- I'll frankly be shocked if Bryan LaHair posts an OPS above .650 with the M's. He's going to be overexposed, then overmatched, against big league pitching.  What we've seen out of him in Tacoma against AAA pitching could well be his ceiling.

- Fleming Baez is back in Everett. You may now back off from the edge of your seat.

- Speaking of return demotions, Military Man Nick Hill's West Tenn tenure is over after struggles in 9 appearances, where Hill posted a 10.13 ERA and walked 7 batters in 8 innings. He returned to the pitching hell of High Desert, where he worked the 6th inning and allowed an unearned run and two hits in last night's 10-1 loss to Rancho Cucamonga.

- Dennis Raben once again was out of the lineup, and is now on the reserve list. Subsequent reports indicate that he's got jammed or sore fingers from destroying all that NWL pitching, and is just taking some days to let them heal up. Why take chances, right?

- Don't fret too much about Juan Ramirez coming out in the 1st inning of yesterday's T-Rats loss: Chris Mehring confirmed that Ramirez, who hadn't pitched since July 2nd, was only scheduled to throw one inning, and took an early exit after taking some severe WHIP damage. Blip... blip... and he'll be right back out and at it soon to continue building back up to starter's stamina.

- I wasn't kidding when I said the Cal League would help The Happiest Man On Earth, Joe Simokaitis. Small sample size, yes, but he has 8 hits in his first 19 ABs, 4 of which are home runs.

- West Tenn picked a bad day to allow 8 runs to the Jacksonville Suns: the starting pitcher for Jacksonville was a young Dodgers prospect named Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw worked 5 easy innings, allowing only one hit and a walk while inducing 9 groundouts and striking out 3. Granted, the score was still close (3-0 Jaxtown) once Kershaw took a mandated seat, but Nelson Payano, who has otherwise been solid for West Tenn since the M's picked him off the Braves scrap-heap, had himself a little 8th inning meltdown and the game got away. As for offense, pre-and-post Kershaw... Adam Moore had 2 hits. That is all.

- The JJ Putz Rehab Train arrives in Cheney Stadium tonight, as JJ will make a rehab start against the Tucson Sidewinders in the Rainiers game tonight.

Also, speaking of the DL, Mumba Rivera becomes the 6th Rainiers pitcher to hit the 7 Day DL. I was not able to find any further information on what exactly the injury is.

And this is old news from the 4th of July, but who knew Rainiers jerseys were worth so much? The Rainiers wore special red unis on the 4th that were auctioned off for charity. Mumba Rivera's jersey was auctioned off for $375, while Matt Tuiasosopo's got $350 and WLAD's got $300. Yes, WLAD's jersey was outsold by a quarterback's brother and a AA closer.

Stats below the jump!

VENEZUELA~! VSL Tigers 5, VSL Mariners 3
VSLMs: 34-20... VSL Tigres: 17-38
(League: 253/335/343... 3.48 ERA)

Gerardo Esparza: 4.1 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 2 walks, 2 K, wild pitch (11 GS +2, 1.67 ERA, 59.1 IP, 1 HR, 17/50 BB/K)
Yoervis Medina: 3.2 IP, 1 H, walk, 4 K, wild pitch (13 app, 1.53 ERA, 35.1 IP, 1 HR, 11/30 BB/K)
Michael Acevedo: 1-3, 2 RBI (246/325/330)
Larry Gonzalez: 1-2, double, R, walk (229/295/281)
rest of VSLMs lineup: 3-24, walk, 7 K

Dominican: DSL Cardinals 3, DSL Mariners 2, 11 innings
DSLMs: 26-12... DSL Cards: 14-23
(League: 235/339/320... 3.73 ERA)

Henry Perez: 6 IP, 1 H, 2 walks, 10 K (6 GS +3, 2.10 ERA, 34.1 IP, 16/48 BB/K)
Cristian Rijo: 2.1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, walk, 3 K
Felix Bautista: two outs, 2 H, K (12 app, 1.77 ERA, 45.2 IP, 2 HR, 9/51 BB/K)
Nelson Germocen: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 K, wild pitch (16 app, 1.40 ERA, 25.2 IP, 12/40 BB/K)
Efrain Nuñez: 1-4, RBI, 2 K (290/394/538)
Ameilis Carvajal: 1-4, double, walk (253/403/396)
Rey Lebron: 1-4, R, RBI, walk, 2 K (206/299/235)

Rk-AZL: Royals 10, Mariners 9
(League: 269/350/388... 4.58 ERA)

Fray Martinez: 5.1 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, walk, 6 K (4 GS +2, 5.40 ERA, 28.1 IP, 4 HR, 14/28 BB/K)
Yao Wen Chang: two outs, 1 H
Nick Love: 2 IP, 3 H, (2 R) 1 ER, walk (5 app, 10.97 ERA, 10.2 IP, 4/5 BB/K)
Jeroen de Haas: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER (HR)
Terry Serrano: 2-5, double, triple, R, 2 RBI (282/301/423)
Alfredo Mateo: 2-5, RBI, walk (263/384/375)
Robert Rodriguez: 3-5, R (299/315/379)
Joel Mendez: 3-5, 2 R, RBI (325/341/386)
Jarrett Burgess: 1-5, double, R, 2 RBI, 2 K (200/268/253)
Henry Contreras: 1-2, double, R, RBI
Jharmidy De Jesus: 2-4, triple, R, RBI, walk, K (338/391/513)

Rk+: Pulaski 4, Elizabethton 3
PMs: 20-9... ELI: 18-9
(League: 264/336/395... 4.35 ERA)

Brooks Mohr: 5 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, walk, 7 K (6 GS, 2.83 ERA, 28.2 IP, 1 HR, 13/27 BB/K)
Andres Esquibel: 1.2 IP, 1 H, K (7 app, 3.14 ERA, 14.1 IP, 2 HR, 3/5 BB/K)
Brandon Pullen: 1 IP, K (8 app, 2.19 ERA, 12.1 IP, 2 HR, 2/13 BB/K)
Blake Nation: 1.1 IP, 2 K, wild pitch, hit batter (8 app, 3.65 ERA, 12.1 IP, 1 HR, 4/14 BB/K)
George Soto: 2-4, K, SB
Juan Fuentes: 2-4, K (455/506/610)
Kalian Sams: 1-3, solo HR, walk, K, SB (224/313/565)
Blake Trinkler: 2-4, R, 2 K (269/377/404)
Dwight Britton: 1-3, 3 run HR, K (205/263/370)

A-: Everett 9, Salem-Keizer 3
EVE: 13-17... S-K: 16-14
(League: 256/345/367... 4.21 ERA)

Steven Hensley: 6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER (HR), walk, 6 K (4 GS +2, 5.31 ERA, 20.1 IP, 2 HR, 7/25 BB/K)
Eddy Fernandez: 2 IP, walk, 3 K (11 app, 5.40 ERA, 15 IP, 2 HR, 5/19 BB/K)
Bradley Reid: 1 IP, K
Bennett Billingsley: 2-5, triple, R, 2 RBI, 2 K (288/351/485)
Luis Nuñez: 2-4, triple, R, 2 RBI, K (318/322/398)
Kevin Reynolds: 2-5, R, K, SB (373/423/490)
Brandon Fromm: 2-5, double, 2 R, 2 K (311/358/405)
Fleming Baez: 1-4, double, R, 3 RBI, walk, 2 K (261/358/370)
Manny Pimentel: 3-5, double, R, 2 RBI, K (242/361/341)
Tyson Gillies: 4-5, double, 2 R, K, SB, outfield assist in LF (292/370/396)

A: South Bend 8, Wisconsin 5
WIS: 5-21... SB: 16-11
(League: 251/322/372... 3.66 ERA)

Juan Ramirez: two outs, 2 H, 2 ER, walk, K, 2 hit batters (16 GS +1, 4.77 ERA, 83 IP, 6 HR, 28/73 BB/K)
Keith Renaud: 4.1 IP, 6 H, (6 R) 3 ER, 3 walks, 5 K
Ryan Moorer: 3 IP, 2 H, walk, K (30 app, 3.43 ERA, 39.1 IP, 2 HR, 14/28 BB/K)
Natividad Dilone: 1 IP (11 app, 5.84 ERA, 12.1 IP, 2 HR, 7/10 BB/K)
Edilio Colina: 2-4, double, triple, R, 2 RBI (281/345/382)
Denny Almonte: 2-5, RBI, K, SB (272/319/455)
Juan Diaz: 2-4 (244/288/310)
Joe White: 1-4, R, RBI, K

A+: Rancho Cucamonga 10, High Desert 1
Mavs: 11-16... Quakes: 14-12
(League: 272/341/409... 4.53 ERA)

Alfredo Venegas: 5 IP, 8 H, 6 ER (2 HR), walk, K, hit batter (9 GS +8, 4.70 ERA, 74.2 IP, 7 HR, 21/68 BB/K)
Nick Hill: 1 IP, 2 H, (1 R) 0 ER, K (10 GS +9, 4.46 ERA, 70.2 IP, 9 HR, 25/54 BB/K)
Bryan Harris: 1 IP, 1 H (24 app, 6.16 ERA, 30.2 IP, 6 HR, 6/22 BB/K)
Steve Uhlmansiek: 1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER (HR), wild pitch (24 app, 4.00 ERA, 27 IP, 3 HR, 15/22 BB/K)
Joe Simokaitis: 2-4, solo HR
rest of Mavs lineup: 2-27, 2 walks, 6 K

AA: Jacksonville 8, West Tenn 0
WTN: 9-18... JAX: 12-15
(League: 262/340/396... 4.19 ERA)

Doug FISTER: 6 IP, 9 H, (3 R) 1 ER, 3 walks, 4 K (20 GS, 5.22 ERA, 108.2 IP, 11 HR, 38/79 BB/K)
Nelson Payano: 1.1 IP, 5 H, 4 ER (HR), 2 walks, 2 K, 2 wild pitches (35 app, 3.90 ERA, 57.2 IP, 2 HR, 36/53 BB/K)
Marwin Vega: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, wild pitch, 2 hit batters (33 app, 5.47 ERA, 49.1 IP, 3 HR, 34/33 BB/K)
Adam Moore: 2-3 (309/380/486)
rest of DIAMOND JAXX lineup: 1-25, 3 walks, 7 K

AAA: The Rainiers had their last day off of the AAA All Star Break.