Black Monday for Pitchers

Barry Bonds moved one closer to home run #600 yesterday in helping Arkansas slide by South Boston 7-5. The homer was Bonds' 11th of the season.

Monday was a bad day for pitchers. Hillsborough lost lefty C.C. Sabathia for the next month in their loss to Vancouver. Sabathia was 3-1 with a 3.98 ERA so far this season. Hillsborough has Ian Snell on the farm, but they may choose to go with a veteran off the waiver wire. Sabathia only lasted into the third inning before being pulled.

Rookie phenom Jered Weaver also got dinged yesterday. Weaver pitched 5.2 innings yesterday, but did not factor into the decision. Weaver, who had a mishap with some snack foods during the break between innings, may miss up to two weeks. Cliff Lee, who was with Hillsborough last year, will fill in until Weaver is healthy again.

Not all injuries were pitching-related though. Newark will lose slugger Manny Ramirez for the better part of this week. "It's not really an injury" said Newark manager Don Mattingly. "It's just Manny being Manny." Ramirez said he is taking his annual vacation and will relax on the beaches in St. Thomas. "This weather just plain sucks" said Ramirez. "I need to get away for a bit." Owner Butch Garretson grumbled "Damn... bad week for that to happen!"