Boo to Headline TV Monday

Boo, Stars, K-square on TV Monday

The next edition of Lompoc Locker Room, the TV Show will feature BOO JACKSON (pictured) the likely starting quarterback for the University of Ohio Bobcats in the fall, K-SQUARED, the Lompoc women’s distance racing team aiming for the Nike Women’s Half-Marathon, and the LOMPOC STARS, now 10-2 and qualified for the Western National Softball championship in the 10-and-under division.

The Stars are selling enchiladas now through Thursday (call 737-0048) and will stage a BBQ at Walgreens next weekend to finance their trip to Las Vegas.

The show will be seen Monday at 5:30 p.m. on Comcast channel 25.

Duffy Stars Again -- White, Aguailar

STILL ANOTHER STRIKE BY DUFFY

DANNY DUFFY has hit his stride.


Wednesday night in Midland, Michigan Duffy notched his fourth straight blue chip performance, his sixth in his last seven outings.


Duffy shut down the Great Lakes Loons, the Dodgers’ affiliate in the Midwest League, on four hits over five innings while striking out seven and walking none.


Burlington won 5-3 but Duffy had to settle for a no-decision rather than a victory because his Burlington Bees could not score during his time on the mound. Thus he is still 4-4.


But his other pitching numbers, and his totals since May when he arrived from Arizona are definitely on track for a promotion to High-A ball or AA next season.


Wednesday night he gave up three singles and a triple. The Loons scored in the fourth against Duffy on a single, a wild pitch and a single. In the first inning they got a two-out triple but Duffy stranded the runner with a strikeout. In the third they got a runner on first only to have Duffy pick him off, and in two innings against him they went down 1-2-3.


His totals now are these-- his official ERA is 3.17, the lowest it has been since he arrived in May. If you take his last 36.2 innings since his breakthrough outing June 4 his ERA is a SENSATIONAL 1.47. In that stretch he has allowed only 23 hits. His strikeout-to-walk ratio is 63-10 overall and in his last 36 innings 45-5. This is good stuff, sports fans.


Barring rainouts Duffy’s next start should be on Monday in Lansing, Michigan against the first half MWL champion Lansing, Lugnuts.

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WHITE & AGUAILAR RAP BASE HITS

CHRIS WHITE went 1-for-4 and scored a run Wednesday night at Staten Island, New York as his Oneonta Tigers won 5-4. White is now batting .246…. In Hagerstown, Maryland BRIAN AGUAILAR was given a rare DH opportunity as his Asheville Tourists nipped their hosts 6-5. Aguailar contributed a base hit and lifted his average to .167.

Church Back to Disabled List

Second Time to DL

NEW YORK -- For nearly a month and a half, Ryan Church has been immersed in his own head.

One day, he's back hitting and fielding, his post-concussion symptoms a distant memory. Then, on days like Tuesday, he's just exhausted.

Church doesn't want to hurt the team by playing at anything less than 100 percent, and the Mets don't want to continue to deal with the day-to-day spectacle that is Church's changing status.

Church was put on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday, retroactive to Sunday, the second time he has been rendered inactive with symptoms related to a concussion suffered on May 20 in Atlanta. Outfielder Nick Evans was brought up from Double-A Binghamton to take Church's spot on the roster.

"We have been in a little bit of a cycle now, a time frame, where you say, 'Hey, look, we see improvement, but we are not seeing quote-unquote improvement that we would like,' " general manager Omar Minaya said. "As time goes on, you say, 'More and more, if you are not 100 percent in this time frame, we may have to start taking things away from you more than we allowed before.'"

A migraine headache forced Church out of Saturday's game against the Phillies in the eighth inning, and he did not play on Sunday or Monday. On Sunday night, Church was told by the team to head back to New York to see a concussion specialist on Monday and get an MRI on his head and neck. Both tests came back negative.

But when Church was re-evaluated on Tuesday, the Mets' team doctor, along with Minaya and Church, determined that it would be best to use the upcoming All-Star break as an opportunity to rest. There is no way of knowing if the headaches were brought on by post-concussion symptoms, Church said, but it is still uncomfortable for him to play with the feeling of his brain "swishing" in his head, which is the discomfort Church said results from a migraine.

"It could be related, it could not be related, we don't know," Church said. "The thing is, I don't feel 100 percent, and, like I said, I can't keep going out there and run myself into the ground. I just feel like I'm hurting this team not being able to do anything."

The recovery process has been a back-and-forth experience for Church, who was originally put on the DL on June 9 to recover from post-concussion syndrome. He returned on June 29 for the last game of the Subway Series vs. the Yankees, going 2-for-4.

Church now hits the DL once more with a .307 average, which would be a career high for the 29-year-old lefty.

"I just can't keep going out there and basically keep making it worse," Church said. "We're taking the right steps now to hopefully correct this."

Jon Blau is an associate reporter for MLB.com.

Church to NY to See Doc/ White, Aguailar

PHILADELPHIA -- Instead of being in right field in Philadelphia Monday Mets right fielder RYAN CHURCH was in New York for more tests after a migraine forced him out of Saturday's game against the Phillies and resulted in him sitting out on Sunday.

According to the Mets, Church saw a concussion specialist on Monday and was given an MRI for both his head and neck. Both tests came back negative, and Church is listed as day-to-day.

Church was pulled in the eighth inning Saturday for symptoms that a doctor in New York diagnosed as a migraine. But with recent issues surrounding Church and his health, including a bout with post-concussion syndrome that landed him on the 15-day disabled list on June 9, Mets general manager Omar Minaya said the club was taking extra safeguards.

In fact, the choice to see a doctor was not made by Church, and Minaya said that decision was "taken out of his hands" by the team.

"He was feeling OK, much better, but that being said, we wanted to take a precautionary [measure] and send him back to New York," Minaya said before Monday's game aqainst the Phillies.

Minaya said this visit would be to one of two doctors Church has consulted with in the process of trying to recover from this injury. Church suffered his second concussion of the season on May 20, when Braves shortstop Yunel Escobar's knee collided with Church's head as he slid into second base.

No decision has been made as to whether Church will receive more rest before resuming play, as Minaya said they will wait for the test results to come back and then re-evaluate the situation based on how Church feels on a day-to-day basis.

Minaya said that the Mets' doctors have called Church's symptoms -- such as the burning sensation in his eyes -- as "normal" signs of a migraine. He even remembers Church dealing with headaches when both were in Montreal.

Admittedly, Minaya is learning every day from Church's concussion, much like he did with Carlos Beltran's in 2005, because Minaya said no collision could get much worse than the one Mets center fielder had with Mike Cameron. But if Church is to see the field in the coming weeks, it will be after the team doctors are assured that his headaches are not associated with post-concussion syndrome.

"He's going to be playing when our doctors give him clearance to play," Minaya said. "If they give clearance, he will play."

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Minaya also assured reporters that he was not out looking for another corner outfielder to replace Church or Moises Alou, another Met who has missed time due to injury.

Alou, Minaya said, could get a rehab start this week. Church, if all goes well, could be in the Mets' lineup as soon as Tuesday. But "could" isn't "definitely," and with the July 31 trade deadline nearing, and both injuries not completely resolved, the Mets had to ponder "what if" on Monday.

The club would rather not move into August without making a move and continue to see both of their ailing corner outfielders sit. Without Church and Alou, role players such as Endy Chavez, Fernando Tatis and Marlon Anderson have been forced into regular playing time.

"Do you feel that those guys might wear down, that they aren't used to playing that much? That has to be put into the equation," said manager Jerry Manuel, who admitted that the Mets do have to at least consider the possibility of adding a veteran bat if these injuries persist.

Alou is scheduled to get a Class A rehab start this week, provided the 41-year-old veteran doesn't feel any more soreness in the strained left calf that landed him on the disabled list twice this season. He was scheduled to play in Florida last week, but rainouts and some further aches and pains in Alou's calf set back his rehabilitation.

Minaya said on Monday that he doesn't anticipate the Mets being in the market for a starting corner outfielder. That's not to say they aren't making calls, because Minaya said that Indians general manager Mark Shapiro told him that the Mets had the Minor League players necessary to get pitcher CC Sabathia before he was dealt to the Brewers on Monday.

As of Monday night, the Mets are holding roster spots open for Alou and Church in anticipation that they will both return to the lineup.

"I'm hoping that at some point these guys are back," Minaya said. "If they are not back, we'll have to reconsider, but I feel pretty good that these guys will be back."
Jon Blau is an associate reporter for MLB.com

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WHITE HITS AGAIN

Monday night CHRIS WHITE hit safely in his sixth straight game for the Oneonta Tigers as they defeated the State College Spikes 4-1. The hit lifted his batting average to .245... and in Asheville, North Carolina of the South Atlantic League BRIAN AGUAILAR got his first start behind the plate in nine days Saturday opposite the Rome Braves. Considering how little he is used it was not surprising he went 0-for-3. His batting average fell to .176.

Church Sits Sunday

After being held out of the Mets' lineup Friday "to protect him from a lefthander" according manager Jerry Manuel, Church left the field early Saturday due to dizziness. Then on Sunday he did not play. MLB.com had this explanation:

Ryan Church said he didn't play Sunday because of lingering effects in relation to migraine headache -- not post-concussion syndrome -- and he would have been available to pinch-hit. Manuel explained that Church definitely wouldn't play, because it was his policy not to put someone into action who he had to pull from the lineup the night before. "It's an extra step of being cautious," said Manuel, who removed Church from Saturday's game when he started complaining of headaches in the eighth inning. "He's available, he could play, but we are just going to take it out of his hands and rest him." -- MLB.com

CHURCH: DIZZINESS ONLY A MIGRAINE

Says It's Not Related to His Concussions

PHILADELPHIA -- Ever since RYAN CHURCH was put on the 15-day disabled list with post-concussion syndrome, the slightest sensation within the right fielder's head sets off alarms within the Mets' clubhouse.

But for possibly the first time this season, Church's head began to ache midway through the Mets' 9-4 win against the Phillies, and when he was pulled from the lineup in the eighth inning, manager Jerry Manuel could stop holding his breath.

It was a migraine. Nothing more, Church said. For that, he could breathe a prolonged sigh of relief.

"My eyes were hurting, and then the dizziness came on and they assured me it was because of a migraine," Church said after the game, admitting that he still had a slight headache as he stood in front of his locker.

Church has dealt with migraines since his freshman year of high school, and the doctor back in New York who he has consulted for his post-concussion syndrome assured him it was nothing related to the May 20 collision in Atlanta that eventually landed him on the DL.

"Caffeine, anything, light can do it; there are just a lot of things that can trigger it," Church said, "so there is nothing that I can really do about it."

If there was ever a time Manuel wishes he was a doctor, it would be to understand every intricacy pertaining to Church's head. The second he saw the water in his eyes and heard his outfielder complain of dizziness, Manuel was instantly warped back to the weeks that the Mets spent worrying whether his head would ever be right again.

Instead, Manuel was kept at ease by Church himself, who said he has been pulled from games because of migraines before. It's something he has dealt with extensively during his career, and even though Church said his post-concussion symptoms could trigger more migraines, he was more than sure that the medication he will have sent to Philadelphia on Sunday will clear up any future dizziness.

So despite missing Friday's game to avoid facing another lefty, and a short part of Saturday's game for a migraine headache, Church said he won't miss any more playing time in this series as long he can give Manuel the OK before Sunday's game.

"This is something he has had before," Manuel said. "He probably has a feel when they are coming on, so if he can tell me, 'Hey, I have one of those migraines,' and he won't play."
Jon Blau is an associate reporter for MLB.com.

Church's Dizziness Returns

PHILADELPHIA -- Ryan Church left Saturday's game against the Phillies with dizziness, it was reported by MLB.com. He was replaced in right field by Endy Chavez.

Church recently came off the 15-day disabled list after battling post-concussion syndrome, which dated back to a May 20 game in Atlanta, getting a knee in the head after trying to break up a double play.

Since coming off of the DL against the Yankees, Church had played in all four games in St. Louis, hitting safely in each, but got a day off on Friday against Philadelphia, which manager Jerry Manuel said was to protect him from facing another left-handed pitcher, the Phillies' J.A. Happ.

Church batted 1-for-3 on Saturday before being pulled in the eighth inning. He was hit by a pitch earlier in the inning.
Jon Blau is an associate reporter for MLB.com.

Church Missing; White Bats Third

Mets Lose Opener Without Church

In the most important series of the season the New York Mets fell 3-2 to the Philadelphia Phillies Friday.

And surprisingly, their top hitter for average, RYAN CHURCH, was not in the starting lineup. This despite Church hitting successfully in five straight games after coming off the Disabled List. Over that period he was rapping the ball at a .381 pace to lift his season's average to .308.

Church did make a pinch-hitting appearance in the ninth inning, popping out. Church's non-appearance resembled the two week stretch after his May 20 concussion in Atlanta when concussion-related symptoms kept cropping up. The Mets gave no explanation for Church's absence.

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WHITE IN THREE HOLE

In Oneonta, New York CHRIS WHITE was shifted from the two hole in the batting order to the all-important three spot Friday night. In response he want 1-for-4, drove in a run and lifted his season's average to .231. Unfortunately his Oneonta Tigers fell 5-2 to the Auburn Doubledays.

Duffy Sharp Again; Church, White

Duffy sharp again

In Geneva, Illinois Thursday night DANNY DUFFY gave up just one earned run in four innings in his fourth straight solid performance in the Class A Midwest League.

Unfortunately his Burlington Bees teammates could give him no support and he departed behind 2-1 and took his fourth loss. The final score was 7-2 in favor of the Kane County Cougars.

Duffy gave up four singles, two in the first and two in the third, and struck out five. He walked nobody. With this outing his ERA inched downward further to 3.32. His strikeout- to -walk ratio is now a spectacular 56-10. His won-loss record is 4-4.

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Church Runs Streak to Five

ST. LOUIS -- RYAN CHURCH doubled in an 11-1 Mets victory over the Cardinals Thursday. The hit extended his current hitting streak to five games, every game since he returned from the Disabled List. His batting average is now .308.

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White Triples

CHRIS WHITE tripled in four at-bats Thursday night in Oneonta, New York. The extra-base blow lifted the switch-hitting leftfielder's batting average to .229.

DIAMOND DUST

RYAN CHURCH went 2-for-5 Wednesday night to make him 7-for-17 since returning to the New York Mets from the DL. That’s a .412 pace which lifts his season average to .310…. In the Texas League ANDY SHIPMAN’s four straight clean pitching performances came to an end Monday night as he gave up two earned runs in two and 1/3 innings to Springfield. His ERA is back up to 4.87…. In the New York-Pennsylvania League CHRIS WHITE went 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBI Wednesday night. He lifted his batting average to .226…. In the Midwest League DANNY DUFFY is scheduled to take the mound again Thursday night.... In the South Atlantic League BRIAN AGUAILAR was given another day off. He has not played since last Thursday.