07/19/2006
MINNEAPOLIS -- A different lineup produced the same result for the Devil Rays on Wednesday night.
The Rays tallied just four hits, even though manager Joe Maddon tried to provide his team a fresh outlook when he fiddled with the front end of the lineup, and couldn't find enough production despite a pair of home runs.
A four-run fifth inning was too much for the Rays to overcome as they lost to Minnesota, 7-2, at the Metrodome. It was the club's sixth straight loss -- the longest losing streak of the season and worst second-half start in franchise history.
The Rays, who are a season-high 16 games under .500, have dropped nine of 10 game and 11 straight to the Twins since 2004.
"Before the break we looked wonderful, and now we don't look so wonderful," Maddon said. "We have to get better than that."
Minnesota starter Brad Radke (8-7) tossed seven innings and allowed just four hits, including a pair of solo home runs. After struggling in the first couple of months this season, Radke hasn't lost since June 3.
The Rays' four hits tied their season low, done four times previously, including Tuesday night against Francisco Liriano.
"Sometimes there are extenuating circumstances to your demise, and we'll have to just keep battling until we get through it," said Maddon, noting the team's tough-luck run of facing strong pitching.
The new lineup couldn't beat Radke, but it did end a couple of cold streaks for the Rays.
Designated hitter Jonny Gomes, who hit in the second spot for the first time this season, homered in the sixth inning to snap an 0-for-21 streak. The blast was Gomes' 19th home run of the season and his first hit since the All-Star break.
Third baseman Ty Wigginton, who had missed the last four games with a strained back, collected two of Tampa Bay's four hits. He ended an 0-for-16 streak with a single in the fifth.
"It was definitely nice to get back out there," said Wigginton, who added that his back felt fine, even after making a diving stop at third.
Rays starter Jae Seo (0-4) lasted 5 2/3 innings and gave up 11 hits and seven runs. The Twins took the lead with a four-run fifth inning that began with a leadoff homer by Rondell White, who hit another homer two innings earlier to tie the game.
Down, 2-1, with one out and runners on the corners, Minnesota's Nick Punto hit a 1-2 pitch down the right-field line for a triple. He scored on a sacrifice fly two batters later.
"It came down to the at-bat with Punto," Maddon said. "I can't say it was an awful pitch. He gets a breaking ball and put it right down the line. [The Twins] work good at-bats."
Minnesota tacked on two more runs in the sixth with three consecutive two-out hits -- the last two off reliever Shawn Camp, who replaced Seo after Jason Bartlett ripped an RBI triple.
Right fielder Greg Norton homered in the second inning, giving the Rays an early 1-0 lead. The ball just cleared the wall in left, reaching the first row of seats. Carl Crawford and Rocco Baldelli -- both moved down in the order to third and fourth, respectively -- combined to hit 0-for-8.
The Rays look to prevent a four-game sweep Thursday against Johan Santana and try to win one game on the road trip before returning home for series against Baltimore and Anaheim.
"It's real frustrating," Gomes said. "It's not like no one doesn't want to spark the first [win], it's not like no one's trying. We just have to go out and get them and not sit back and watch."

Source: http://tampabay.devilrays.mlb.com/

07/19/2006
MINNEAPOLIS -- The Devil Rays completed their June 27 trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers, receiving Minor League outfielder Justin Ruggiano as the player to be named later.
Ruggiano batted .260 with nine home runs and 45 RBIs with Double-A Jacksonville. Ruggiano, who was selected in the 25th round of the 2004 First-Year Player Draft, has 19 doubles and three triples on the season.
He will report to Double-A Montgomery.
In the trade last month, the Rays acquired starting pitcher Jae Seo and catcher Dioner Navarro in exchange for pitcher Mark Hendrickson, catcher Toby Hall and cash.

Source: http://tampabay.devilrays.mlb.com/

07/20/2006
MINNEAPOLIS -- Manager Joe Maddon says mental toughness will be the key as his team tries to break its offensive funk and current losing streak.
The Devil Rays wrapped up play on Thursday having lost a season-high seven straight games, which also tied a franchise record for consecutive losses immediately following the All-Star break. They were also a season-high 18 games under .500. Starting pitcher Scott Kazmir said earlier this week that the team isn't in panic mode yet, but Maddon said he wants to keep the clubhouse even-keeled.
"[The players] always want to see what you look like when you walk in the door," Maddon said. "They don't need to see a spread overturned and I don't think they need to see anything splattered on the wall.
"I think they need consistency on how you deal with them and how they react to you."
After Tampa Bay's 6-4 loss to Minnesota on Thursday, the Rays have tallied just 45 hits in their last 63 innings, while dropping seven games to the Angels and Twins. The club has scored only 17 runs during that span.
"I think, as a whole, the team just needs to stay positive," third baseman Ty Wigginton said. "And instead of focusing on getting a hit, we should concentrate on our approach in each and every at-bat."
Learning to win on the road: After losing all seven games of their road swing, the Rays' record away from Tropicana Field plummeted to 17-37 -- third worst in the Major Leagues.
Maddon admits the team's youth doesn't help with common problems, like staying at a hotel or dealing with the quirks of a foreign ballpark.
"As you get more experienced in the league, those things bother you less," Maddon said. "I think it's normally a veteran group that's able to do that more easily than a younger group."
The manager said he's already looked into a change of pace for the team's next road swing in New York, July 28-30, but didn't want to reveal specifics. Maddon would only say the new idea goes back to the old days, adding it won't involve a train ride.
"It's kind of hush-hush right now," he said.
Tough pitching during rough stretch: On its 0-7 road trip, Tampa Bay will have faced the American League's three best pitchers with the lowest opponents batting average. Minnesota's Francisco Liriano leads the AL with a .196 average and Anaheim's John Lackey is second with a .205 average.
Thursday's opposing starter, Johan Santana, is third, holding foes to a .220 batting average.
"We had the wonderful pleasure of seeing them all on one trip," Maddon said. "Sometimes there are extenuating circumstances to your demise."
Rays roundup: Second baseman Jorge Cantu returned to the lineup on Thursday, batting fifth, after sitting out Wednesday night's game. ... It's been more than two years since Tampa Bay beat Minnesota, but the last win came against Santana on June 3, 2004. ... The Rays will play 39 of their remaining 66 games at Tropicana Field.
Minor matters: Center fielder Darnell McDonald went 2-for-5 with a home run to extend his hitting streak to a club-record 24 games as Triple-A Durham fell to Scranton, 8-6, on Wednesday. Brian Stokes allowed seven runs -- four earned -- on seven hits and four walks in four innings to pick up the loss. ... Andy Sonnanstine tossed a two-hit shutout, striking out five and walking one as Double-A Montgomery beat West Tennessee, 7-0. ... James Houser allowed one run and three hit in six innings to give Class A Visalia a 4-1 victory over Modesto.

Source: http://tampabay.devilrays.mlb.com/

07/20/2006
MINNEAPOLIS -- The Devil Rays simply can't find enough hits right now.
Even when the team jumped out to an early lead against one of the American League's best pitchers, a defensive lapse evened the score and a big inning shut down Tampa Bay's chances of halting its worst losing streak of the season on Thursday afternoon as Minnesota swept the four-game set with a 6-4 win at the Metrodome.
The Rays fell to a season-high 18 games below .500 and lost a franchise-record 12th straight to the Twins.
"There's so much premium on our pitchers right now to not make mistakes because we're not scoring runs," manager Joe Maddon said. "I think that's adding a little pressure to them, so we just have to pick it up on the offensive side.
"When you don't hit, everything else seems to drag."
Despite allowing a four-run fifth inning, the Rays had a chance to get back in the game in the final two frames.
In the eighth inning, second baseman Jorge Cantu hit a two-out home run off reliever Juan Rincon, cutting the deficit to 6-4. Ty Wigginton then walked to bring the tying run to the plate. Maddon elected to use Greg Norton to pinch-hit for Dave Hollins, but he struck out in the eight-pitch at-bat to end the threat.
In the ninth, Travis Lee notched a leadoff single off Twins closer Joe Nathan to again bring the tying run to the plate, but Nathan struck out the last three hitters on 12 pitches.
All in all, four hitters came to the plate in the last two innings with a chance to tie the game with a homer or make things interesting with a base hit. Every one of them struck out.
"That's kind of been a problem for us all year," Maddon said of the untimely hitting. "We're working at it, but we just have to get better. It takes time. That's not been one of our strong points."
Rays starter James Shields (4-4) lasted 4 1/3 innings, allowing eight hits and five earned runs. In the fifth inning, six of the first seven Twins hitters reached base via a hit or walk -- the only out was a sacrifice bunt. Minnesota batted around in the inning, forcing Shields out of the game after throwing just 82 pitches.
"I was just making bad pitches," said Shields, who is 0-4 with an 8.89 ERA in his last five starts. "If I execute my pitches, that doesn't happen.
"My ball was up. If I keep the ball down, I might get some groundouts or even pop outs."
A couple of critical mistakes in the field for the Rays led to the tying run in the fourth inning and a security run in the sixth.
With the Rays leading, 1-0, in the fourth, catcher Josh Paul called for a pitchout with Minnesota's Nick Punto on first base. Punto ran on the play, realized he would be thrown out and stopped 10 feet short of second. But Punto made a sudden cut for the back end of the bag when shortstop Julio Lugo took a wide turn on the front side of the base and was called safe.
Punto scored when Michael Cuddyer doubled to right-center field.
In the sixth, a balk by reliever Chad Harville moved Minnesota's Jason Tyner into scoring position. He came around to score on a two-out double by Luis Castillo, extending Minnesota's lead, 6-3.
Tampa Bay took an early lead with Travis Lee's home run to lead off the third inning -- his second of the series. After Minnesota evened the contest, the Rays regained the lead with a two-out single by Rocco Baldelli that scored two in the fifth. It was Baldelli's fifth multi-RBI game of the season.
The Rays held a lead in three of four games of the series, but never led after the fifth inning.
"Today, we got in the game, we got ahead and I couldn't close the deal," Shields said.
Minnesota left-hander Johan Santana (11-5), on a bad day, was good enough to beat the Rays. Santana tossed just six innings, but allowed six hits and an unprecedented four walks -- he hadn't recorded that many walks in a game in his last 37 starts.
Santana and three Twins relievers combined for 14 strikeouts -- at least one in every inning except the third.
"We strike out way too much," Maddon said. "There's no denying it and there's no tap-dancing around it. That's a big part of your offense, where if you're not even making the defense play, it's a lot easier for the defense and the pitcher."

Source: http://tampabay.devilrays.mlb.com/

02/27/2006
ST. PETERSBURG -- Wes Bankston could have panicked over the weekend when the Tampa Bay brass informed him that he'd be encountering a bit of a detour on his career path. Instead, he embraced the news that he would be moving from first to third base, excited about the opportunity to pad his resume and improve his marketability.
Bankston, a former fourth-round pick (2002), has carved a reputation as one of the organization's top slugging prospects. And until his weekend meeting with the powers that be, he seemed headed directly toward first base at Tropicana Field with an ETA of sometime in 2007.
While his touchdown time in the Major Leagues remains the same, where he eventually lands will be determined over the next few months, depending on how well he adapts to his new position.
The Devil Rays don't anticipate Bankston having much of a problem with the move, though. Andrew Friedman, the club's executive vice president of baseball operations, said on Monday that the switch is something Bankston "can do well enough to be our future third baseman."
Bankston, 22, whom Tampa Bay selected out of Plano East (Texas) High, split last season between Visalia of the Class A California League and Montgomery of the Double-A Southern League and committed only six errors after his promotion, the third fewest among first baseman on the circuit who appeared in at least 50 games. His .991 fielding percentage was also third highest in the league. His soft hands around the base were part of the reason why the switch seemed to make sense. He began taking grounders at third on Sunday.
"It's still the early stages [of the move], but he's a tremendous worker," Friedman said. "And its something he's anxious to try. He converted from right field to play first base, so he has the arm strength. This just adds to his prospect status."
Bankston, who missed the first month of last season while recovering from a torn meniscus in his left knee, has never played third base before. He was an outfielder in each of his first two seasons in the organization before switching to first base during 2004. But growing up in Texas he was a big fan of Rangers infielder Steve Buechele and says he always thought about playing third base. Now he has the chance.
"I have to start learning the position and getting comfortable over there," said Bankston, who combined to hit .309 with 15 homers and 70 RBIs at both stops last year. "This should be fun, though. We'll wait and see what happens. I'll work on my throws, work on moving my feet more. We'll give it a few weeks and see how it goes.
"I'm excited, though, because this is going to be a new challenge. It's one more position to play. Whether it's first base or third base, wherever they need me to play, that's where I'll play. I think it will be a new challenge."
Rebuilding up his arm strength will be an issue for Bankston, at least early on. And seeing the ball come off the bat differently will be an adjustment at third as well. But he's steadfast in his belief, though, that both will be made with minimal difficulty and that the position switch won't hinder his progress toward his ultimate goal -- a spot on the Major League roster. Based on Friedman's assessment of the situation, Bankston has little to worry about.
Not that he had a great deal holding him back prior to the switch. His 68 career homers, including seven grand slams, are the fifth-most ever among Devil Rays Minor Leaguers. He was named Charleston's Player of the Year in 2004 after hitting 23 homers and driving in 101 runs. It all makes for an impressive resume, but this is still his first big league camp and he's content to remain in the background as much as possible.
"This is a totally different atmosphere," Bankston said. "Most of these guys have been up and in the Major Leagues for several years, so I'm just trying to learn things from them, learn how to go about my business. And I'm enjoying that because there's a lot of information out there.
"We have a great group of guys, and right now I'm just sitting and watching. And if they come up to me and give me some suggestions, I'm all ears. Overall, though, I just want to play well and stay healthy and when they feel it's time for me to be ready that I'll be able to contribute."

Source: http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/

02/27/2006
ST. PETERSBURG -- Shawn Riggans has made it clear that nothing is going to hold him back.
Not his arm -- a nagging elbow injury in his throwing arm cost the Devil Rays' top catching prospect two months of one season and ended his year with Tommy John surgery in another.
Not his size -- the 6-foot-2, 190-pounder has heard more than once that he's too small to be a catcher.
Not even the fact that he only had 12 at-bats on his high school varsity team.
"All I can control is my effort out on the field. I have the heart to play -- I wouldn't want to do anything else," Riggans said. "I started playing when I was 5 years old, so it's been my lifelong dream to get to the big leagues."
Drafted by the Rays in the 24th round of the 2000 First-Year Player Draft out of Indian River Community College, Riggans has had two seasons of his five-year Minor League career shortened significantly due to injury. But after hearing the energetic 25-year-old encourage teammate Delmon Young during batting practice, and watching him joke around at his locker after Monday morning's workouts, you'll learn it's going take a lot more than a few aches and pains to slow down Riggans.
"I never played any other sport. I always grew up watching baseball, playing baseball, loving baseball," he said. "I just want to come out and play hard. I can't control the injuries, but I can control going out and playing hard every day."
His enthusiasm may be contagious. Riggans' hard-nosed approach to the game already has earned praise from Rays executive vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, who says the fiery catcher makes up for his small build with tenacity.
"It's really a direct outcome of how hard he plays," Friedman said. "It's hard to tell someone not to play the game. He's an extremely tough competitor, and he takes the defensive side of the game very seriously.
"He plays huge, and at the end of the day, that's what matters."
Twice named the organization's best defensive catcher by Baseball America, Riggans knows he has a lot to prove and didn't waste any time setting the record straight.
"I think you're undersized if mentally you think that," Riggans said. "Physically, I feel that I can compete with anybody. I'm not going to back down, because what comes around, goes around. I'm going to get my chance, too, and when I do, I'm not going to slide."
Maybe even more impressive than his defense is Riggans' bat. At Double-A Montgomery last season, he led all Rays Minor Leaguers in August with a .433 batting average to finish the season at .310, with 21 doubles, eight home runs and 53 RBIs. Riggans' career average of .293 is also the eighth highest all-time among Rays Minor Leaguers.
"I've seen guys like him with that kind of body build, and I like it, because I see a lot of limberness and looseness, and yet there's still a lot of strength involved," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "Actually, he's in a good position, I think, to grow into that, and with the training we have, you're going to see him develop into a pretty well-developed [strong player]."
Riggans figures the offseason has given him time to mature as a player mentally. This is the first spring he's reported to Spring Training with no lingering soreness or injuries, and he has plenty of reasons to be excited for the year ahead.
"I'm a little bit smarter now," he said. "Now, I'm a little bit more reserved -- toning it down a little bit. I know I don't need to go out there and kill my arm on every throw.
"My arm finally doesn't hurt, there are no problems and I'm just really ready to get the season going."

Source: http://tampabay.devilrays.mlb.com/

02/27/2006
ST. PETERSBURG -- Shortstop Julio Lugo isn't the only Lugo in Devil Rays camp this spring as his brother, Ruddy, is a non-roster invitee.
Julio, 30, is five years older than Ruddy, a right-handed pitcher.
"When they told me last year that [Ruddy] would by in big-league camp this spring, I was thrilled," Julio said.
The two brothers are living together this spring.
"We've always spent a lot of time together," said Julio with a broad smile. "Having him here in camp is a dream come true."
Ruddy's face lights up when he talks about his older brother.
"I've always looked forward to playing on the same team he's been on," Ruddy said. "It's fun to be here. [Julio] is like a father figure, a role model, you name it."
The younger Lugo signed with the Rays during extended Spring Training in 2005 and went 0-0 with a 13.50 ERA in one game at Class A Visalia. He finished the season at Double-A Montgomery, where he went 1-1 with two saves and a 1.12 ERA in 26 games. Opponents hit just .169 against Lugo and he struck out 48 in 40 1/3 innings; 22 of his 26 outings were scoreless.
"He's good," Julio said. "He's got a good fastball, changeup and breaking ball."
Ruddy has not pitched against his brother.
"We never faced each other," Ruddy said. "We never played against each other. It's going to be exciting [when I face him]."
If and when it happens, Ruddy will forget Julio is his brother.
"Like I told him before, if it comes down to that, he's got to do his job and I've got to do mine," Ruddy said. "I'll be trying to get him out."
And will there be a little trash talking going on if that happens?
"Always," Ruddy said.
Fossum learning: Casey Fossum has pitched in the Major Leagues for parts of five seasons, but he's still learning.
"I think one thing I learned [in 2005] was keeping the pitch count down," Fossum said. "Just keeping the ball down at the knees."
Any time Fossum got the ball up in the strike zone when he was behind in the count, he said the hitter usually had success. He will strive to be more unpredictable when he finds himself in that situation.
"Throw something the guys aren't looking for," Fossum said. "I think a lot of it for me now will be if I'm able to execute a lot of my pitches. It's just a matter of figuring out what they're looking for. Over time, since I've seen the hitters more, I've gotten better about doing that."
Once the season was over, Fossum had a chance to reflect on the highs and lows.
The low came against the Orioles.
"I distinctly remember Jay Gibbons hit the grand slam off me at Baltimore," Fossum said. "I think I ended up giving up nine runs in that game. It was just a nightmare game for me. That was a good example of the snowball effect. If things go bad in the first inning, I don't want it to snowball it even more."
Working deep, as he did in a game against the Blue Jays, was among the highs.
"The first game after the All-Star break against the Blue Jays, I think we shut out them out and I went almost eight innings," Fossum said. "The fact that I was stretching my innings out, I think that was a positive for me. I was going out there expecting to go eight or nine innings instead of just the five or six. I had the mentality of going eight or nine last year."
State of Major League arms: Former Rays outfielder Dave Martinez had one of the top arms in the Major Leagues during his playing days. This spring, he's a special advisor in camp, and he spoke about why there is a lack of quality arms in the Major Leagues.
"I think it's because they got away from the fundamentals of throwing," Martinez said. "I threw long toss like every other day. And I constantly worked on my throwing during batting practice and worked on catching ground balls and getting in position to throw."
Martinez has been impressed with all the young talented outfielders in camp and has found some eager students.
"They want to work," he said. "I talked to [Carl Crawford] and the first thing he said is, 'I want to throw like you.' I said, 'Why can't you throw like me? All you have to do every day is work at it. You've got a great arm. As fast as you are, as quick as you are, you can get to the balls a lot quicker than I ever could.'"
Crawford, who is already a potential Gold Glove outfielder, was pleased about working with Martinez.
"He's been telling me little things about staying low and keeping a nice little base when I'm ready to throw," Crawford said. "We're kind of doing the basics right now, and hopefully we can work our way up to where I can be just as fundamentally sound as he was."
Manager Joe Maddon answered "absolutely" when asked about the prospect of an outfielder improving his arm.
"I've seen it, absolutely," he said. "Improves with better mechanics and long toss. ... I've seen it work."

Source: http://tampabay.devilrays.mlb.com/