Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Riggans hitting cleanup; Biscuits pay rent

Catcher Shawn Riggans is making his rehab debut with the Biscuits, who are putting him in the middle of their batting order. Riggans will hit fourth and catch tonight in the series opener with Birmingham.

The Biscuits also made their quarterly rent payment last week and it totaled $118,513.31. The team has paid more than $3.6 million in rent since Riverwalk Stadium opened in 2004.

The talent-laden Barons make their first stop at Riverwalk this year. Five of the top six White Sox prospects are with Birmingham, including No. 1 Gordon Beckham and No. 3 Aaron Poreda, who threw a five-inning no-hitter Monday.

If you're coming out this week (or any time over the next month), the Biscuits are distributing major-league All-Star ballots. They'll be on the concourse or in the Biscuit Basket. Former Biscuits Evan Longoria , B.J. Upton , Elijah Dukes and Delmon Young are on the ballot.

Tonight's lineups ...
BISCUITS
Desmond Jennings, cf
Brandon Chaves, ss
Rhyne Hughes, 1b
Shawn Riggans, c
Rashad Eldridge, lf
J.T. Hall, rf
Fernando Cortez, 3b
Cesar Suarez, dh
Drew Anderson, 2b
Jeremy Hellickson, rhp

BARONS
John Shelby, cf
Gordon Beckham, ss
Tyler Flowers, dh
Brandon Allen, 1b
Dayan Viciedo, 3b
David Cook, lf
Stefan Gartrell, rf
C.J. Retherford, 2b
Jared Price, c
*Lucas Harrell, rhp

*--The Barons had a game rained out Monday and bumped previously scheduled John Ely.

To end the suspense for Tampa Bay's top minor leaguers in April, I'd cast my vote for Desmond Jennings and Darin Downs. Jennings has been strong despite making essentially a two-level jump to Montgomery. Downs may be a Florida State League veteran, but a complete game is an achievement.

No comments: