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A different Durham Bulls team
comes in for their next series in Richmond Last night I did the Richmond Braves and the Durham Bulls at the Diamond in Richmond. The Bulls lineup featured the recently returned Delmon Young, Elijah Dukes and B.J. Upton --- a trio of angry young men if ever there was one. Earlier, Young had finished his 50 game suspension for tossing his bat at an umpire, Dukes is a graduate of anger management classes and Upton seldom smiles and seems bothered when the fans ask for autographs. He was arrested last month by Chapel Hill police when he was allegedly driving his Mercedes 55 mph in a 30 mph zone. To add insult to injury, he was also charged with DWI. Facing them for the Braves was Atlanta’s newest reclamation project, Jason Shiell, who held the Ottawa Lynx in check during his last start. Shiell was signed by the Braves from the Atlantic Leagues Somerset Patriots. After missing the 2004 and 2005 seasons to have Tommy John surgery followed a few months later with surgery to repair a torn labrum, Shiell started his comeback with Somerset before being spotted by Atlanta’s scouts. Shiell's performance last night was better than his previous one, as he shut out a talent laden Bulls lineup for seven innings. Shiell threw a low to mid 90s fastball, hard curve and slider. In addition, he was adept at changing speeds and location which kept the Bulls off balance all night. Shiell’s final line was 7 innings of shutout ball, 5 hits, 4 strikeouts and one walk. So far this season, he is 1-1 with a 2.14 ERA with 15 strikeouts and 3 walks. Not a bad reclamation project. Facing him was the younger Jason Hammel who has been known for his ability to command his pitches. However, last evening Hammel had trouble keeping his pitches down and ended up on the losing end of a shutout. Hammel’s second season through the International League is not going smoothly; he is 3-8 with a 4.88 ERA. Also, he is continuing a trend he started last season of surrendering more hits than innings pitched. Last night, I thought Durham’s outfielders would wear out from chasing Richmond shots to the warning track. Though he features a mid 90s fastball and breaking ball, Hammel was obviously outpitched by the veteran Shiell. The Richmonders drew first blood in their half of the third inning when Tony Pena, Jr. led off with a base hit. He was advanced to second on a Gregor Blanco sacrifice bunt and moved to third when Martin Prado grounded out second to first. Brayan Pena drove in Pena Jr. with a sharp line drive single to center. The Braves tacked on two more in the fifth when Pena Jr. again started the team rolling with a one out single to center. He was driven in on a Prado ground ball which rolled between Upton and third baseman Rodney Nye. To the delight of the snubbed fans, many thought young "Bossman Junior" misplayed the ball and should have gotten to it. The light hitting Pena Jr. finished the evening going 2-3, raising his average to .275, while his more heralded counterpart, Upton, went 1-3 and finished the evening hitting just .272. He was also picked off first base by Shiell after leading off the game with a walk. The scoring ended that inning when Brayan Pena drove in Blanco on a groundout to third baseman Nye. The remainder of the game went to the pitchers, as Hammel went two more innings. He and Chad Orvella shut down the Braves the rest of the way. Likewise, Shiell pitched 7 innings until he was relieved at the beginning of the eighth by Wayne Franklin, who did his job until yielding to closer Manny Acosta who pitched a 3 up 2 down ninth. The Durham roster has turned over quite a bit since I saw them last. Gone to the majors are Tim Corcoran, Jamie Shields, Edwin Jackson and Rocco Baldelli. In their place are Seth McClung, Doug Waechter, Orvella and Nye, as well as the newly acquired J.P. Howell. The Bulls are a fun team to watch as they have a nice balance of prospects and filler type players, such as Kevin Witt, who could make it back to the majors and contribute. The Braves on the other hand, consist of players like Blanco, Prado and Brayan Pena, who may make it to Atlanta in the future, as well as a reclamation project like Shiell who may end up this season in Atlanta. --- John
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