Valencia and Fuld do battle in St. Pete

April 16, 2011 (Saturday)

JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — The Tampa Bay Rays played the Minnesota Twins on Friday night (4/15/2011), but for Jewish baseball fans, the game had a subplot: which team’s Jewish player would perform better?

Both contributed.

Twins 3B Danny Valencia, off to a slow start this season after finishing 3rd in last year’s A.L. Rookie of the Year contest, hit an RBI double over the head of Rays centerfielder B.J. Upton in the 5th inning to put the Twins up 2-0.

Rays LF Sam Fuld went 3/4 with a double and two singles, raising his team-high batting average to .366.

Twice, the two players went head-to-head. Fuld caught Valencia’s pop fly in the top of the 7th inning. In the bottom of the inning, Valencia got revenge, tagging Fuld out as he tried to steal 3rd base. (Fuld, who leads the American League with 7 stolen bases this season, was caught stealing twice Friday by Twins catcher Drew Butera.)

In the end, the Rays prevailed 5-2. But Jewish Baseball News tips its yarmulke to both players.

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