Solomon Fails in Olympic Bid; Church, White

SOLOMON FALLS SHORT

The dream of DUANE SOLOMON to make the 2008 U.S. Olympic team was swept away Monday evening at the trials in Eugene, Oregon.

Solomon had to settle for sixth in the field of eight as three Oregon runners, Nick Symmonds of the Oregon Track Club and Nike, Andrew Wheating the super sophomore from the University of Oregon, and unheralded Christian Smith of OTC/Nike took the three top spots and with them the invitations to Beijing.

Defending U.S. champion Khadevis Robinson finished fourth and Lopez Lomong of Nike came in fifth.

A blanket could have been thrown over the five runners finishing second through sixth. Wheating posted 1:45.03, Smith 1:45.47, 1:45.53, Lomong 1:45.58 and Solomon 1:45.78. Symmonds finished nearly a full second ahead of the field in 1:44.10.

Solomon, who placed third in this race last year, would have been the first Lompocan since Nick Carter in 1928 to participate in the Olympics.

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Baseball Bits

In his second game back from the Disabled List RYAN CHURCH went 1-for-3 Monday night in a nationally televised loss to in St. Louis…. In Lowell, Massachusetts CHRIS WHITE went 2-for-3 in the conclusion of Sunday night’s New York-Pennsylvania League contest in the Spinners’ contest with the visiting Oneonta Tigers. White also drew a base on balls and stole a base. Unfortunately he was also given an error in left field. In the regularly scheduled contest he went 0-for-3. His batting average is now .217…

Solomon Qualifies; Church Returns

Solomon Qualifies for Final

EUGENE, Oregon—USC’s DUANE SOLOMON advanced to the men's 800m finals at the U.S. Olympic Trials held at Hayward Field Saturday.

Solomon, who finished third in the 800m race at the 2008 NCAA Championships, had the second-fastest time in his heat and on the day at 1.45.82 to advance to Monday's finals.

Among the people Solomon beat in his heat was Jacob Hernandez, who won the 2008 NCAA title while running for Texas. Solomon finished third at the 2007 U.S. Track and Field Championships to make America's team for the 2007 World Championships.

In the first heat, the University of Oregon's Andrew Wheating moved from off-pace, in fifth, to second place in the final few meters (1:46.23) and advance. Defending national champion Khadevis Robinson led from wire-to-wire to win in 1:46.14. In the second semifinal, Oregon Track Club's Nick Symmonds moved up on the inside for the final 200m of the race to overtake Solomon and win in 1:45.61.

Solomon knows all his competitors. Robinson was #1 on the U.S. team last year with Symmonds #2. Wheating, just a sophomore at Oregon, nipped Solomon in the Pac-10 championships. Both Wheating and Symmonds specialize in coming from behind while Robinson and Solomon like to run in front.

The rest of the eight-man field Monday consists of Jonathan Johnson and Jebreh Harris of Reebok, Lopez Lomong of Nike and Christian Smith of the Oregon Track Club.
The final is scheduled to be broadcast by Channel USA starting at 11 p.m. Monday evening.

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Church Returns

RYAN CHURCH returned to the New York Mets lineup Sunday just as he left it—hot. He went 2-for-4 to lift his batting average to .304. He missed 27 games after sustaining his second concussion of the season on May 20.

Duffy Picks Up Fourth Win; Church, Ship, White

Duffy Wins Fourth

DANNY DUFFY won his fourth game of the season Saturday night as the Burlington Bees downed the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 5-3.

Duffy gave up just one run on four hits in five innings. He struck out seven and walked two while lowering his Midwest League Earned Run Average to 3.43, but he did not have the same easy seven-inning cruise that he had on Monday. For that reason this victory may have been even more impressive than its predecessor.

This time Duffy had to scuffle with base runners in four of his five innings. In so doing he burned through his pitch limit two innings earlier than Monday.

In the first a single and a stolen base put a runner in scoring position with one out but on a strikeout Burlington catcher Ryan Eigsti caught the runner stealing at third.

In the second a single, a walk and a wild pitch placed Rattler runners at second and third with no outs, but Duffy bore down and recorded the first out on a strikeout. He got the second on a sacrifice fly (giving up his first earned run in his last 13 innings) and the third on another “K.”

In the third he gave up a double and a walk and in the fourth a single. Finally in the fifth Wisconsin was retired 1-2-3.

Duffy is now 4-3 with his last three decisions all being victories.

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Church Returns Sunday

NEW YORK -- Two former college teammates met by chance on Saturday morning in the corridor under the stands that connects the bullpens and clubhouses at Shea Stadium. And Darrell Rasner inquired about the health of RYAN CHURCH.

"Feelin' pretty good," was Church's response.

"You going to play today?" Rasner said.

"Nah, probably tomorrow," Church said. "That's the plan."

Said Rasner: "Why don't you take a few more days off?"

The next interaction between the two products from the University of Nevada-Reno is likely to be on Sunday afternoon. Church will be the Mets' right fielder again and Rasner will be the Yankees' starting pitcher. They won't be talking.

Church is to return after missing 27 of the team's 35 most recent games because of the aftereffects of the concussion that he suffered on May 20 in Atlanta. After playing the outfield in two rehab games with the Class A Brooklyn Cyclones, Church said he is completely recovered and fully capable of resuming what had appeared to be a breakout season. He said on Saturday that his legs feel strong again; his leg strength and stamina had been issues.

Church might have returned on Saturday, but the Mets reasoned there was little sense in subjecting a left-handed hitter to Andy Pettitte when he would benefit from one more day of baseball activities and free from the strains of competition.

Manager Jerry Manuel characterized Church as a "real nice piece we've missed," and he noted that he relieves some of the pressure on Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado to produce runs. The manager noted he saw Church as capable of batting almost anywhere in the batting order -- second, fifth and sixth -- and he suggested that he might have planned to use Church as the No. 2 hitter, as Willie Randolph did 13 times, if Luis Castillo were not going to be available for the final game of the series against the Yankees.

"Hopefully, he can continue having the year he was having," Manuel said.

Church is batting .300 with 10 home runs and 35 RBIs in 180 at-bats. He has had four hits in 19 at-bats since the concussion and before his assignment to the disabled list. Before the injury, Church was the lone Met having "a good year for us," Randolph said before his dismissal.
Marty Noble is a reporter for MLB.com.

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Shipman Clean Again

In Little Rock, Arkansas ANDY SHIPMAN posted his fourth straight clean relief appearance in Midland’s 4-3 loss to the Arkansas Travelers. Shipman pitched one and two-thirds innings and gave up two hits but no runs. He lowered his Texas League ERA to 5.10.

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White Hitless

In Oneonta, New York CHRIS WHITE’s Oneonta Tigers downed the Tri-City Valley Cats 4-2 in a New York-Pennsylvania League game. Unfortunately White went 0-for-3 at the plate to see his average dip to .176.

Diamond Dust--Church, White, Dotzler, Carlson

RYAN CHURCH’s 1.000 batting average in A-ball with the Brooklyn Cyclones was chopped in half Friday night in the second game of his rehab assignment.

Churchie went 0-for-3 as the Cyclones nipped Aberdeen 4-3. With his minor league BA at .500 he is expected back with the Mets this weekend.

They need him. They continued their schizophrenic ways Friday with bully 15-6 victory at Yankee Stadium but then a pathetic 9-0 loss at the hands of Sidney Ponson of the Yanks at Shea Stadium.

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WHITE HOT

In Troy, New York CHRIS WHITE exploded for three hits in five trips to the plate including a two-out RBI for the Oneonta Tigers of the Class A New York-Penn League. The base knocks were White’s first hits of the year after he missed seven games due to injury. He is playing left field and batting in the crucial #2 spot for the Tigers. The hits also got him his first batting average at .214. Unfortunately the Tigers fell 8-6 to the home team Tri-City Valley Cats.

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DOTZLER SOLID FOR REDMEN

In semi-pro ball infielder COREY DOTZLER appears to be batting .269 based on incomplete stats posted by the Santa Maria Indians. Pitcher JOEY GREEN has also joined the club.

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CARLSON TO HANCOCK

Sources tell Lompoc Locker Room that former pro infielder JASON CARLSON has signed as an assistant baseball coach at Allan Hancock College. Carlson has assisted at Lompoc High the past two seasons.

Churchie Dominates A-Ball; White, Ags, Ship, Duff

Thursday night outfielder RYAN CHURCH made his first rehab start since landing on the Disabled List June 6th and showed why he long ago left A-ball in his rear view mirror.

Church played right field for the Brooklyn Cyclones of the A-ball New York-Pennsylvania League on Thursday, turning, as a Cyclone writer termed it, the "Borough of Churches" into the "Borough of Church's."

Church was perfect at the plate, going 3-for-3 with two singles, a double, a run scored, and an RBI in the Cyclones' 4-2 win over Aberdeen. He is scheduled to play for the Cyclones again on Friday, and to rejoin the Mets on Saturday or Sunday.

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White Back in Action

Elsewhere in the New York-Penn League CHRIS WHITE (pictured) rejoined the starting lineup of the Oneonta Tigers Wednesday night playing left field. White was injured in the Tigers' opening game and missed seven contests. Unfortunately he went hitless both Wednesday and Thursday nights. He has amassed five bases on balls however.

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Aguailar Gets Two Starts

BRIAN AGUAILAR, nearly forgotten on the Asheville Tourist bench, got a start behind the plate Monday and another Thursday night. He went 1-for-4 Monday but 0-for-4 Thursday to see his batting average sink back to .171. Asheville won the first half title in the A-ball South Atlantic League.

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Shipman Makes It Three

ANDY SHIPMAN made his third straight spotless relief performance Monday night with two clean innings against San Antonio in the Texas League. The Ship's ERA slipped down to 5.28.

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DUFFY SLATED SATURDAY

DANNY DUFFY is slated to make his next start on Saturday, he told Lompoc Locker Room Thursday morning. The Burlington Bees will host the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in a Midwest League (A) game.

Stats on Duffy; Church Not Ready

INSIDE THE GAME


Just how dominating was DANNY DUFFY Monday night?


Here are some statistics: He faced 25 batters and got first pitch strikes on 21 of them. He threw 71 pitches, 54 of them strikes. One batter reached third base. He had six one-pitch at bats. According to his dad the thing he was most proud of was he was responsible for six broken bats.


Susan Denk of the Burlington Hawkeye newspaper wrote the following:


Danny Duffy mowed down the Peoria Chiefs left and right Monday night.


The Burlington Bees left-hander pitched seven shutout innings, striking out eight, in a 4-1 Bees' Midwest League victory at Community Field.


It was Duffy's second straight strong performance at home. Against Wisconsin June 9, Duffy pitched five shutout innings, allowing just two hits. The last time he faced Peoria, though, on the road June 14, Duffy gave up three runs in five innings as he took the loss.


This time, Duffy dominated. A pair of two-out singles in the first inning were half of the hits he allowed the Chiefs. Josh Donaldson was the only Peoria player to have any success against Duffy. The catcher doubled in the fifth inning and advanced to third -- the only base runner to make it that far.


"It was definitely Duffy. I don't know why you guys are interviewing me," said Bees outfielder Adrian Ortiz, who was also interviewed on the post-game radio show. "He threw seven shutout (innings). You can't ask for a better performance from a pitcher than that. "He kept us in the game, not letting them get to third base, I think like only once or twice. It's just outstanding for him."


"Duffy was outstanding. He pitched seven strong innings," Burlington manager Brian Rupp said. "I would say be far his best of the year. He was aggressive, attacked with his fast ball. Had a very good breaking ball. Even mixed in a couple decent change-ups. He was very good tonight. Everything was working very well. Efficient with his pitches."

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CHURCH NOT READY AFTER ALL

Mets right fielder RYAN CHURCH will not start for Class A Brooklyn on Wednesday as previously scheduled, because he said on Tuesday that he still doesn't feel like his conditioning is where it needs to be for him to play. The start was planned as a precursor for him to come off the 15-day disabled list after a lengthy bout with post-concussion syndrome. The latest setback means that it's doubtful that Church will be ready for the Mets' Subway Series vs. the Yankees this weekend. ...

Duffy's Best Outing Yet

Burlington, IA - DANNY DUFFY recorded the most impressive performance of his professional career Monday night with a seven-inning whitewash of the Peoria Chiefs.

Duffy's seven inning tenure on the mound was his high for the season, and for his career. He gave up no runs, earned or unearned, and allowed only four hits, a double and three singles.

His seven scoreless innings shaved his earned run average to 3.67. In his last 22 innings he has allowed just three earned runs. He struck out eight, his high for the season, while walking nobody. His strikeout-to-walk ratio is now 44-8, best on the Burlington pitching staff.

The Bees won the contest 4-1 after a reliever gave up a run. Duffy picked up his third win of the season against three losses, two of them coming in his first two decisions. More tomorrow.

Church's Symptom-Free Monday

NEW YORK -- He ran, he played catch, he took fly balls, he took batting practice, he broke a sweat. Monday was one more day in which RYAN CHURCH didn't play. He did everything but that -- all with the goal of playing this weekend.

Assigned to the 15-day disabled list but eligible to be activated, Church tested himself before the Mets game on Monday night, doing all of what he can -- plus more running -- when he does play. And he emerged symptom-free and encouraged. If he can repeat the process on Tuesday, Church may play in Class A Brooklyn Cyclones games on Wednesday and Thursday and then return to the Mets on Friday for the two-site doubleheader against the Yankees.

"Everything I do will depend on how I feel," he said.

Church said he has experienced no post-concussion symptoms since his DL assignment began on June 9, retroactive to June 6.
Marty Noble is a reporter for MLB.com.

Diamond Bits: Church, Ship, Ags, White

New York Met outfielder RYAN CHURCH, on the disabled list with post-concussion syndrome, is set to join the Mets for batting practice Monday. From there, he will head to Class A Brooklyn for a series of rehab games, before rejoining the club as soon as this weekend.

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Two more clean innings by ANDY SHIPMAN Saturday night slipped his ERA further down to 5.52. The Ship got four ground outs, a fly ball and a strikeout. His Midland Rockhounds lost to San Antonio 3-1 in a Texas League game.

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In the South Atlanta League Friday night Asheville nipped the Augusta GreenJackets 1-0 with BRIAN AGUAILAR getting a rare start behind the plate for the Tourists. On the downside Brian had to settle for an 0-for-4 day and see his batting average slide back to .185.

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In Oneonta, New York CHRIS WHITE is still out from the leg injury suffered on Tuesday.

Ship Sharp Thursday

In 102 degree weather and 4700 people in Midland, Texas ANDY SHIPMAN tossed two clean innings Thursday night in a 7-5 defeat at the hands of Frisco. The two good frames edged his Texas League ERA down to 5.79.