Rowland-Smith notches up a win against Twins

Ryan Rowland-Smith finally notched up a win as an official starter against the Twins yesterday. He was given a bit of run support from the M's offense, and took advantage of it. The victory takes him to a record of 3-2, and comes after a strong outing against the A's last week. The game against the A's was a big stepping stone for Ryan, as he threw 114 pitches over 7 innings, striking out six. It was especially notable because the previous start he gave up 10 hits and 5 runs against the Twins.

He didnt do it all easy against the Twins this time round, and dug himself out of a couple of holes. The first two innings went by relatively easily, but in the third he found himself with runners on second and third, with the dangerous Joe Mauer at the plate. However, he stood his ground and was able to draw a groundout thanks to a great grab by firstbaseman Bryan LaHair, and good hustle from RRS to cover the bag. Again, in the sixth inning he found himself in another tricky situation. With runners at the corners and none out he had Justin Morneau ground into a double play - driving in a run. He then gave up a solo homer to Randy Ruiz, before striking out Delmon Young with a seething 92mph fastball.

After the Mariners reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the 6th, Ryan came out for a 1-2-3 inning in the 7th, before being taken out of the game, hanging on to a 3-2 lead.

Young Seattle reliever Roy Corcoran managed to get the save and Rowland-Smith was awarded the win. Somewhat amazingly (although perhaps not surprisingly), RRS is only the second M's pitcher this year (Felix Hernandez was the other) to pitch at least seven innings in back-to-back starts. What an amazing stat, and one that highlights how pathetic the Mariners' rotation has been. Right from spring training RRS has been dishing out the pitching lessons to the Mariners more fancied names. What a bust Erik Bedard has been! I bet they wish they could send him back to the O's!

Not only did he earn the win, he also earned some good wraps from Twins' manager Ron Gardenhire:

"Rowland pitched against us well,” Gardenhire said. “He’s effectively in and out of the zone. His ball’s surprising. He’s got some zip. He’s learned to throw breaking balls. We saw him a few years ago. We Rule 5′d him, and you know what? He’s come a long way as a pitcher. He’s a big-strong pitcher, and he kind of shut us down."

Mariners manager Jim Riggleman backed up Gardenhire's kind words:

"He did a good job for us in the bullpen and made a case for himself there. But to pitch like he has now after coming back from the minor leagues as a starter, it will be a real boost if he can continue anything like this."

Its all looking good for Ryan at this time of the season. The Mariners season is all but over, but there is plenty for him to play for, and it seems he is doing a good job. His next start is likely to be against the under-the-radar Cleveland Indians at Cleveland. Hopefully he will keep up the good form (and the M's bats will give him something to work with).

Check out the latest interview from KOMO radio, Ryan Rowland-Smith talks about winning silver at the 2004 Olympics, including facing his M's teammate Kenji Johjima to make the gold medal game. He seems to be a real easygoing, but hardworking, baseball-loving bloke. Check out the interview here

Huber hits, Oeltjen above .300, Thompson back in action

Not to be outdone by Trent Oeltjen, Justin Huber had a cracker of a day today. He led the Portland Beavers in a 17-hit night against Oeltjen's Sidewinders. Justin went 3-for-5 with 2 doubles and 3 RBIs. It was his first 3-hit game of the season, and take his average over the last 10 games to .342. It was a good bounce back from Huber, who went 0-for-7 in his previous two starts, with 4 strikeouts. Oeltjen also hit again, going 1-for-5, to take his season average to .304.

Meanwhile, Rich Thompson has begun a rehab stint in the Rookie Arizona League. Rich has battled a shoulder injury for much of the season, but has been effective in his last three starts. He has given up no hits or runs and two walks over 3 innings, striking out four. It seems unlikely that Rich would get a call up to the Bigs this late in the season. That said however, the Angels bullpen has been one of the weak points in a very strong side this year. Also, their AAA affiliate - the Salt Lake Bees - look to be headed for the postseason. Both these sides would be looking to bolster their bullpens, so it is not beyond the realm of possibility that Rich could get called up. Hopefully he can keep up the good form.

Oeltjen batters Beavers

Things have been a bit quiet round here lately, but this was worth making time for a post! Trent Oeltjen absolutely pounded the daylights out of the Portland Beavers today. He did such a good job that he made the headlines on MILB.com!

He had 4 hits, including 2 triples, and 7 RBIs. He is running second in the PCL for triples. Read more about his hot streak here (interestingly the writer of the article seemed to think the Aussie baseball team was playing in Beijing). Trent has his average up to .298 for the season, and while it seems unlikely that he'd get a callup to the D'Backs, he is playing to impress for 2009, and to maybe look for a spot on a MLB roster next year.

Snelling back in action

PhuturePhillies.com is reporting that a number of roster moves occurred late this week, between AAA Lehigh Valley and the Phillies. Part of these involved activating Chris Snelling from the DL. Snelling had been on the DL for more than a month, recovering from further knee problems.

He has played in three games since being re-activated, going 0-for-8, with 2 strikeouts and a walk.

Luke Hughes promoted to AAA

2008 just keeps getting better and better for Luke Hughes. So far he has:

• hit .319, with 15 homers and 40 RBIs in 70 games at AA New Britain
• appeared in the 2008 All Star Futures Game
• hit an important homerun in the AA All Star game.

He can add to that list a call up to AAA. The Rochester Red Wings have called up Hughes to replace injured outfielder Darnell McDonald. We predicted a call up to AAA here at OzMLBplayers just 2 weeks ago, and now it has happened! Next stop for Hughes, the Minnesota Twins!

He hasnt mucked about in his new team, going 3-for-9, with a double, a run, and RBI and a stolen base in his first two games. Tomorrow he is coming up against Lehigh Valley and Travis Blackley, who is 4-4 with a 4.21 ERA in his last 10 starts (5-7, 4.74 ERA for the season) .

Congratulations to Luke, and hopefully we will see him in the bigs soon!

Balfour pitching well; RRS starts at Tacoma

Well things have been a bit slow around here of late, but there is no sign of a slowdown when it comes to Aussie MLB action. Grant Balfour has been absolutley hot for the Rays lately, and Ryan Rowland-Smith has made two solid starts at AAA Tacoma.

Rays' manager Joe Maddon seems to be passing the ball to Balfour with increasing regularity. And Balf is doing his best to make sure this keeps happening, by striking out opposing batters like clockwork.

Since 24 July, Balf has pitched 5.2 innings, striking out 9 and allowing just one walk, no hits and no runs. The last hit he gave up was on 13 July.

Balfour has only allowed 4 runs all year, and has struck out 45 over 30 innings pitched. His opponents are batting only .103 against him. This as an MLB leading stat. He is fourth in MLB in K's per 9 innings (13.5), and his ERA of 1.20 puts him in the top 10 or so pitchers who have made more than a handful of appearances.

These numbers are simply amazing. There are no other words for it.

All this from someone who has not had amazing success previously.

Inside the Box offers some insight into a possible reason for Balfours outstanding year to date:

Rays reliever Grant Balfour hurled a scoreless inning to drop his ERA to
1.26 for the season. A mostly forgettable reliever his previous four campaigns
in the majors, Balfour is focusing on his mid-90s fastball this year, throwing
it nearly 87 percent of the time, compared to 76 percent a year ago. The results
have been impressive as in addition to the fine ERA he also sports a 3.5:1
strikeout:walk ratio with 42 strikeouts in 28.2 IP.

Hopefully Balf can keep up the velocity, guts and determination and smash it home with the Rays. He picked up a win today, striking out 3 of the 4 batters he faced, including getting out of a jam by striking out Gary Sheffield with runners on to end an the 5th inning. The AL East race is really a classic at the moment. The Rays are 3 games up, with the Red Sox and the Yanks trying real hard to get back at them. The Rays seem to be playing like a real team, with no real superstars, just good, solid baseball. If you havent had a chance to see any of their games, make the effort now. MLB.TV is having a free 5-day trial at the moment, so go and check it out.


Meanwhile, Ryan Rowland-Smith has been effective in his two starts at Tacoma. He threw 5.2 innings on 25 July at Nashville in a no-decision effort. He gave up 3 hits, 3 walks and 2 runs, while striking out 5. His second start on 30 July was excellent. He threw plenty of first pitch strikes, and allowed 3 hits, 1 walk and 2 runs over 7 innings. He got plenty of run support from the Rainiers, and was awarded the win.

The Mariners made one trade before the 31 July deadline, sending reliever Arthur Rhodes to the Marlins. This left only 24 men on the roster. Some say it is likely that Rhodes spot will be taken by either Rowland-Smith or Jared Wells. Others say it is unlikely that RRS will be called up again, as he is still working on being a starter. While MLB.com say that it is likely that the M's will call up RRS. If he does get the call up again, it will be interesting to see in what capacity he plays. He has shown real potential as a starter, and has made it clear that that is where he wants to be. However, for him to join the roster as a starter, there would have to be some roster shuffling occur.

While I would love to see him back in action asap, I reckon one or two more starts in AAA might be the ideal situation. He has strung together 4 reasonable games as a starter this year, I think another couple could really seal the deal for him. I think if he comes back too soon and runs into trouble, it could see him relegated to the pen again in the long term. Fingers crossed that either way, things will be alright. Mariner's manager Jim Riggelman is full of praise for RRS. 'He's doing everything we've asked. He's done well. ... I don't know that it'll be next week or whatever, but I think we'll see him in the near future', he told mlb.com.

As we wait and see whether he will return to the bigs at this time, check out this video from youtube, showing Ryan clowning around with some bozo DJs. He talks about striking out Ken Griffey, eating meat pies, and singing Olivia Newton John songs in the clubhouse. Enjoy!


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