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Season: 17-26; Home Stand: 2-2; vs Red Sox: 2-6; Standings
Box, Wrap, Herald-Sun, PawSox Wrap

My inbox is full this morning with emails thanking me for hexing Pawtucket shortstop Jose Inglesias. (Well, maybe not full ... ) Regular readers will recall that I wrote about him yesterday:

...Pawtucket shortstop Jose Inglesias [is a reason to come to the park]. If you’ve ever had one of those deep philosophical discussions about whether a shortstop needs a quick release or a strong arm (as if there’s a distinction), Inglesias is a poster-child for the quick release school. The ball simply doesn’t stay in his glove. It simply ends up flowing towards first base. Pretty to watch.

The gods of baseball saw that and struck back in the 8th Inning.

The Bulls were behind 2-5 and Hedeki Matsui grounded out to first. Henry Wrigley reached because Inglesias threw the ball past first base. Jeff Salazar doubled, moving Wrigley to third. Inglesias bobbled Cole Figueroa’s grounder, Wrigley scored (3-5) and Figueroa made it to first. Juan Miranda pinch hit for Craig Albernaz and drew a walk. Bases loaded. The real hero of the night (he went 4 for 5) Jesus Feliciano hit a triple and cleared the bases. Matt Mangini struck out, but the Bulls were ahead and Brandon Gomes came in to close it out. (Note to Tampa Bay — Please leave Gomes with us for a while. His ERA is still 0.00 and it's so nice to know the Bulls always have a shot if he's around.)

Two in a row says a lot about the Bulls and they gave the huge crowd a real thrill.

On the other hand, Chris Archer was a mess. In addition to the 7 hits and 4 walks, he was charged with three wild pitches (one of them letting a run score) and he hit a batter. Yes, he got 9 Ks, but he was simply lucky that the seven guys left on base weren’t able to get in. And it took him 106 pitches to get through just 4⅔ innings.

He can thank Hideki Matsui for preventing at least one run. Matsui was on the field for the first time, in left, and made a perfect throw to the plate on a runner who’d tagged up.

Have to mention Craig Albernaz. He seemed to be having a really tough time behind the plate last night, at least with Chris Archer and Jhonny Nunez. Lots of balls in the dirt. Lots of trips to the mound. Communications problems?

A win, and a pretty one at that. Before a full house. Great. The Bulls will not play Pawtucket again this year unless they meet in the playoffs.

Outside the game

• Doug Milhoan over at Rays Prospects has noticed that within the Rays system they have 25 players on the DL, rehab assignment, or the restricted list. That’s enough for a team. So he’s put one together. Actually looks pretty good.
• Ultra runner Diane Van Deren made it through the Linville Gorge/Wilson Creek area hitting some rough weather, but is now past Boone running the Mountain to Sea Trail. They seem to have the GPS tracking working this morning. Try the terrain view on the map and zoom in. Amazing.

Chart of the Day

Southern Division Teams, Games Above/Below .500

Charlotte comes to town today. The Bulls are 2-5 against Charlotte so far this year.