Wounded pitcher healed, gets call-up

TORONTO -- On the outside, Delvin James looks much the same as he did the last time he was in the major leagues.

Then the pitcher pulls up his shirt to reveal a clear bandage covering two identically sized pink holes on his left shoulder blade. Eleven days after being shot three times at a Waffle House in Raleigh, N.C., James was one of three players the Rays recalled from Triple-A Durham on Friday.

"My main goal was to pitch again before the end of the season. I did that," said James, who earned the save for the Bulls on Wednesday in Game 1 of the International League championship series against Buffalo. "To hear I got called up was like another blessing.

"I had one of the worst days of my life happen, and then 11 days later, after getting shot, I'm back up here. It's kind of been a whirlwind." James and a friend, Monique McNellie, were ordering when they were struck by bullets fired through a window. James was hit twice in the left shoulder, and another bullet grazed his left elbow. McNellie was hit in the back and remains at WakeMed Hospital. No arrest has been made.

"I don't remember much about it," James said. "It was so fast and so chaotic.

"Getting shot didn't even hurt. I felt it, but it was real numb. My left side was numb. I didn't even know where I was shot because I was so numb ... from my shoulder all the way down."

The 24-year-old was sent to Durham in one of the last cuts of spring training but was recalled in mid April and made five starts. He was 0-3 with a 6.46 ERA before being placed on the disabled list with a sore shoulder in May.

After a stint with Double-A Orlando, where he went 1-2 with a 3.55 ERA, James was promoted to Durham, where he went 2-1 with a 3.93 ERA.

"I haven't been going out," he said. "I go through the drive-through now. I imagine it's going to bother me for a while. I just don't feel comfortable.

"But everything happens for a reason."

ROSTER SURPRISE: Rather than protect him for 17 days of service and also to rest him before he plays in the Arizona Fall League, the Rays opted not to call up outfield prospect Rocco Baldelli. "He had an outstanding season," general manager Chuck LaMar said. "We moved him very quickly through the organization, and he still had about as good a year as any player could have.

"But we felt he was better off not getting called up so that he could get ready for spring training, where he'll have a chance to compete for a job."

The 20-year-old, who started the year at Class A Bakersfield and ended with Durham, was named Baseball America's minor-league player of the year and Rays minor-league player of the year, for which he will be honored before Thursday's game against the Yankees.

Baldelli hit .331 with 28 doubles, 19 homers, 71 RBIs and 26 stolen bases in 117 games combined. "We pushed him about as far as he could go," LaMar said.

PROUD MOMENT: Durham became the organization's fourth team to win a league title by sweeping Buffalo in three games.

The Bulls also were the fifth International League team in the past 70 years to sweep through the postseason.

"It's an honor to have any team in your organization win a championship," LaMar said. "(Manager) Bill Evers and his staff are to be commended. They dominated the two playoff series they were in." Evers and Durham pitching coach Joe Coleman are expected to join the Rays when the team returns home to start its series against the Yankees on Tuesday.

ODDS AND ENDS: Besides James and starting pitcher Dewon Brazelton, reliever Jesus Colome was recalled. The right-hander was 2-2 with a 2.17 ERA in 18 minor-league relief appearances. ... Randy Winn hit his 38th double during the sixth, tying Quinton McCracken's single-season team record set in 1998. ... Friday was the 74th game this season the Rays have scored three or fewer runs. They are 6-68 in those games. ... The Rays are carrying 31 players. Fifteen are pitchers. ... Jared Sandberg is scheduled to start at third base today.