There was a time, back from 2007 until 2009, when Ryan Garko was a legitimate major league player. While not a power hitter, Garko was able to hit the ball to all fields, putting together a .278 batting average with 68 doubles, 48 home runs, and 202 RBIs. He did not strike out very often, striking out in only 15.5% of his career late appearances, but he also did not walk much either, with only 7.1% of his plate appearances ending in a free pass.

However, upon leaving the Cleveland Indians via trade on July 27, 2009, Garko suddenly lost his ability to hit. In his 78 games with the Tribe, he had put together a .280 batting average to go along with 10 doubles, 11 home runs, and 39 RBI. Yet, with the Giants, Garko only hit .235 with 3 doubles and 2 home runs in 40 games. 2010 was even worse, as he played in 15 games for the Texas Rangers, and only produced three singles in 33 at bats. Garko was optioned to AAA, and spent the rest of the season with the Oklahoma City RedHawks, where he continued to struggle, managing to hit only .235 with 12 home runs over 93 games.

Unable to secure a major league invite, Garko signed with the Samsung Lions in the Korean Baseball Organization. However, after an injury, he was released in July. This past March, he signed with the Long Island Ducks in the independent Atlantic League, and acquitted himself rather well, batting .450 and leading the league with a 1.219 OPS. This caught the attention of the Rays, and he was signed to a minor league contract on May 14th.

Presently playing for the Montgomery Biscuits, Garko has put up solid numbers, producing a .302/.393/.449 slash line with 8 home runs and 38 RBI in 60 games. Given the ongoing problems that Carlos Pena has had offensively this year, Garko may end up being a September call up, with a chance to show whether or not he has anything left.

At age 31, Ryan Garko still has time to potentially be a productive player. As the rosters expand, he may get that chance.

Triple-A International League: Charlotte Knights (CHW) 4, Durham Bulls 0

11 hits, three separate 3-hit games, and zero runs. That is pretty embarrassing. Lance Pendleton was certainly not great, going 6 innings allowing 4 runs on 6 hits, striking out 5 while walking 1 but allowing a 4-6 groundout to flyout ratio and 2 home runs. Josh Lueke was great in the final two innings, allowing just a hit while striking out 3 and walking none and posting a 3-0 groundout to flyout ratio. But the Bulls went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position and couldn’t mMuster a single run. Henry Wrigley went 3 for 4 with 2 doubles, and Leslie Anderson and Matt Mangini each went 3 for 4 as well, but they just could not score.

Double-A Southern League: Mobile Baybears (ARI) 11, Montgomery Biscuits 3

Matt Buschmann has to wonder what the heck just happened. He forced groundball after groundball. His groundout to flyout ratio in the game was a perfect 13-0. His groundball to flyball ratio was 16-4. Even his groundballs to flyballs, line drives, and pop-ups ratio was 16-10. Yet his start was an absolute disaster. He went 6 innings allowing 9 runs on 11 hits, striking out 2 and walking out 2 as well. He managed to allow just 4 flyballs, but 2 home runs! That is known is terrible luck. Sorry, Matt. It happens. Ryan Garko did slam a 2-run homer for the Biscuits.

Nice to see Joyce back in the batter's box, and hopefully he'll rejoin the Rays soon. (Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE)

High-A Florida State League: Daytona Cubs 4, Charlotte Stone Crabs 3

Nice to see Matt Joyce back in a game for the first time since July 4th. Joyce started in right field had a nice showing, going 1 for 3 with a double, a walk, and an RBI. A bizarre chain of events happened after Joyce left the game. Kevin Kiermaier entered the game as a defensive replacement and then was pinch-hit for by Riccio Torrez without getting an at-bat, and Torrez got a huge RBI single to tie the game at 3. Backtracking, C.J. Riefenhauser had his first non-disaster start since June 22nd, although he was by no means dominant. He went 4 innings allowing 3 runs, 2 earned, on 5 hits, striking out 2 while walking 4. His groundout to flyout ratio was 4-3. More dominant was Alex Koronis, who relieved Riefenhauser and came through with his best appearance, since, interestingly, July 15th, 2011, a year prior to the day. Wow. He went 4.1 shutout innings allowing 2 hits and a walk while striking out 4. Unfortunately, Chris Rearick entered with 1 out in the 9th and allowed a walk, a double, and a walk-off sac fly by Rubi Silva to end it.

Low-A Midwest League: Bowling Green Hot Rods 4, Peoria Chiefs (CHC) 2

It’s that’s time of year at the Low-A level. The pitchers in Low-A are all coming from Short Season-A or Rookie Ball and came into this year with a relatively small amount of innings under their belt. At this point in the season, the Rays have started to limit the innings of their Low-A pitchers to make sure that their workload doesn’t increase by too much from year to year in order to keep them healthy. Roberto Gomez was the first starter for Bowling Green and pitched well, allowing no runs on 3 hits in 3 innings, striking out 2 while walking 1. Felipe Rivero followed and was pretty unimpressive, allowing 1 run on 4 hits in his 3 frames, striking out just 1 while walking 2. Charlie Cononie tossed the final third of the game, allowing 1 run on 2 hits in 3 innings, striking out 5 while walking 4. They held the Chiefs to 2 runs and the Hot Rods got them the run support they needed to win. Cameron Seitzer was moved into the three-hole with Drew Vettleson getting a day off and sure hit like it, going 4 for 5 with an RBI and a run scored. He raised his batting average from .297 to .306 in the process. Jake Hager also had a nice game, going 1 for 3 with a big 2-run single, a walk, a stolen base, and a run scored. And in addition, Josh Sale was by no means flashy but had an encouraging performance, going 0 for 1 but with 3 walks and a run scored.

Advanced Rookie Appalachian League: Game 1: Burlington Royals 2, Princeton Rays 0 (7 innings)

Blake Snell finally lost his first game of the season with what can be called a bad outing. Boy, what some people would give for Blake Snell’s bad outings. Snell went 4.2 innings allowing 2 runs on 4 hits, striking out 4 while walking 3 and posting a 6-4 groundout to flyout ratio. Zach Butler and Randy Davis combined to hold the Royals down for the rest of the game, but the P-Rays couldn’t generate any offense and fell in the opener of the doubleheader. They managed just 3 hits, by Willie Argo, who went 1 for 2 with a walk, and Brandon Martin and Daniel Duran, who had a hit apiece.

Game 2: Princeton Rays 3, Burlington Royals 1

The P-Rays’ fate reversed in Game 2, as often appears to be the case. Bruedlin Suero, a lean 6’4″, 170 lefty, had his best start of the season by an exorbitant amount, going 5 innings allowing just 1 run on 5 hits, striking out 4 while walking 1. His groundout to flyout ratio was a great 9-2. He managed a 1.80 start ERA after not getting below 7.20 in any of his other 5 appearances, 4 of which were starts. Congrats to Bruedlin, and hopefully he has turned a corner. Jon Weaver tossed 2 perfect innings with 2 strikeouts for the save. The offense was supplied by a few different contributors, with Omar Narvaez going 2 for 3 with a run scored, Alvin Toles going 1 for 2 with a walk, an RBI, and 2 stolen bases, and Daryl George and John Alexander each lacing an RBI single.

Triple-A International League: Syracuse Chiefs (WSN) 3, Durham Bulls 2 (12 innings)

This game with fun. It’s also near-depressing that they ended up losing. Kyle Farnsworth started the game in a rehab appearance and struck out 2 as he worked around a double in a scoreless frame. Then he was followed by Matt Torra and Torra was really good, going 6.2 innings allowing just 1 run on 4 hits, striking out 6 while walking 1. But he didn’t get the win as the Bulls scored just one run on a Tim Beckham RBI single. This game eventually went to extra-innings, and that’s where it got crazy. In the 11th inning, Bryan Augenstein allowed a Carlos Rivero RBI single. But the Bulls rallied to tie it in the bottom of the inning when Reid Brignac walked, advance to third base on a Matt Mangini single, and then Jeff Salazar scored him on a squeeze bunt. But Jim Negrych hit an RBI single against Ryan Reid in the 12th as the Chiefs won 3-2. Luke Scott went 1 for 5 in his second rehab game and Chris Gimenez was the only Bull with a multi-hit game, going 3 for 5 with a double, a walk, and a run scored.

Double-A Southern League: Montgomery Biscuits 7, Jacksonville Suns (MIA) 6

Anybody find horrific pitching starts funny? I certainly don’t. But if you do, you’re in for a treat. Jacksonville starter Omar Poveda couldn’t record a single out allowing 3 hits and 3 runs. But James Leverton tossed 4 innings of 4-run ball and Alex Colome was a disaster for the Biscuits, allowing 6 runs on 8 hits in 3 innings, striking out just 1 while walking 4. But the Biscuits came back from a 6-3 deficit on a run-scoring balk, a Mark Thomas RBI double, a Hak-Ju Lee RBI single, and a go-ahead RBI groundout by Thomas as they won this game 7- 6. Alex Koronis, Neil Schenk, and Adam Liberatore combined for 6 shutout relief innings and the offense had a good day. Kyeong Kang went 3 for 5 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI. Ryan Garko went 3 for 5, his third consecutive 3-hit game, raising his average all the way up to .344. Hak-Ju Lee also went 2 for 5 with his 26th stolen base of the season.

High-A Florida State League: Charlotte Stone Crabs

In case you’re wondering what the heck has happened to the Stone Crabs, they have had 6 consecutive games rained out, most recently because of Hurricane Debby. They’ll resume play… eventually.

Unbelievable, Drew. (Credit: Flickr user whitecapwendy)

Low-A Midwest League: West Michigan Whitecaps (DET) 13, Bowling Green Hot Rods 11

This game was as crazy as it gets. Jake Floethe allowed 6 runs on 6 hits in 2 innings and every Hot Rods pitcher in the game (4) allowed at least 2 runs. Bowling Green trailed 9-4 after 6 innings. But they got 1 run in the 7th and then they got 6 more to take an 11-9 lead in the 8th. The star of the inning was Drew Vettleson. Vettleson drilled a bases-clearing 3-run double and later in the inning stole home! Wow. Josh Sale and Matt Rice had the inning’s other RBIs. But Andrew Bellatti and Austin Hubbard allowed 4 runs in the bottom of the inning as the Whitecaps won 13-11. Vettleson had a ridiculous game, going 4 for 5 with a double, a walk, the steal of home, 4 RBI, and 2 runs scored. Four other Hot Rods had multi-hit games: Ryan Brett, who went 2 for 5 with a walk, his 20th stolen base of the season, and 2 runs scored, Matt Rice, who went 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored, and then two of the Rays’ top prospects other than Vettleson had nice games as as well. Josh Sale went 2 for 5 with a walk, his 5th stolen base of the season, an RBI, and a run scored. And Tyler Goeddel had his best game in way too long, going 2 for 3 with 2 walks and 2 runs scored. He has quietly reached base 11 times in his last four games.

Short Season-A New York-Penn League: Hudson Valley Renegades 4, Brooklyn Cyclones (NYM) 2

The Renegades got excellent pitching and rallied from a 2-1 deficit in the late innings to win this one 4-2. Matthew Spann got the start and was decent, allowing 2 runs on 6 hits in 4 innings, striking out 3 while walking 3. His groundout to flyout ratio was 6-1. Reinaldo Lopez and Dylan Floro, the Rays’ 13th round pick in 2012, both tossed 2 shutout innings, with Floro’s coming in his pro debut. And in the 7th inning, the Renegades rallied for 3 runs, with the big hit coming on a 2-run double by Deshun Dixon. Floro earned the win in the game. Tommy Coyle also went 3 for 4 with a double and 2 RBI while Justin O’Conner went 1 for 3.

Advanced Rookie Appalachian League: Greeneville Astros 8, Princeton Rays 7

Another game, another attempted comeback, and this one fell short. Kevin James started for the P-Rays and was not particularly good, going 4 innings allowing 4 runs, 3 earned, on 5 hits, striking out just one while walking 3. He did post a 6-1 groundout to flyout ratio. He was replaced by Hugo Duarte, who also struggled, allowing 4 runs in 3.1 innings.  The P-Rays almost made up for it, pulling back within 8-7, but that would be the final score. Brandon Martin went 3 for 4 with a walk, 2 stolen bases, and 2 runs scored, Juan Morillo went 3 for 5 with 3 RBI, and Omar Narvaez, Reid Redman, and Daryl George all had 2-hit days.

Foreign Rookie Venezuelan Summer League: VSL Mariners 12, VSL Rays 6

Let’s be honest: we have completely ignored the Rays’ Dominican and Venezuelan Summer League here at RCG- other than the fact that promising catching prospect Oscar Hernandez played in the VSL. Well, I actually saw this one, and accordingly I’ll discuss it. Get ready to hear about a bunch of players you’ve never heard of before and may never hear of again.

The VSL Rays got some solid offense, but an utter disaster of a start ruined them in this one. 18 year old right-hander Yerwin Sanchez got the start and couldn’t managed to record an out, allowing 2 hits, 2 walks, and a hit batsmen, leading to 4 runs. Abrahan Rodriguez steadied the ship a little bit following him, allowing 3 runs, earned, on 5 hits in 5 innings, striking out 1 while walking none. Rodriguez is 17 and already 6’2″, 185. The game was quickly out of reach, especially after some poor bullpen work, but the VSL Rays did show some good offense. 19 year old first baseman Iago Januario (great name) went 2 for 4 with an RBI and 2 runs scored, 22 year old (gasp) catcher Nohisglin Rivero went 2 for 4 with a run scored. The other RBIs came from 17 year old catcher Kevin Barrios (2), 17 year old third baseman Jhonnathan Teran, and 18 year old second baseman Norly Suarez. Maybe it’s a good thing that we haven’t been following the VSL Rays- they’re 10-27 on the season.