Rays' ace sharp for Bulls

Kazmir gives up one run in five innings in final rehab start before rejoining Tampa Bay

DURHAM -- When Scott Kazmir has his arm in order, he can beleaguer big leaguers.

Kazmir had some of his better stuff in his third and final minor league rehab start before rejoining the Tampa Bay Rays.

He handed the Bulls a tie score after five innings, but the Richmond Braves won 6-3 in a game that started more than an hour late because of rain.

Kazmir worked his fastball up more than 90 mph and struck out three, overpowering several batters and drawing several big swings along the way.

Richmond shortstop Diory Hernandez did hit Kazmir's 2-2 changeup over the center-field wall in the third inning. It was the first of only three hits he gave up.

"I didn't like that pitch," said Kazmir. "Yeah, I'd like to have that pitch back, but it's something that I'm working on."

Indeed, while his fastball and slider are his most commanding pitches, some scouts say his changeup and curveball are the less effective tools in his arsenal.

But Andrew Friedman, Tampa Bay's executive vice president of baseball operations, didn't quite agree with that notion. He was in attendance.

The fact is, said Friedman, is that at age 23, Kazmir led the American League in strikeouts last season and was the youngest AL strikeout champion since 1975. Baseball America currently has Kazmir ranked as the top pitcher in baseball under the age of 25.

"I feel like he's one of the best pitchers in the American League," said Friedman. "And the AL hitters can attest to that."

Kazmir has pitched his best against the best, holding the AL's top five hitting teams to a .207 batting average last year.

"He still has more room to improve to become that much more dominant," said Friedman, who said Kazmir just needs to work on his pitch selection.

It didn't help the young pitcher that he started the season on the disabled list with a left elbow strain in late February.

But Kazmir, who Friedman said was looking good before they deactivated him in February, now feels like he's at 100 percent.

"I'm just ready to get up to that 100-pitch count and stretch things out a little bit more," said Kazmir.

The average Monday night game draws about 3,500 fans, said team spokesman Matt DeMargel. This game might have drawn more had there not been rain (attendance was 2,960), even though Kazmir is no household name.

It's not every night a star player makes a minor league appearance.

Perhaps the most hyped minor league game in the Triangle was when Yankees star Derek Jeter did a rehab stint for the Columbus Clippers back in 1998.

It was Kazmir's first time in a Bulls uniform. Kazmir said he liked the atmosphere of the ballpark, and wondered what it would have been like without the rain delay.

Of course, he said, he had seen the movie "Bull Durham."

"Who hasn't?" he laughed.

Kazmir was on a short leash with his pitch count.

Team management said they wouldn't let the lefty starter enter an inning if had already thrown more than 76 pitches, with a target of 85 pitches.

As it turned out, the team did let him return for the sixth inning with 77 pitches. They pulled him after a four-pitch walk.

"I was trying to get the quick outs, but it didn't happen so it's OK," he said.

Major league teams tend to take caution with their ace arm.

The Rays got the better end of a trade with the New York Mets before the 2004 trade deadline. The Mets got pitchers Victor Zambrano and Bartolome Fortunato in exchange for Kazmir, then in the minors, and another pitcher, Jose Diaz. Kazmir is the only player still active in the majors.

Kazmir has etched at least 10 wins every season since his first, 2005.

"I'm very anxious," he said of rejoining the upstart Rays, who are tied for first place in the AL East with the Baltimore Orioles. "You know, just being with the team and not being able to contribute, it's tough. Hopefully, I can go up there and help the team out."

He'll likely get his first chance to do that against the Boston Red Sox in Fenway Park on Sunday.