Being By a Bay is Better

Season: 51-58; Road Trip: 3-2; Bulls v. Tides: 6-5; Standings

Box, Wrap

For those interested in numerical anomalies we must note that the Bulls began this road trip by allowing their opponent to score 8 runs per game for three games in a row. Fortunately for the Bulls, the Bulls scored more than 8 runs in the first two games (10-8 and 16-8). Not so fortunate was the third game when the Bulls only scored one run (1-8) and really not so fortunate for the fourth game when the streak was broken in a 1-13 blowout down in Gwinnett.

After a trek across the Carolinas, the Bulls scored 8 runs for themselves over in Harbor Park, and the pitching achieved a rare shutout (only 7 shutouts in 109 games).

Chris Archer continued his comeback from his muscle strain. Talk about being cautious: 17 pitches on July 7 (date twinge was noted), 41 pitches on July 22, and 60 pitches in 4 innings last night (July 28). I was not able to listen, but the stats look very good, only 1 hit, 1 walk, and 3 Ks.

I guess I need to quit calling Frank De Los Santos a new guy. He has become a bright light in the bullpen. When he came up from Montgomery on June 22 he was handled as if he were going to be a lefty specialist. Possibly making a virtue of necessity, he’s been having mostly longer outings recently, picking up two holds and two wins in his last five outings. He’s up to 14 appearances, 17 innings, a 1.38 FIP, and an ERA of 1.58. Here’s hoping he stays healthy to the end.

Rich Thompson had a terrific night at bat: 4 hits, 2 RBI, 1 runs scored. Henry Wrigley continued on his tear going 2-4, with a sac fly and a RBI. No 

Outside the Game —

• Rich Thompson got some love from the N&O this morning
• With his single and double last night, Henry Wrigley moves into some interesting company among fellow Rays prospects.
• The mystery of Brandon Allen’s trip to the inactive list has been solved. Apparently he is off to Japan. Too bad. I thought he showed a lot of potential to help the Bulls this year, even if there’s a crowd at first base.
• I missed the last couple of games, thank goodness. Has anyone heard what the story is on Matt Mangini? Last time seen in a game on 10 days ago, he’s been on the inactive list since.