Editing Article:Baseball Notebook: Barry "Balco" Bonds 756th Home Run Ball in Hall of Fame (section)

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==Sonnanstine, Kazmir Anchor Tampa Bay Rays Pitching Staff==
===Starting Rotation===
Not many baseball fans would have thought that [[Andy Sonnanstine]] (9-3) would have the best record on the [[Tampa Bay Rays]]' pitching staff after having a 6-10 season with the Rays last year. He has beaten some very good teams this season, with wins over the [[St. Louis Cardinals]], [[Chicago White Sox]], [[Chicago Cubs]], and [[Florida Marlins]], and won his first start of the season against the [[New York Yankees]]. He has not given up more than 3 runs in his last seven starts.

Surprisingly, he has given up 21 more hits than innings pitched this season and finished last season with 21 more hits than innings pitched, but that doesn't matter that much with the Rays' offense hitting the way they have been this season.

[[Scott Kazmir]] (7-3) didn't even start his first game this season until May 4th, and that makes Rays fans wonder how far the Rays would have been ahead of the [[Boston Red Sox]] if Kazmir hadn't missed 6 or 7 starts. Kazmir didn't allow a home run until his sixth start of the season. Opposing hitters are hitting only .192 against Kazmir, and he is even better when pitching with runners in scoring position, as the other teams hit only .163 against him in that situation.

[[Matt Garza]] (7-4) was 5-7 after 15 starts with the [[Minnesota Twins]] in 2007, but in 15 starts this year, he is 7-4. He pitched his best game of the season in his most important start of the season when he held the [[Boston Red Sox]] scoreless last night.

[[James Shields]] (6-5) has pitched better than his record indicates. In two seperate starts against the Yankees, he gave up a total of 4 runs in 12 innings yet lost both games. He gave up one run in 6 innings against the White Sox and had a no decision. The stat that really stands out is that Shields has had 12 starts in which he gave up one or less walks with 4 starts with no walks.

[[Edwin Jackson]] (4-6) won his first two starts of the season against the Yankees and [[Seattle Mariners]]. Since then, he has been 2-6. He has given up 4 or more runs in 7 starts. In 3 of those starts, he gave up 6 runs. Jackson has won one game since May 24th. To his credit, Jackson pitched 22 innings in three consecutive starts against the [[Toronto Blue Jays]], Yankees, and Cardinals and only allowed only one earned run but received three no decisions in those games. Earlier this season, he pitched 7 innings against the Red Sox and allowed one run but again received a no decision. So, he could easily be 8-6 with any kind of run support in those games.

===Bullpen===
[[J.P. Howell]] (6-0) has been the most solid performer out of the bullpen. Last season, he was 1-6 and was 5-14 lifetime before starting this season. He has pitched 51 innings, both last season and so far this season. He gave up 69 hits in 51 innings last season, but in 51 innings this season, he has given up only 36 hits. So he has given up an amazing 33 less hits in the same number of innings as last year.

[[Kurt Birkins]] (0-0) and [[Grant Balfour]] (2-0) have pitched a combined 26 innings and have allowed 3 runs and 11 hits.

[[Dan Wheeler]] (2-3) has an impressive 1.88 ERA and has only lost once since April 16th. He has the same identical 1.88 ERA this season against both lefthanders and righthanders.

[[Jason Hammel]] (3-3) was 3-11 combined in his first two seasons with the Rays. He has a negative stat of having an 8.79 ERA when runners are in scoring position against him, but also has a positive stat in that he has a 1.59 ERA in late innings of close games.

[[Scott Dohmann]] (2-0) has a winning record but has a team worst 6.14 ERA, but those two wins have came against the Red Sox showing he can beat the best teams despite the high ERA. Unfortunately for Dohmann, he was sent back to the Minors when [[Al Reyes]] returned from the disabled list.

Speaking of Al Reyes (1-2), he had an ERA of 10.38 in April before being placed on the disabled list. He returned to the bullpen on May 14th and had given up only 2 runs in his last eleven appearances before returning to the disabled list but may be returning again soon.

[[Troy Percival]] 1-0 is pitching for his fourth different team in the last four years and has pitched well for the Rays with 19 saves in 21 chances. Percival allowed no runs in his first 11 appearances of the season. His May ERA was 5.11 and his June ERA was 5.40. Percival was placed on the 15 day disabled list yesterday, so the Rays will have to decide who will fill the closer spot till he returns.

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