Odorizzi Rules

Season: 83-51; Home Games Remaining: 3

Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

Jake Odorizzi looked really, really good last night. 11 Ks, only three hits in 101 pitches. Just brilliant. If he’s in the playoff rotation, the Bulls should be in very good shape. And there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be. There’s the oddity of the double-header coming up in Norfolk this Saturday, but my guess is Montoyo and Allen will find a way to start the playoffs with Odorizzi and Martin.

Meanwhile, even though the Bulls never came close to solving the knuckleball of Norfolk’s Eddie Gamboa, they did what they have been doing all year — take advantage of the situation. All three runs were scored by Bulls who first worked a lead-off walk. In the 2nd inning Vince Belnome walked, got to 2B on a scratch single by Leslie Anderson, to 3B on a throwing error, and scored on a Mike Fontenot single. In the 5th inning it was Fontenot who got the leadoff walk. He stole second, move to 3B on a passed ball, and then scored on a Kevin Kiermaier single. Then in the 6th Ryan Roberts got the leadoff walk, moved to 2B on a wild pitch, and scored on a Shelley Duncan single. Aggressive, heads up baseball. Not one extra base hit. Great fun to watch in the huge crowd.

Outside the game —

• Some tough decisions coming up for the Rays and Bulls. Brandon Guyer is coming off the DL soon (yahoo!) and Jason Bourgeois has been Designated for Assignment and may be coming back (yahoo, again). So what happens? I’ve mentioned the Rays’ “creativity” before. We’ll have to see what happens.
• The Indianapolis Indians clinched the IL West last night and are confirmed to be the team that the Bulls will face a week from this Wednesday. Got your ticket yet?
• OK, this has been bugging me ever since it happened, so let me get it off my chest. The other night when the Bulls won the South Division they dove into the clubhouse to celebrate. They didn’t even wave to the fans, they just ran off the field to celebrate in private. Did they dis us? Sure seemed that way. Did they think they were the only ones who knew they'd won? Or cared? At least Charlie stayed for an interview.