The Morning After: Rain Out After 4 Innings

Another day of excitement following the "live" box score on mlb.com. Although Delmon Young didn't make the trip, two formers area high schoolers -- Dennard Span and Boof Bonser -- played for the Twins. Span batted leadoff and went 2 for 2 off of E-Jack with a double and a single. Bonser shut down the Rays for three innings allowing only two hits while striking out three. As most of you know we went to high school for a while with Span. I still remember him having to come into Mrs. Wilson's English class because he got booted out of his own class. Then he transferred to Tampa Catholic, played great in the state tourney, got drafted in the first round by the Twins, and held a big party at Club Joy. This was a long time ago. I am glad to see that he finally made it to the Majors. He was also a pretty good wide receiver too if I remember correctly.

Highlights

• E-Jack scattered three hits in three innings and gave up no runs.
  

Lowlights

• Reyes struggled after replacing E-Jack. He gave up three runs in the 4th

Analysis

Jackson pitched well. It seems increasingly likely that the rotation will be Kaz, Shields, Garza, Sonny, and Jackson. I am pretty sure this would be the first time that the Rays started a new season with the same rotation with which they ended the last season. This stability is a good thing for the Rays and is a direct result of using young, mostly homegrown talent.

PA