With the 2007 season in the books, MiLB.com is taking a look back at the year's highlights in each Major League organization.
April 2 -- After batting .293 in 2006 for Durham, Elijah Dukes became the third player in Rays history to homer in his Major League debut, going deep on Opening Day at Yankee Stadium. Three days later, in his second start, Dukes homered again off the Yankees. Dukes cranked eight more homers before legal and family troubles sidelined the promising outfielder in June. April 5 -- Wade Townsend, the No. 8 overall pick by Tampa Bay in 2005, held Kannapolis to a pair of hits and a walk while fanning six en route to his first professional victory. It was the 24-year-old's first appearance since blowing out his right arm in a 2006 Arizona Fall League game, which led to Tommy John surgery. April 5 -- Making his second Opening Day start for Double-A Montgomery, Chris Seddon gave up one hit, walked one and struck out five over seven innings to beat West Tenn, 4-0. The southpaw remained hot when he carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning against Birmingham on April 17 en route to a 2-1 victory. Seddon finished with one hit in seven frames. April 7 -- Wes Bankston homered and drove in five runs and Jeff Niemann allowed two runs on four hits and a walk over five innings in his Triple-A debut as Durham topped Syracuse, 9-5. Bankston launched a two-run drive while Niemann, the Rays' first-rounder from 2004, struck out seven. April 8 -- Andy Sonnanstine allowed two hits over six innings in his Triple-A debut as Durham edged Syracuse, 6-2. A day later, Mitch Talbot and two relievers combined on a one-hitter as Durham blanked Pawtucket, 5-0. Talbot, traded from Houston in 2006 for Aubrey Huff, struck out four and walked two over six no-hit innings. April 16 -- Durham's Jason Hammel was named the International League Pitcher of the Week after he tossed five no-hit innings on Opening Night and allowed one run over five innings against Pawtucket in his second start on April 10. A week later, Vero Beach shortstop Neil Walton took the weekly Florida State League honors after batting .474 and driving in seven runs. Walton hit safely in all six games he played. April 24 -- Jeremy Hellickson combined with Ryan Owen on a five-hitter as the Columbus Catfish defeated the Rome Braves, 6-2. Hellickson struck out six and allowed one hit over six innings. April 29 -- Wade Davis allowed two hits over seven innings as Vero Beach beat Brevard County, 4-0. Davis, a 2004 third-rounder, struck out nine and retired the first 13 hitters he faced.
May 3 -- Vero Beach's Jake McGee lowered his Florida State League-leading ERA to 1.21 over 29 2/3 innings with six shutout frames in a 7-1 win over Jupiter. The 20-year-old took a no-hitter into the fourth.
May 4 -- Wade Davis impressed his family when he tossed his second career no-hitter, beating Jupiter, 4-0. Davis, who threw a no-hitter and lost in his final start of 2006, was unhittable as his family and girlfriend watched after a two-hour car ride to Roger Dean Stadium. He struck out six over seven innings and walked just one batter. May 11 -- Columbus right-hander Heath Rollins had his 32-inning shutout streak snapped but managed to pick up his third win with one unearned run over eight innings in a 7-1 win over Augusta. Rollins struck out seven and allowed just two hits.
May 14 -- Andy Sonnanstine and Seth McClung combined on a two-hitter as Durham dominated Richmond, 3-1. Sonnanstine, Tampa Bay's Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2006, took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and finished with 10 strikeouts in seven frames. May 21 -- It was another memorable night for Vero Beach when Sergio Pedroza went 4-for-5 with three homers, six RBIs and four runs scored. The 23-year-old, a third-rounder from 2005, helped the Rays beat Lakeland, 15-4. May 23 -- With the baseball universe drooling over Mitch Hilligoss' Minor League-best 29-game hitting streak, it was Columbus' Ryan Royster who inflicted the damage in Game No. 29. Royster finished the night with seven RBIs after he lined a three-run double and slugged a walk-off grand slam in the 10th inning to beat Hilligoss and Charleston, 7-3. May 27 -- Columbus righty Heath Rollins picked up his sixth win and remained undefeated after allowing one hit over six innings to edge Savannah, 4-2. Rollins, a week after his 22nd birthday, allowed one unearned run and struck out five. June 1 -- Andy Sonnanstine and J.P. Howell were promoted from Triple-A Durham to the Majors as the Rays continued to call upon their upcoming youngsters. Sonnanstine led the Bulls with six wins, 71 innings, 64 strikeouts and a 2.66 ERA. He got a no-decision in his debut against Toronto but picked up his first Major League win over Florida on June 10 when he set a Tampa Bay franchise record with seven consecutive strikeouts en route to 10 total. June 2 -- Jae Seo struggled at Tampa Bay through 11 starts but was nearly unhittable for Durham when he combined with two relievers on a two-hit, 1-0 win at Richmond. Seo allowed one hit over seven innings to lower his International League ERA to 2.25. The South Korean right-hander was 3-4 with an 8.12 ERA for the Rays. June 11 -- Jeremy Hellickson continued his dominance of Rome when he held the Braves to one hit over six scoreless innings as Columbus won, 9-2. Hellickson struck out five and lowered his ERA to 1.93. It was the third time this season the 20-year-old right-hander held Rome to one hit over at least five frames. Later in the day, Vero Beach's Wade Davis struck out a career-high 13 over 6 2/3 innings to beat Jupiter, 6-2. June 13 -- Columbus turned a 4-2-4 eighth-inning triple play to preserve a tie ballgame before edging Rome, 5-4. Second baseman Brett Grandstrand gunned down Willie Cabrera at the plate for the second out of the rare play.
June 14 -- Durham's Jeff Niemann and two relievers combined on a one-hitter to beat Indianapolis, 5-0. Niemann gave up one hit and three walks and struck out eight over 6 1/3 innings. June 24 -- Montgomery's Chris Mason tossed a three-hitter for his first career complete game as the Biscuits blanked the Mississippi Braves, 7-0. Mason struck out six and walked one to become the Southern League's first 10-game winner. June 26 -- The Rome Braves must have dreaded even seeing a Catfish logo by mid-June. Columbus' Wade Townsend took a no-hitter into the sixth inning en route to a seven-inning, one-hit, 10-1 win over Rome. Townsend issued a leadoff walk in the bottom of the first inning before he retired 16 consecutive batters.
July 8 -- Jeff Niemann was named the Team USA starter in the 2007 XM Satellite Radio All-Star Futures Game in San Francisco. Niemann, who beat out Joba Chamberlain and Clay Buchholz, entered the prestigious start third in the International League with 93 strikeouts and tied for second with nine wins. The right-hander ended up taking the loss after allowing two runs -- one earned -- in the first inning. July 14 -- Chris Richard drove in five runs for Durham in a 12-5 win over Buffalo. Richard connected for a two-run double and a three-run homer. July 15 -- Columbus's Cesar Suarez had an RBI groundout in the first inning, a two-run single in the third and a three-run homer in the fifth to drive in six runs and help beat Rome, 8-1. Starter Heath Rollins held Braves to one run on three hits in seven innings for his fourth straight win.
July 17 -- Durham's Justin Ruggiano homered and drove in five runs to bury Louisville, 10-2. The big performance was reminiscent of his five-RBI game on May 8 when he smacked a grand slam to beat Norfolk, 9-3. July 18 -- Mitch Talbot held Louisville to a pair of hits over eight shutout innings as Durham won, 11-0. Talbot struck out six and did not walk a batter.
July 22 -- Jon Weber drove in a career-high five runs and Jae Seo hurled eight scoreless innings to lead Durham past Indianapolis, 13-1. Weber slugged a three-run homer and hit a two-run double while Seo was honored the following day as International League Pitcher of the Week. He picked up two wins and improved to 4-0 at Triple-A. July 30 -- Durham's Jeremy Owens hit .632 with three RBIs to earn International League Player of the Week honors. Owens hit safely in every game and had five multi-hit performances. Aug. 2 -- Evan Longoria took a step closer to the bigs when Tampa promoted the star third baseman to Triple-A Durham. Longoria destroyed Class A pitching in 2006 and departed Double-A Montgomery batting .307 with 21 homers in 105 games. Aug. 4 -- Kyle Ayers, in his first professional start, and two relievers combined on a one-hitter for Princeton, who blanked Bluefield, 5-0. Ayers allowed one hit over five innings. Aug. 7 -- Did you see that? Vero Beach's Sergio Pedroza homered in his fourth straight game as the Rays edged Clearwater, 6-4. Pedroza claimed his contact lens prescription wasn't working out after he hit .163 in April. With new contacts, Pedroza's homer gave him 11 RBIs in four games. Aug. 11 -- Fearless pitchers kept dealing to Ryan Royster, who turned into a souvenir-ball machine. Royster homered in his sixth straight game, helping Columbus past Greensboro, 8-6. The red-hot Royster was hitting .341 with eight homers and 18 RBIs in his first 10 August games. Aug. 20 -- Vero Beach's Jeff Kamrath tossed a two-hitter for his second complete game of the year, a 6-1 victory over Palm Beach. The right-handed Kamrath had been 0-2 with a 7.36 ERA in two previous road starts against the Cardinals. Earlier in the day, Montgomery's Jake McGee was named Southern League Pitcher of the Week after tossing 6 1/3 scoreless innings to beat Jacksonville. Aug. 29 -- Another impressive performance on the Vero Beach mound, this time from Josh Butler. Butler tossed a two-hitter for his first career shutout as the Rays clubbed Jupiter, 10-0. He struck out seven and walked just one. Aug. 30 -- Five Montgomery players were added to the Southern League's second-half All-Star squad. Not surprisingly, Evan Longoria and Chris Mason headline the All-Star selections. Longoria was named the Southern League MVP while Mason was tapped as Pitcher of the Year. Both were joined by Biscuits catcher John Jaso, outfielder Fernando Perez and reliever Dale Thayer. Sept. 1 -- Chris Nowak homered and drove in four runs as Montgomery clinched the Southern League South Division second-half title with a 6-3 win over Jacksonville. The win improves the Biscuits to 43-23 in the second half and gives them their 12th straight win. Sept. 2 -- A day after Double-A Montgomery clinched their division, it was Class A Columbus' turn. The Catfish, however, backed into the South Atlantic League's Southern Division title when a rain storm canceled their scheduled doubleheader with Savannah. Unable to make the games up, the rain-out means Charleston, 2 1/2 games back, is done.
Sept. 3 -- Justin Ruggiano went 2-for-4 with a two-out solo homer, his 20th, as Durham beat Charlotte, 2-1. The long ball made Ruggiano the only player in the International League with at least 20 homers and 20 steals.
Sept. 7 -- Jeremy Hellickson tossed six strong innings against Augusta to help Columbus into the South Atlantic League Finals. A day later, Evan Longoria homered twice to pace Durham as the Bulls swept Toledo, 5-2, to advance to the International League Finals. Longoria went 6-for-13 with two homers and four RBIs in the Bulls' three-game sweep.
Sept. 9 -- Reid Brignac hit a go-ahead RBI single and plated two more runs as the Biscuits topped Mississippi, 12-5, to advance to the Southern League Finals. The 21-year-old shortstop, who went 3-for-3 and scored twice, lined a two-run single in the fourth inning and ripped an RBI double to spark a seven-run sixth.
Sept. 13 -- Ryan Royster hit a three-run home run as Columbus swept West Virginia to win the South Atlantic Championship. Royster and Matt Fields went yard in the series-clinching win following a two-hour rain delay.
Sept. 16 -- Sergio Pedroza slugged a dramatic three-run go-ahead homer in the ninth inning of Game 5 to lead Montgomery past Huntsville, 4-3, for the Southern League crown. The Biscuits trailed 3-1 in the ninth, but walked away with their second straight league championship. Danny Wild is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs. |
