom we saw around last week? Well, in their wisdom the Rays are bringing up Nathan Karns, but have not put him on their roster yet, so the Bulls could only use 24 of the 25 players allowed on their roster. Why would the Rays do that when they’ve got 40 spots available? No excuse, it seems to me. It’s cold comfort that the Boston Red Sox are treating their AAA team even worse. Take a look at the comments buried in the Providence Journal link above. 
• Numbers: Believe it or not, the attendance numbers up in Providence at 3,600 for Tuesday and 4,100 for Wednesday (the last home game of the season for the Pawsox) are pretty good. Unlike the majors, minor league playoff baseball just doesn’t give the marketers enough time to sell the games. 
• I’m worried about the weather. Tonight looks marginal. Tomorrow and the rest of the week looks very tricky. I have no idea what the rules are regarding this. If anyone does know, please chime in.

Governors' Cup Game 1 to the PawSox

International League Governors’ Cup (Best of Five): 0-1
Wrap, Box, Providence Journal

Life got in the way of baseball today. Probably no news here for Bulls fans. But just for the record.

Enny Romero started because Alex Colome was sick, perhaps a small bout of food poisoning. Romero was not sharp at all, but it could have been much worse in his three innings. By the time he was pulled the Pawsox had left five runners on base. The relief crew did just fine, only giving up one hit and not letting anyone past first base. Doug Mathis, if fact, had a 3 K stretch, and 4 on the night. Very likely that was his best outing of the year. Cory Burns did fine as well.

But the hitters did not. It’s hard to win games when you leave 9 runners on base. The 9th inning was particularly tough with the bases loaded and one out and no one scoring.

Alex Colome is scheduled to start tonight.

Outside the game —

• Persistent chatter/reporting that Nathan Karns has been called up to the Rays and will start a game this Friday. That punches a hole in the Bulls’ rotation if the series goes to five games (Mike Montgomery available to pitch game four). 
• TV coverage OK (channel 1250 on TW cable). Somewhat delayed from the radio broadcast. So you could listen to Patrick Kinas, then pay attention to the play. Actual view of the game very limited by lack of cameras, and I've gotten spoiled by the HD we get locally.
• Great quote from Charlie Montoyo reported by Kinas last night: "You know it's been a good year when you start the year in long johns and finish it in long johns."

Bulls Manage (Just Barely) a Split

Season: 63-58; Home Stand: 2-3; Home Games Remaining: 12
Wrap, Box 1, Box 2

These two games were characterized by decent Bulls pitching, but absolutely pitiful Bulls hitting. Yes, some can be attributed to the Bisons’ pitching crew but just five hits over two (7 inning) games and only one double, is simply not very good. Even more worrisome, it appears to be part of a trend. As the chart below shows, not once in the home stand did the Bulls hit above average on the OPS stat. The two games they did win were 1-0 shutouts. Another troublesome stat: the Bulls struck out 44 times over the last five games and only drew 8 walks, a hint of some collective anxiousness. Seems like hitting coach Dave Myers has some work to do.

Will having Wil Myers around for a while matter? Who knows? He does get to wear the shiny major league batting helmet instead of the toadstool that minor leaguers have to wear. There’s an oddity to add to the concussion controversy. In baseball it’s the players who insist on inviting concussion, apparently because the safer helmets required of minor leaguers just don’t look right on those studly guys.

But I digress. Myers did get one of the two hits in game one as DH and will apparently be “reporting” to the Bulls in Rochester. Not sure what that means.

Nate Karns looked OK in game 1. With a little run support he might have done better. In game 2, Alex Colome actually looked to be struggling, but he was whistling in his fast ball and, mostly, keeping it under control.

Outside the game —

• Remember a couple of weeks ago when we huddled in the stands and watched the rain come down on a fairly dull game? It was on 24 July in a game against the Rochester Red Wings and Red Wings had scored just one run on 5 hits in 4 innings against Alex Colome. The Bulls were hitless over three innings. Jayson Nix was in the lineup and had been in the middle of a double play. Box.
• That game starts up again up in Rochester today. I think they simply play on with some adjustments to the batting order. The Bulls are due up in the bottom of the 4th. Not sure how this works, but on that day Vince Belnome batting in the DH slot and #3 in the order was coming to bat. (Game Log)

Oops Leads to Catastrophe

Season: 60-55; Trip: 2-5
Wrap, Box, The Morning Call

The Bulls are playing this morning up in Allentown, so this will be short.

Alex Colome and Ray Olmedo botched a play at third base in the third inning and things went down hill from there. It probably shouldn’t have made a difference and certainly should not have carried over into the next inning (4 runs), but it seemed to. By that time I’d stopped listening so I’m not sure.

Outside the game —

• Dealing with roster turmoil is part of the game at AAA level, as noticed in this Morning Call article. By the way, The Morning Call is just about the best of the bunch in home town International League coverage of any paper we’ve seen.

A Win, Some Rain, a New Infielder

Season: 59-51; Trip: 1-1

Wrap, Box, Charlotte Observer

Alex Colome looked good after 10 days rest. Belnome, Lee, Nix, and Mahtook had 2-hit games.

Box, Charlotte Observer

They will resume the postponed game as beginning of a double header (7-inning) at 6:05 today. Mike Montgomery had given up a 2-run homer in the 2nd, but rain was coming down much of the game as the teams spent two hours mostly sitting in dugouts.

David Price and Nick Franklin

The big news yesterday was the trade of former Bull David Price to the Detroit Tigers. For a look at the deal from the Rays point of view here are a couple of links. Over at Rays Index, Cork Gaines seems to think the deal makes sense. The Process Report weighs in here. And Robbie Knopf at Rays Colored Glasses has his thoughts.

We here at WDBB don’t much care about either the Smyly or Adames piece of the trade. What we want to know is how the deal will affect the Durham Bulls’ chances for at least a South Division title if not another Governors’ Cup. Since it looks like a one-for-one for starting pitchers down in St. Petersburg, the key Durham Bulls consideration is the young middle infielder from the Mariners organization Nick Franklin. 

The 23 year-old, switch-hitting Franklin had a lot of time with the Mariners last year (102 games), but only 17  this year. He has impressive numbers in his 75 games with the Tacoma Rainiers, .294/.392/.455. He has split his time between 2B and SS. So there’s no question that his bat will bring a lot to the Bulls. His OPS ranks near the very top of the Bulls, in the statistical company of Mikie Mahtook and Jeremy Moore. [stats]

However, a lot depends on the Rays assessment of where he stands on his development path. Don’t forget that Cole Figueroa is still sitting on the Rays’ bench and Franklin certainly seems like a bat the Rays could use. Franklin could go to the Rays sooner rather than later. Is he going to take up a 40-man slot? Don’t know. [Update, 10:30: Yes.]

But let’s assume he comes to the Bulls. Who will leave? And where? And what serves the Bulls' best interests? Obviously, the weakest link in the Bulls infield is Hak-Ju Lee. The question with Lee would be what would help him the most, seeing more Triple-A pitching, or spending some time in AA? I’d bet on sticking with the Bulls. That leaves Jayson Nix, Mike Fontenot, Ray Olmedo, and Robby Price (but don’t forget Figueroa and someday, someday, Tim Beckham will be back). Faced with similar choices this year, it has always been Robby Price who's been pushed off the bus.

I think we’ll know pretty soon and you can be sure that the decision will have nothing to do with the Bulls Governors’ Cup prospects. There’s a reason the Rays wanted Franklin. We just don’t know exactly what that is yet.

100 Games; 55 Wins; A Good Year

Wrap, Box, Gwinnett Daily Post

Season: 55-45; Trip: 2-1; Standings
Wrap, Box, Gwinnett Daily Post

The Gwinnett Braves had not scored a run in 28 innings and had lost their last five games. But they got a run off Alex Colome in the 3rd inning last night and that would be enough.

Only Jayson Nix had a good night, and that was spectacular as he went 4 for 4 with two singles, a double, and a triple as well as the Bulls’ only RBI. But it wasn’t enough.

Outside the game —

• If you look a the box score of Friday’s Rays-Twins game a Bulls fan will see something interesting at the bottom of the lineup. The last three players came to the Rays from the Bulls this year. One of them, Curt Casali, actually started the year in Montgomery and was the starting catcher. Cole Figueroa started at 2B,  and Kevin Kiermaier was in right field. Casali got several nice comments from Rays manager Joe Maddon and also got a hit in his first AB. 
• We’ll have more later, but Charlie Montoyo has now led the Bulls to 613 wins, tied for the most wins in Durham Bulls Triple-A history. 

Hot Times at the DBAP

Season: 47-41; Home Stand: 1-0
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

Game time temp 96°! Welcome to summertime North Carolina! And a hurricane is on the way, even if only aimed at the coast.

I filled out my scorecard with Vince Belnome at 1B batting seventh and did not notice that he wasn’t on the field, but leaning against the railing of the dugout. Turns out Jayson Nix was a last minute sub at first base but I didn't figure that out until the 2nd inning. We gossiped and guessed most of the evening and learned this morning that he is apparently on his way to join the Rays. Here’s hoping that his stay is better and longer than the one-game visit he had at the first of the year.

Bulls fans are happy to see Alex Colome back from Tampa Bay and seeing him in good form against the team the Bulls need to beat to win in the South. He did give up a rare home run (only his second this year), but otherwise had a very solid 100 pitch, very efficient (4.76 pitches per out), 7 inning win.

Things seem right in the world when Justin Christian put a home run over the Bull in the 1st and then went on to collect a double and a single for his best night in quite a while. Not to mention several very solid plays in right field. Equally fun to watch was the sequence that began with two outs in the second inning. Robby Price (3 for 3 on the night) bunted himself on and then teased Gwinnett’s pitcher to the point that he ended up with a 3-2 count on Jayson Nix. Price was off on the 3-2 count and easily scored on Nix’s double. If Price had not been running on 3-2, if, if, if. Could have been the winning run, but Mikie Mahtook crushed one in the 5th with two on to put the Bulls ahead for good.

Bulls win and a food truck rodeo, what more can you ask for? Maybe just a little bit cooler?

Outside the game —

• The Rays are a famously data-driven team. But from time to time Manager Maddon’s approach borders on rank superstition, as pointed out by Rays Index recently. Were a voodoo priestess' readings of chicken bones behind the Rays spending $3,300,000 on a 15 year-old in the international draft? 
• Jeremy Hellickson to make his fifth rehab start for the Bulls today. Hope springs eternal. He is at the end of his rehab assignment limit. Not sure what that could mean for him or the Bulls if he cannot reach his 90 pitch limit.

Tough Trip; Now Gwinnett

Game 84; 28 June; Bulls 4 - Pawsox 6
Wrap, Box

Game 85; 29 June; Bulls 4 - Pawsox 7
Wrap, Box

Game 86; 30 June; Bulls 0 - Pawsox 10
Wrap, Box

Game 87; 1 July, Durham Bulls 5 - Pawtucket Red Sox 3
Season: 46-41; Trip: 1-3
Wrap, Box, Providence Journal

The worrisome Durham Bulls come back to Durham for a short two-game visit in the midst of a tough stretch that began back on the 16th of June up in Louisville when the Bulls were 14 games above .500 and 7½ games ahead of Gwinnett in the South Division. Since that time the Bulls have lost 12 games and won just 3 (including last night). Fortunately for the Bulls' standings in the South, the Gwinnett Braves have not been doing much better and the Bulls are still 5 games ahead of them.

What’s gone wrong? Mostly starting pitching, as the chart of the running totals of ERA over the last 15 games shows.

Matt Andriese's work last night was the exception. And maybe, just maybe, Hak-Ju Lee’s bat has come to life. Lee went 3 for 4 including a home run, for what was, I think, his best one-game performance this year.

Andriese gave up two home runs (to the same guy, Pawtucket’s Corey Brown), but otherwise seemed in control.

Outside the game —

• Alex Colome has been optioned back to the Bulls after a fine performance for the Rays against Baltimore.
• Jeff Beliveau has been called up. Speculation is that he won’t stay long, but that the Rays may come looking for a position player. At the moment, only Hak-Ju Lee, Ali Solis, and Vince Belnome are on the Rays 40-man. But the Rays are past masters at manipulating that, so hard to tell if someone will be moving up soon.

Matchup

Gwinnett has been having a tough year, but nothing wrong with their hitting. If the Bulls pitching does not get in order, this could be a difficult series for the home team.

Belnome Breaks Out; Bulls Break Streak

Season: 44-37; Home Stand: 1-5
Wrap, Box

At last! Boy that was some long 8-game losing streak and what better than for the Bulls most erratic pitcher, Nate Karns, to get the win and a Bulls struggling hitter, Vince Belnome, to get a home run, two doubles and an intentional walk (how’s that for regained respect)?

Was there a downside? Well, yes there was. I was unable to attend the game and only was able to listen to the last two innings. But that was my problem, not the Bulls.

After that awful slide, sure was nice to hear them celebrate a win. Fortunately for the Bulls, they are in the IL South and in spite of the long slide, they remain 4.5 games ahead in the division.

New guy Jeremy Moore was in the lineup. The last (and only) time we saw his name was during spring training when he hit a non-roster invitee list. His stats from Montgomery are nothing special and  yet he has both Triple A and major league experience. I did not hear the profile from Patrick Kinas, but I’m guessing that there are injury issues there. At any rate, in his first game he went 2 for 4 with a double and 2 RBI. That gives him great Durham Bulls stats. We Bulls fans have an outfielder who can hit. What more could we ask for?

Outside the game —

• Alex Colome will put on a Rays uniform for a start against Baltimore Friday. Good luck. Except for his last game, he has done a stunning job with the Bulls since his return from suspension. That means Jeremy Hellickson will likely have another start with the Bulls as part of his rehab.
• The Durham Herald-Sun newspaper has put itself behind a paywall ($10/month for digital subscribers), so we will no longer be providing links to their coverage. Too bad, because, unless I've been missing something all year, they were the only regular reporters with press box and media access to the team. At least they were only ones I’ve ever found since Adam Sobsey stopped writing for Indy Week. Doesn’t seem fair to our vast readership to quote or link to something they would have to pay to see. (Note: We’ve done the same for the Tampa Bay Times, which has also gone behind a paywall.) We’ve emailed the Herald-Sun. Will let you know if anything comes of it.

Pretty in Pink?

Season: 43-34; Home Stand: 0-2; Streak: 0-5
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, Syracuse

As spectacularly ugly as we thought the pink jerseys were (even if the cause is most definitely not), Bulls pitching in the 2nd inning last night was even more spectacularly ugly. Alex Colome looked a bit shaky in the first inning, starting out giving up a single and walk, but then a K had us thinking things were OK. A single did drive in a run before the inning was over, but Hak-Ju Lee’s baserunning put the Bulls back in the game. The game was 1-1 when the 2nd inning began. And then ...

Single, double, single, single, hit by pitch, double, K (yeah!), single, walk ... and six runs were in and Doug Mathis came on with two runners on base. A K, then a single, walk (pushing a run in), single, walk, single, and single before the last out and five more runs were in. That could be an historically bad inning for the Bulls, but it would be too painful to check and I’m not sure I’d know how anyhow. How bad was it? Suffice to say that, as the chart below shows, it pushed the season’s team ERA up by 0.15 points.

Usually in trying circumstances like these we find a way to blame the Rays for the Bulls troubles. Not last night.

We left.

Sad to say that Robby Price took one for the team in the 9th. Although apparently a very different personality, Mr. Price is becoming this year’s Craig Albernaz as the infielder pitches, plays outfield, and goes to "extended spring training" as roster changes require. He has become a particularly important Durham Bull.

Outside the game —

• The Rays have a double-header coming up on Friday in Baltimore. Under a relatively new rule they can expand their roster by one player for the one day. In turn, that means that the Bulls can expect more pitching roster turmoil (see, we can blame something on the Rays after all). It might mean Hellickson will leave for Baltimore, but he will likely have to show significant improvement over his last two outings.

Bulls ERAs Soar
Only for masochists … click chart for larger image

Mini-Sweep in Norfolk

Wrap, Box, Virginian-Pilot

Mike Montgomery had another very solid day on the mound while Wilson Betemit and Mike Fontenot feasted on Norfolk pitching. Mikie Mahtook had a very rare 0-fer, but got a RBI sac fly.

Season: 40-27; Road Trip: 2-0
Wrap, Box, Virginian-Pilot

For the first two innings Alex Colome was looking a bit shaky. But from the 3rd through the 7th he was back on his game. This was his third start since coming back and he is making a solid claim for promotion.

Meanwhile we noticed a nifty bit of quirkiness in the 2nd inning (that also got Mr. Colome out of some trouble). With a runner on third base and 1 out a ground ball went out to Mike Fontenot at 2B. The runner at third broke for the plate and Fontenot’s throw to Mayo Acosta at home was perfect: 4-2, for out #2 and a runner on 1B. Two pitches later the runner broke for second and Acosta’s throw to Fontenot was in time: 2-4, out #3 on your scoresheet. What more could a baseball geek wish for?

Mikie Mahtook’s home run (his third) in the second inning tied it up. Justin Christian doubled and then scored when he stole third base and the catcher’s throw went sailing past the third baseman. The 8th — single, double, single — ended with the bases loaded and a tough moment for Belnome when he struck out, one of three on the evening. We are confident he’s going to break out, but it sure seems like he’s slipping back into the slump that began his season.

Check out the Virginian-Pilot story linked to above. Tides’ manager is very impressed with Bulls pitching.

Outside the game —

• Former Bull Josh Lueke passed through waivers and is on his way back to the Bulls. His numbers last year with the Bulls were exceptional, with 17 saves and a stunningly low ERA of 0.63 over 57 innings. However, from a fan’s point of view he was a human rain delay. Since we frequently like to watch the 9th from the top of the Blue Monster, we sometimes felt we were never going to get back to our car. Still, we’d go home with a win. This year, he’s not having much success with the Rays (who is?).
• Rehabbing former Bull Jeremy Hellickson is expected to show up in Indianapolis for a start maybe tomorrow. (Per broadcaster Kinas).
• While listening Norfolk broadcasters, one of them went into a mild rant about the illegibility of the blue lettering on orange background of Bulls jerseys. Guess they were running out of things to say.

Matchup

These are the best two teams in the International League. The Indians have won their last three, the Bulls have won their last two. The Indians have led the West Division from the very beginning of the season. Their superstar prospect Gregory Polanco just got called up, so we will have to see what difference that makes. Statistically the teams are very evenly matched in hitting, but with a slight ½ run difference in ERA.

DPs and Shutout #7

Jayson Nix gets to third base, beneath PawSox's Garin Cacchini
Photo by Bernard Thomas, Durham Herald-Sun

Season: 37-25; Home Stand: 5-2
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

Two runs in the 8th won the game, but let’s point out the quirky stuff before getting to that. Three double plays helped keep young Mr. Alex Colome out of trouble last night. In fact, they kept any PawSox runner from even getting to or beyond second base until the 9th inning.

Look a bit more closely and you discover that they were three completely different kinds of double plays. And that is the sort of thing we love here.

In the 1st the DP was a classic 6-4-3,  ground ball to shortstop Hak-Ju Lee, toss to Mike Fontenot covering second, and a nice throw to Wilson Betemit on first to wrap it up. Nice start to the inning.

Then in the next inning, with one out and a PawSox runner on first base, the batter struck out and catcher Mayo Acosta (nice to see him in a game, by the way) threw out the runner attempting a steal. K, 2-4 on the scoresheet.

The last DP came in the 6th when the PawSox again had one out and a runner on first. This time the batter hit a line drive to right field, Justin Christian caught it and threw to 1B Wilson Betemit to double off the runner. 9, 9-3 on the scoresheet.

So, if you now check out the box score you will see that Colome only let 5 guys on base in the game (4 singles and a walk), and of those 3 were ensnared in double plays. That is a terrific 8 innings of baseball.

Nevertheless, picking up the Bulls seventh shutout was not entirely easy. First they had to get some runs across and they never did solve knuckleballing PawSoxer Steven Wright. They did load the bases in the 3rd with none out, but could not score. They had to wait until they could deal with a more conventional guy in the 8th to get some runs across. In that inning they loaded the bases with one out. and a ground ball infield single by Justin Christian scored Hak-Ju Lee and a sac fly by Vince Belnome brought Mikie Mahtook home.

Closer Kirby Yates gave us a thrill in the 9th by serving up a leadoff triple in the 9th, then walking the fastest guy on the PawSox team, Mookie Betts. Yates was thereby doing his part for all of our cardio-vascular systems (I was watching from the top of the Monster by then). Coach Neil Allen came out for a talk (wonder what they say when they get out there?). Yates got the next three batters and all was right in the world.

Outside the game —

• Kevin Kiermaier hit a home run for the Tampa Bay Rays and Jerry Sands got his first major league hit, an RBI single last night. The Rays, unfortunately, lost, and have now dropped 10 in a row.
• Speaking of Kiermaier, he gets some love from The Process Report and we begin to wonder what will happen when Brandon Guyer and Wil Myers come off the DL. Will Kiermaier come back for more development (Sands will surely be back) or will he stay

Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang

Season: 34-23; Home Stand: 2-0
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

I could not go to the game last night. I didn’t even get to my radio until the bottom of the 7th inning where I learned that, contrary to my expectation, Alex Colome had done just fine before handing the game off to Merrill Kelly. The Bulls were ahead 3-0 and I figured that since Kelly was in things were OK.

More than OK. By the end of the inning the Bulls picked up 6 more runs on four singles, a double, a Jerry Sands home run, and an IronPig fielding error. Justin Christian homered for the 10th run of the game in the 8th inning.

Bulls pitchers got their 6th shutout of the season. Bulls hitters created the biggest win margin of the year. Gwinnett lost, opening up a 3½ game spread. The Bulls are now 11 games over .500, their best mark of the year. Things are right with the world.

Meanwhile, I have a question for those who listened/watched the game: Why was Vince Belnome playing left field? I’m guessing that it was Mikie Mahtook’s day off and that Charlie Montoyo wanted to keep Belnome's bat in the lineup instead of Price or Nix. But that didn’t work since he was the only Bull not to get on base last night.

About Alex Colome. I assume that readers of this blog know all about the drug suspension. If not, the Herald-Sun story summarizes it. I’m not a very tolerant guy and I find it hard to forgive. Nevertheless, he obviously spent his time away from the game working on his craft, and that’s good for him and for the Bulls. He certainly performed far above my expectations last night.

Cole Figueroa started at 3B. Welcome back.

Outside the game —

• The Rays lost to the Red Sox, again, last night. Their only run was a distinctly weird inside-the-park home run by Kevin Kiermaier. Kiermaier started in right field in the place of injured former Bull Wil Myer.
• In that same game Ali Solis got his first major league start. While in his first AB in the 3rd a pitch went into the dirt, bounced off the catcher’s shin guard, and hit him in the nose. He was taken out of the game. Reports are that his nose is not broken.

Yates! Yates! Yates!

Season: 33-23; Home Stand: 1-0
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

For thrilling baseball, last night’s 8th and 9th innings were hard to beat. So let’s look at the game back-to-front.

Adam Liberatore came on in the 8th with a 5-3 lead. He’s been terrific this year and we expected a quiet inning. Kirby Yates was starting to warm up for the 9th. The Bulls had the game in hand. In fact, I was thinking about getting out of the parking deck ahead of the DPAC crowd. Two singles and a walk later, the bases were loaded on just 14 pitches and nobody was out as the heart of the IronPigs batting order was coming up. Cue the hook and Kirby Yates came in seeking a two-inning, 6-out save. I don’t think he has faced quite so perilous a situation this year.

Mr. Yates K’d the first batter, but the second reached on a error by Hak-Ju Lee that scored a run. Bases still loaded. Still one out. Score now 5-4. Next batter: K. Next batter: fly ball to Mahtook in center field. Out of the inning. Breath.

The 9th was almost anti-climatic, although Yates did return having already thrown 18 pitches. That gave me something to worry about. But the first batter hit a fly ball to Mahtook; the next watched the third strike go by; the next also flew out to Mahtook. Save #14 for Yates, best in the IL. Game trivia: 3 out of six Yates’ outs were fly balls to Mikie Mahtook.

Otherwise, Mike Montgomery had a brilliant no-hit five innings, then unravelled in the 6th. His pitch count wasn’t all that high, still, looking back, would not have hurt to come out after the single and the BB that started the inning. The three runs that scored tied the game and he left with a no-decision. For his one out that ended the 6th Jake Thompson got another win, because Curt Casali showed why the Rays like him with a booming home run over the bull that brought in the two runs that made all the difference.

Outside the game —

• Alex Colome is back from his 50 game suspension and will start tonight. Apparently Merrill Kelly will go back into a long relief role. The Bulls will need him there since Enny Romero and/or Colome are likely to be in need of a long reliever.
• I missed the fact that Mikie Mahtook leads the International League in doubles with 19 (he got another one last night). He’s also tied for the league lead in triples with 5. Impressive.
• Cole Figueroa was in the dugout. I’d guess we will see him tonight. 
• Terrific story over at DNA of Sports on Ali Solis, the Bulls catcher recently called up to warm up Rays pitchers. (That’s not quite fair, but he has still not had an AB and he’s been there 3 or 4 days). He did get in last night’s game as a pinch runner (!) and stayed to catch the bottom of the 10th.

Bulls Got Shut Out, But Coming Home

Season: 32-23; Trip: 6-2
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

The Bulls shut out the Mud Hens on Wednesday. The Hens returned the favor last night, shutting out the Bulls for just the second time this season. (The Bulls have five shutouts on the season.) The major downside of the loss has to be that a terrific 2-hit six inning performance by Nate Karns did not get rewarded with a win. Meanwhile, the Mud Hens won on a Mike Hessman double. Hessman is the same guy who hit two home runs against Bulls pitching on the 6th.

Outside the game —

• All in all a good road trip. The Bulls return leading the South Division of the International League 1½ games ahead of the Gwinnett Braves. Considerable roster turmoil. 
• I have subscribed to MiLB TV this year, but I usually mute the sound and listen to Patrick Kinas' stream. But this trip I did check in on the other broadcasters. That reminded me that we are lucky to have Patrick calling the Bulls' games. He's clearly interested in the game; doesn't go off on odd tangents (at least not too often); very smooth dealing with commercial necessities; and he gives the opposing teams and players their due. He often discovers a story to track through the game that is just fascinating. As an example, a couple of games ago Toledo catcher Luis Exposito could not do anything right, committing three errors (and there was a wild pitch that could have been called a passed ball). Patrick noticed it early and kept us interested in the story as the game progressed (which was otherwise a 7-0 blowout by the Bulls).
• The Bulls are making room on their roster for Alex Colome by moving Doug Mathis off to extended spring training.
• Cole Figueroa is coming back after an exciting time with the Rays. [MLB.com]My guess is that Robbie Price will be the one who goes to extended spring training to make room.

Matchup

The IronPigs are the Triple A franchise for the Philadelphia Phillies. Watch this space later on today for a guest blog post from our colleague in the Allentown area.

They are tied for second place in the very tight North Division race. [Standings]

 The anomaly in the table here is the Pythagorean Expectation projection since they have given up more runs than they have scored. As noted before, this implies an unusually effective relief corps. Maybe so.

One of the relievers starters is former Bull Chris Bootcheck. No other former Bulls jump out at me on the roster, although infielder Reid Brignac was with them earlier in the season. He is now with the Phillies.