Prior beware

Philly topped Arkansas again yesterday, this time in a slightly more convincing fashion - 8-5. Philly now holds a 2 1/2 game lead on the Falcons and has moved into the number one spot overall. That's because the Sugar Bears dropped another game to the Sharks. The Sharks are now one game behind Newark with one game left in the series. The Sharks pounded away on the Sugar Bears for the second straight day, 12-7.

The Bushslappers are starting to wake up. D.C. exploded on South Boston yesterday 13-4 and are now sitting in fifth, but still seven games under .500. It was the third win in a row for D.C. John Maine improved to 4-1 and Carlos Beltran hit a pinch hit grand slam in the eighth. D.C. scored 10 runs in the final three innings of the game.

Philadelphia finally gave up on oft-injured Mark Prior. Prior had a good start to his career, but recently he has struggled to stay on the mound. Team doctors said that he would not pitch this season after being shut down in the second half last year. It is unknown whether Prior will be back to pitch next year. Prior, who was 7-7 with a 5.09 ERA in 24 games last year, will take the time off to try to rehabilitate himself. Philly pitching coach Dave Righetti was regretful about the decision, but conceded that Prior faced a lot of hurdles. "It's tough to give up on a kid that talented, but in the end we need a player that we can count on for innings" Righetti said. "Hopefully we'll be in a position to take him back when he gets himself on track."