Devil Rays Minor League Baseball Blog

The Devil Rays had two chances to win the Governers Cup today and they could pull of a win in either game.  Game one saw Richmond win 6-2 and all four Bulls pitchers that were used in the game gave up runs.  Justin Ruggiano belted a solo homerun and Evan Longoria went two for four with a double and a run.

The second game then turned into a winner take all one for the championship and that one was a 7-2 defeat.  Mitch Talbot was hammered for five runs in 2 1/3 innings and all the Bulls could manage was six hits.  Ruggiano hit his second homer of the day with a solo shot and Michel Hernandez went two for four with a double.

Jae Seo pitched the Bulls to within one game of the Governor’s Cup in a 3-2 game three win.  He gave up just two runs on six hits with six strikeouts in seven innings.

Chris Richard went two for four with a double, a run and an RBI.  Michel Hernandez went one for three and he drove in three runs.

Jeff Niemann picked up his second win of the post season as the Bulls evened up their best of five game series for the Governor’s Cup.  Niemann gave up just one run on six hits with nine strikeouts in eight solid innings.

Michael Hernandez went three for four with two RBIs and a run in the 5-1 win.  Evan Longoria went two for four with a double, two RBIs and a run.

The Bulls dropped game one in their quest for the Governor’s Cup in a tough 4-2 loss to Richmond.  J.P. Howell was cruising along until he got into trouble in the seventh inning in which he gave up three runs.

Chris Richard went two for four with an RBI.  Jason Pridie singled twice and he drove in a run.

The Bulls swept the Hens in a dramatic, ninth inning win to move on to the Governor’s Cup finals.  With the scored tied 2-2, the Bulls tagged Hens reliever Aquilino Lopez for three runs to win it.  Jon Weber had the game winner with a solo shot and then Evan Longoria added two runs with a two run shot

Jae Seo threw a nice start and he gave up two runs on five hits and two walks with seven strikeouts in seven innings.  Chad Orvella picked up the win with a shutout eighth inning.

The Bulls took a 1-0 lead in their series with the two time IL champ Mud Hens and it was Justin Ruggiano who led things at the plate.  He went three for five with two homeruns and two RBIs in the 11-8 win.  Eliot Johnson went three for four and he came a single short of hitting for the cycle while Wes Bankston went three for four with a double, a solo homerun and two runs.

J.P. Howell was hammered for seven runs in 5 2/3 innings but the hitters really picked him up in this one.  Jeff Ridgeway picked up the win despite getting just one hitter out.