Hand It Over, Akinori Iwamura

With two outs in the second on a 2-2 count to Tampa Bay Devil Rays' lefty Akinori Iwamura, New York Yankees' manager Joe Torre emerged from the dugout to speak with the home plate umpire.

D'Rays manager Joe Maddon was then called out onto the field, and after a conference which questioned the flatness of the end of his bat, Iwamura was forced to hand it over. As the lumber was on its way to the commissioner's office for inspection, the confused-looking infielder struck out swinging to end the inning.

Not to be outdone, Maddon approached the umps during Alex Rodriguez's next plate appearance. Questioning the legality of his bat, Maddon said there must be something inside of it since the third baseman has 45 homers on the first of September.

Tadahito Iguchi: Trade Ya

With badass second baseman Chase Utley expected to miss roughly three weeks after undergoing surgery on his broken right hand, the Philadelphia Phillies acquired Tadahito Iguchi from the Chicago White Sox for minor league righty Michael Dubee.

The 32-year-old Iguchi is batting .251 with six homers and 31 RBIs in 90 games with the White Sox this season. He is below-average at the plate, batting just .273 with 39 longballs, 169 RBIs and 216 runs scored in three seasons with Chicago after spending eight seasons with the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks in the Japanese Pacific League.

Dubee, the 21-year-old lanky son of Phils' pitching coach Rich Dubee, is 4-4 with a 3.88 ERA in 30 relief appearances this season with the Class-A Lakewood BlueClaws.

In other MLB trade news, the Milwaukee Brewers acquired right-handed reliever Seth McClung from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in exchange for righty Grant Balfour on Friday.

McClung has spent the entire season with the AAA Durham Bulls, where he boasts a 1.99 ERA in 40 appearances. Balfour was designated for assignment by the Brewers earlier this week after posting an 0-2 record with a 20.25 ERA in three games. Craptastic.

[The 700 Level]

Out of Commission

Continuing to experience stiffness in his pitching arm, Florida Marlins righty Josh Johnson left the game against the San Diego Padres last night after just five innings. He was promptly placed on the 15-day disabled list.

Johnson missed the first 2 1/2 months of the season while recovering from an irritated ulnar nerve in his right elbow, and made only four starts since his activation on June 18th.

Elijah Dukes Would Like You To Recognize

In a convincing attempt to confirm the fact that he needs to be put away for good, troubled Tampa Bay Devil Rays outfielder Elijah Dukes called Ron and Ian's Radio Show on The Sports Animal.

He starts by asking listeners to look into his estranged wife's background, because the house she grew up in was small and now she has a big one due to his generosity.

Also, he claims to know nothing of crack cocaine... except that you can turn $100 worth of crack into $200 of crack in da hood, dawg.

Just listen. It's ridiculous.

[The Big Lead]

B.J. Upton To DL, Jonny Gomes Returns

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays placed second baseman/center fielder B.J. Upton on the 15-day disabled list yesterday with a strained left quadriceps, retroactive to June 9th.

The 22-year-old, #2 overall pick in 2002 injured himself running out a grounder in the first inning of a game on June 8th. He is batting a team-leading .320 with nine home runs and 31 RBIs, so it's a pretty big hit to the 29-34 Devil Rays.

In a related move, the club recalled outfielder Jonny Gomes from the AAA Durham Bulls. Gomes was batting .302 in 13 minor league games this season with one homer and seven RBIs.

This way, they won't get stuck having to play Elijah Dukes the next time he's taking heat from the media heat for impregnating another young girl.

[The Heater]

Elijah Dukes is Such a Bastard

Like we didn't already know that.

But check this out: I'm pretty sure he's going for some sort of illegitimate child record.

A 17-year-old foster girl who lives with a relative of Elijah Dukes told police the Tampa Bay Devil Rays outfielder is the sperm-donor in question for her child.

Due to give birth Nov. 5th, the child told investigators she and Dukes had consensual sex on the living room sofa. How romantic.

She also said Dukes got angry when she and a friend told him she was pregnant with his child. When she told him the news of his latest visit from the stork, he threw a Gatorade at her.

Dukes already has (at least) five children with four other women.

This news may also curb the Washington Nationals' interest in Dukes, if they have any clue as to what is best for the club.

*The age of consent in Florida is 18, however close in age exemptions do exist. By law, the exception permits an adult under the age of 24 to engage in legal sexual activity with a minor no younger than the age of 16. Gross.

[St. Petersburg Times]

What The Hell Elijah Dukes? (Updated)

Why the hell is Elijah Dukes still playing baseball? Anyone?

Oh, that's right. There's nothing on beating the crap out of your woman and text-messaging her a photo of a handgun in the MLB rulebook.

Not to mention this small detail: threatening to take her children's lives.

"The Devil Rays organization takes these types of allegations very seriously, but at this point it remains a private matter between Elijah and his family. We will continue to monitor the situation and provide ongoing assistance to Elijah."

Update: It seems that Dukes has made everything better by issuing a public apology...

"I would like to apologize to my family, teammates, the fans and the organization for the distraction that this situation has caused," Dukes said in the obviously prepared clarification. "I would like to thank them for standing by me and hope that my family and I can move on and put this behind us."

Yes! Let's put this whole threat of murdering one of the four women who has reared not one, but two of my five children, behind us all.

Forgive and forget everyone! Carry on.

[Deadspin]

Blah Blah Steroids: Juan Salas

Tampa Bay Devil Rays reliever Juan Salas has been suspended 50 games by the commissioner's office after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. You're busted, buddy!

In a statement from the Rays...

"The Tampa Bay Devil Rays fully support Major League Baseball's drug-testing policy. We will do all we can to help Juan get his career headed back on a positive course."

Tuesday's Babelicious Scoreboard

Not only did Alex Rodriguez end his 23-game hitting streak, the New York Yankees (8-11) dropped into last place in the AL East after their 6-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (9-11) on Tuesday night.

Scott Kazmir held A-Rod to 0-3 with a walk, gave up a second-inning leadoff homer to Hideki Matsui and a single to Jorge Posada before retiring 12 in a row. In six innings, Kazmir allowed 3 runs - one earned - on 5 hits with 2 walks, striking out five.

Chien-Ming Wang, back from starting the season on the DL with a right hamstring injury, pitched into the seventh after allowing 4 runs on 9 hits with 3 strikeouts. Carl Crawford had a hot night at the plate, going 4-4 with a seventh inning grand slam off reliever Mike Myers.

To make matters worse for the Yankees, Derek Jeter was nailed on the left thigh in the first inning. But not to worry Jeter fans, he'll be fine. Trainers checked him out after he took his base, as he remained in the game until New York took the field. Captain hopes to be back today for the start of a two-game set against the Toronto Blue Jays.

[MLB]

Pettitte Returns To Mound For Yankees

The New York Yankees' bringing back Andy Pettitte (possibly to lure Roger Clemens away from Houston) is supposed to help them get to the postseason. It's a pretty good plan, since he has helped them win four World Series titles.

Pettitte will make his first start for New York since Game 6 of the 2003 World Series (which they lost) when he faces the Devil Rays at Yankee Stadium on Thursday, the day after a postponement due to rain.

Mets Claim Marcos Carvajal off Waivers

Marcos Carvajal was claimed by the New York Mets off waivers from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Friday.

The 22-year-old righty went 2-2 with a 3.86 ERA in 38 games last season with the AA Montgomery Biscuits, striking out 70 batters in 72.1 innings. As far as his big league career goes, he was 0-2 with a 5.09 ERA in 39 games with the Colorado Rockies in 2005.

New York designated right-hander Steve Schmoll for assignment to open a spot on the roster for Carvajal. They have 10 days to trade him, send him outright to the minors or release him altogether.

[News Day]

Jae Kuk Ryu Joins Devil Rays

Right-hander Jae Kuk Ryu will join fellow South Korean Jae Seo in Tampa Bay after being acquired from the Chicago Cubs for a couple of minor league prospects on Tuesday.

Ryu, 23, made his major league debut with the Cubbies last season, posting an 0-1 record and an 8.40 ERA in 10 games. Awesome. He also started 23 games with AAA Iowa, going 8-8 with a 3.23 ERA; a little better.

Season Previews: Tampa Bay Devil Rays

Continuing our preview of the American League East is a look at the Tampa Bay Devil Rays upcoming season.

Pitching is not exactly the D'Rays strong point and I'm not sure what exactly is. Their stud, Scott Kasmir will lead the starting five again this season, coming off of a year where he went 10-8 with a 3.24 ERA in 24 starts. Not bad. He will be joined by lefty Casey Fossum and righties James Shields, Tim Corcoran and occassional reliever Jason Hammel, who each struggled through losing seasons in 2006. Since there are no new faces in Tampa Bay's rotation, left-hander J.P Howell and righty Brian Stokes will rightfully vie for a starting spot.

Fun With Arbitration (Updated)

One thing that may separate us from other baseball sites is that we find arbitration hearings EXTREMELY EXCITING. They're super intense and inch us ever closer to the first pitch of the regular season. Also, they make for a great betting platform and possibly a fun drinking game.

Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Joe Beimel and Tampa Bay backup catcher Josh Paul became the first two players to have salary arbitration hearings this year.

During Friday morning's hearing in Phoenix, Paul asked arbitrators for a raise from $475,000 to $940,000 while the D'Rays argued for $625,000. He hit .260 last season, driving in 8 runs with one home run in 146 games, hardly enough to earn nearly a million dollars.