Unit close to historic marks

Randy Johnson is now only one strikeout away from 3000 for his career. Johnson will be the first to achieve the mark in DMBL history. The win gave him nine for the season and 195 for the year. Johnson is looking to become the third pitcher to reach 200 career wins this season. By the way, Johnson should buy Mark DeRosa some cigars or something. DeRosa drove in six runs in the game to lead the Sugar Bears to a 15-3 victory over South Boston.

Honolulu held on to defeat the Bushslappers 3-2 in extra innings. Honolulu jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning and starter Jeff Francis was limiting D.C. to only one run on three hits in his seven innings of work. But D.C. got to reliever Chad Bradford in the eighth and we were off to extra innings. Frank Catalanotto finally won the game with a double in the bottom of the 12th, scoring Eric Chavez, who had reached earlier on an error.

Marietta broke their losing streak by beating a struggling Vancouver team 6-1. Ben Sheets was rocked again prompting team owner Yaro Zajac to wonder if Sheets might be hiding an injury. Regardless, Sheets may be seeing time in AAA if he doesn't straighten out, but most of the Vancouver starters have 5.00+ ERAs anyway. A.J. Burnett pitched brilliantly for Marietta, holding the Iron Fist to only one run on four hits through seven innings.

Team Buddah ripped Arkansas starter Daniel Cabrera to shreds. Cabrera surrendered seven runs in only 1 1/3 innings. The Buddahs were up 8-2 after two innings and never looked back. Brad Penny earned his 10th win of the season for New Jersey.

The Straphangers continued their tough stretch yesterday. After facing the Hanover-leading Sugar Bears, the Sardines now face the Morris-leading Endzone Animals. Erik Bedard held the Sardines in check, holding them to three runs over seven innings and picking up his 10th win of the year. Sardine City starter Adam Loewen pitched well (better than Bedard even), but did not factor into the decision as Matt Capps lost it in the eighth.

Mighty Men pitching shuffle

Well, after Tuesday's debacle in Marietta, David Landsman had enough. Gil Meche was banished to AAA and Paul Byrd was sent packing. The Mighty Men acquired Woody Williams from Vancouver, who was himself banished to AAA after a less than stellar start to the season. Williams hopes for a new start and a change of scenery might do him well. Vancouver received an 8th round draft pick as compensation.

Hoboken kept the streak alive (seven in a row now) by sweeping Marietta, 5-3 thanks to a solid Jon Garland start. Garland held the Mighty Men to three runs, two earned, in 7.2 innings. Chris Duncan hit his 20th homer of the season.

Joe Crede and the Sardine City Straphangers almost made it exciting again in Newark yesterday. Crede was 3-4 with 6 RBIs and 2 homers in the game. The Sardines' big 4-run eighth inning had the team within one run of the Sugar Bears, but Newark's Jim Edmonds hit a 2-run bomb to dash the hopes of the Straphangers. Nick Johnson was 4-4 in the game. Cole Hamels fell to 2-11 on the season.

Yesterday was a busy day on the waiver wire. Honolulu signed up Jose Valverde and sent him to AAA. Newark picked up former South Boston farmhand Joey Gathright as a potential pinch runner. And finally, Philadelphia picked up journeyman outfielder Trot Nixon to take the spot of recently-injured Jeff DaVanon.

Hoboken rolls along

Hoboken continued their roll, smashing Marietta 14-6. Mighty Men starter Gil Meche was mercilessly pounded for 11 runs in five innings, earning the starter a spot on the bench. "He's lucky we didn't go to Paul Byrd" said owner David Landsman after the game. Meche's ERA ballooned to 6.96. Hoboken's Vicente Padilla improved to 10-3 on the season, despite giving up five runs. Josh Bard and Ian Kinsler each had four RBIs and a homer in the game. Hoboken has now won six straight and is only 1/2 a game behind Marietta, who lost four in a row.

David Ortiz continues to mash the ball, hitting two homers in a 5-4 loss to Carolina yesterday. Ortiz now has 32 homers on the year. Chris Carpenter rebounded well after his 11-run performance last week - pitching seven shut out innings, but the Vancouver pen blew it with a 5-run eighth inning which included a bases-loaded walk.

Carlos Beltran's 5 RBI led D.C. to a 12-4 rout of the Falcons. John Maine pitched six shutout innings despite surrendering six walks and five hits.

New Jersey's Tom Gorzelanny held the Rat Pack to only three hits and two runs over eight innings. The rookie has had some trouble with run support this year, but managed to get his fourth win of the season. Gorzelanny is only 4-8 despite a decent 4.17 ERA this year.

Newark barely survived their game against Sardine City yesterday. After a close 4-4 tie led the game to extra innings, the Straphangers played "small-ball" in the top of the 10th and manufactured the go-ahead run. Usually reliable B.J. Ryan was brought in to close the game in the bottom of the inning, but it wasn't meant to be. Nick Johnson scored to tie it on a Nick Swisher single and then later Manny Ramirez singled in Mark DeRosa to win it for the Sugar Bears.

Brandon Webb and Aaron Harang both pitched complete games in yesterday's South Boston-Philadelphia game, but it was Harang who came out on top. Harang limited the Animals to only one run on three hits, while striking out 10.

Remembering Rod Beck

This past weekend, former DMBLer Rod Beck passed away. "Shooter" was a key member of the early Arkansas World Series run in 1993 and 1994. Although he didn't win in those seasons, Beck finally earned that World Series ring in 2001 as a member of the Newark Sugar Bears. Beck's finest season was either 1994 with Arkansas (12-6, 3.04 ERA, 11 saves, 113 K) or in 2004 with Carolina (3.69 ERA, 34 saves). Beck ended his career after that 2004 season with 91 career saves, a 3.74 ERA in 381 appearances. Beck also spent time with the Philadelphia Eagle Wings and the Louisiana Lightning. Beck was 38 years old.

Carolina and Vancouver played a marathon 14-inning game yesterday, with the Mudcats winning in the bottom of the 14th on an Aramis Ramirez homer that led off the inning. Brian Sweeney, taking one for the team, had already pitched four innings and began his fifth when he surrendered the solo shot. Carolina's bullpen held Vancouver hitless for the final seven innings of the game, while Vancouver surrendered only four hits in the final seven.

Hoboken picked up their fifth straight victory by routing the Mighty Men in Marietta yesterday. Omar Vizquel was 4-6 and Miguel Cabrera and Josh Bard each hit a homer and drove in three runs in the 11-5 victory.

Cutters cuttin' it up

The Hoboken Cutters have rocketed up into the sixth overall spot with a four-game winning streak. Jarrod Washburn improved to 12-6 with a win over the struggling Las Vegas Rat Pack yesterday. The Cutters thumped the Rats 12-4, behind Player of the Week Ian Kinsler's 3-4, 3-RBI night. The Cutters had a decent 13 hits in the game, but racked up 12 walks.

Joe Saunders' luck ran out last night, sort of. Saunders only threw eight pitches in the game, but after a lengthy rain delay, Don Mattingly decided it would be best to pull the youngster. And though the Sugar Bear pen was solid, only allowing two runs in the final 8 2/3 innings, it was enough to stick Saunders with the loss. Roy Oswalt, fresh from a recent DL stint, pitched brilliantly for Honolulu, allowing only one unearned run in six innings, while striking out four. The shaky Tom Gordon pitched the final two innings for his 15th save.

David Ortiz's two homers gave Vancouver a much-needed victory over Sardine City yesterday. Ortize drove in six runs while hitting his 29th and 30th homers of the year. Vancouver is now sitting on the outside looking in from seventh place. Greg Maddux pitched a strong game to improve to 8-4 on the season.

A 4-run eighth inning propelled the Buddahs to a 7-3 victory over Marietta yesterday. Austin Kearns and Yuniesky Betancourt both hit homers in the inning. Kearns was 3-3 and Nomar Garciaparra had a 3-run homer in the contest.

Clemens, Johnson, nearing milestones

Arkansas' Roger Clemens is now just one win away from 200 for his career. He will join Greg Maddux and Pedro Martinez as the only others to achieve the mark. Clemens was a bit shaky in the game, a 9-3 win over Philadelphia, but he improved to 10-6 on the season thanks to a solid bullpen and a completely ineffective Erik Bedard. Another Falcon, recently-acquired Craig Biggio is one hit away from 1500 career hits.

Randy Johnson is now only eight strikeouts away from 3000. Johnson pitched a complete game, 7-hit, shutout against Honolulu, as Newark took the game 6-0. Johnson struck out six and walked none.

Hoboken had an impressive 11-7 win over Las Vegas Thursday. With a 7-4 lead late in the game, Hoboken narrowed the lead to 7-6 after a Mike Napoli homer in the eighth. In the ninth, Hoboken tied the game up with a Miguel Cabrera single, then with two outs and the bases loaded, Ian Kinsler took Damaso Marte deep for a walk-off grand slam. By the way, it was the first appearance for Marte since the Rat Pack signed him a few days ago. Welcome to the team!

There will be no games tomorrow to clean up after today's Take Your Dog to Work Day festivities.

Thomas, Soriano set marks

Brandon Webb pitched a complete game against the Falcons, surrendering two runs on seven hits and striking out five. Webb improves to 9-5 on the season. The Endzone Animals were trailing 2-1 after five, but they scored nine runs between the sixth and eighth innings to seal a 10-2 victory.

Frank Thomas led D.C. to an 8-5 victory over South Boston yesteday. Thomas was 3-5 with 4 RBIs and two homers on the night. His two homers moved him past Larry Walker into a 10th place tie on the all-time home run list and tied for sixth on the all-time RBI list. Alfonso Soriano quietly extended his hitting streak to a season-high 24 games, moving ahead of Matt Diaz who had the previous longest streak.

The Cutters won on a night when starter Vicente Padilla was a bit wild. Padilla pitched seven innings and allowed four runs, while walking three and striking out one. That doesn't sound too bad, until you see that Padilla also hit three batters in the game. Two of the hit batters came in the second inning when Padilla hit Kaz Matsui and Chone Figgins consecutively to load the bases. Luckily the next batter flew out to end the inning. "I just can't stand those Rat bastards" said Padilla in a post-game interview. "They deserved to get hit six times!" Closer Jason Isringhausen recorded his seventh save of the season and the 150th of his career (the fifth DMBLer to achieve the feat).

Carolina sweeps, Newark avoids sweep

Carolina completed the sweep of first-place Philadelphia thanks to an excellent performance from Carlos Zambrano. Zambrano threw seven innings of three-hit ball and allowed only one run while striking out eleven and walking three. Carolina gave Johan Santana only his second loss of the season.

Newark, on the other hand, avoided the sweep by handing the Cutters a 10-3 loss. Gregg Zaun hit a 3-run homer rookie Tony Saunders picked up his second win on the season. Saunders is perhaps the latest in a line of WTF Sugar Bear starters - scrap heap pickups that end up winning double digits for the Sugar Bears. Will Saunders join the John Thomsons and Mike Graces and become another Newark legend? With that powerhouse offense behind him, why not?

In case you missed the late transactions last night, Arkansas signed a couple of DMBL veterans to help fill out platoon roles. Craig Biggio, who played briefly for Hoboken this year, and Bernie Williams, recently released by Sardine City, were brought on board. "We needed some veteran leadership on this team." said owner Stump Matiash. "We're tired of the constant keg parties and video game tournaments after games." Arkansas is currently two games back of sixth-place Vancouver for the final wild card spot.

South Boston broke Marietta's seven game winning streak with a 14-8 romp. Vlad Guerrero posted a monster 5-6 night with 6 RBIs and a homer. The Gang had a total of 20 hits. Marietta actually had an 8-5 lead in the ninth inning and the usually reliable Mariano Rivera on the mound, but Rivera gave up five straight singles to lead off the inning and then a homer to Prince Fielder. The Gang scored a total of nine runs in the inning when all was said and done.

Division leaders show chinks in the armor

Carolina has now won the first two games against fraternal rival Philadelphia after yesterday's 3-1 victory. Roy Halladay went eight innings and allowed only one run on five hits. Brian Fuentes notched his 19th save on the season. The first-place Endzone Animals have now dropped four straight and have seen their lead shrink to only 4 1/2 games on the D.C. Bushslappers.

Meanwhile the league's hottest team is the Mighty Men of Marietta who eked out their seventh straight victory over South Boston yesterday, 8-7. The Mighty Men were down 6-3 early in the game, but they tied it up with a 3-run Wes Helms homer in the seventh. Edgar Renteria gave the Gang a lead with a solo homer in the eighth, but it wasn't enough. After closer Huston Street had put two men on, Salamon Torres tried to get out of the jam, but gave up a 2-run triple to Ray Durham that gave the Mighty Men the victory.
Barry Bonds hit his 30th homer yesterday in the Falcons' 6-2 victory over the Hitmen. Still on a tear.

How about those Cutters? Hoboken has now taken the first two games against Newark in the Cereal Bowl. The Cutters got to starter John Smoltz early in the game, scoring five runs in the first three innings and never looking back. The Sugar Bears made it close, but not close enough. Both teams had the same amount of hits and the Cutters had one more walk, but it was a costly error by Carlos Guillen and a passed ball by Gregg Zaun that made the difference in the game.

Vancouver got trounced once again, 13-7, making it four of the last five games in which they gave up more than 10 runs. After a bullpen re-shuffling, manager Darren Daulton is at a loss of what to do. "It's like watching a fire burn your house down and all you have in your hands is a can of gasoline" said Daulton. Chris Carpenter, who had been solid in his last two starts, had more than a gas can, he had a bottle of nitroglycerin in his hands. Carpenter surrendered eleven earned runs in 3.1 innings. "Yeah, my bad" said Carpenter after the game.

Hitmen wack Vancouver

Vancouver was slapped around by the Hired Hitmen over the weekend. In game one, Alex Rodriguez drove in five runs to lead Hillsborough to a 16-5 victory. Then in game two, Ryan Howard hit two homers and drove in three runs and Russell Martin hit his first homer of the year and also drove in three runs, leading the Hitmen to a 13-7 victory. Then in game three, Carlos Lee unloaded on Vancouver, driving in six runs. Ryan Howard was also 4-4 in the game with his 38th homer of the year and Robinson Cano was 5-6 with two doubles. None of the Vancouver starters made it out of the third inning. Hillsborough outscored Vancouver in the three games 47-14. Hillsborough had won seven in a row at that point to even their record at 46-46 before dropping a game to Arkansas later on Sunday. Hillsborough is now only two games back of Vancouver in sixth in the overall standings. Vancouver shuffled up their pen after the losses, cutting Chris Britton and Joe Beimel and sending Chad Gaudin to AAA. Vancouver is expecting Brian Sweeney to come off the DL in time for Thursday's game.

New Jersey's Mike Piazza hit his 400th career home run off Tom Glavine yesterday in a 7-4 victory for Team Buddah. Piazza is only the seventh player to reach the milestone and the third to do it this year (Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome were the other two).

Randy Johnson moved closer to 3000 strikeouts yesterday. Now at 2986 for his career, Johnson should reach the mark sometime in his next two or three starts. Also in the game, Chipper Jones moved past Barry Larkin for number 13 on the all-time hit list with 1882. Despite all the career highlights, Newark still was stopped by Boof Bonser and the Hoboken Cutters. Bonser struck out 13 Sugar Bears in only five innings and improved to 7-4 on the season.

Bonds on fire

Bonds. Again. Bonds has now homered in his last five games. Bonds has seven homers in those five games and 29 on the season. Sure, Arkansas lost 5-1 to Vancouver, but has anyone been on such a tear in recent memory? All eyes will be on Barry over the weekend. By the way, Chris Carpenter, who won the game for Vancouver is now 4-2 since being traded from South Boston. The ERA is a bit higher than they'd like at 4.50, but he has been effective recently and more importantly, Carpenter is giving the Fist a lot of innings, giving the struggling bullpen much needed rest.

Philadelphia rallied to beat Hoboken yesterday after being down 5-3 in the ninth. Scott Rolen lined a double off Juan Rincon that scored two runs and gave the Animals the 6-5 lead. Francisco Rodriguez secured the ninth for his 19th save of the season.

Remember when Brett Myers couldn't buy a win...or a quality start for that matter? He's looked like a completely different pitcher lately. With the monkey now off his back, Myers looked excellent against Sardine City on Thursday, holding the Straphangers to only one run on seven hits in eight innings for his second victory of the year. He's still not getting any run support, but at least things are starting to fall his way. His ERA is now down to 6.96.

Making an emergency start for injured Gil Meche, Brad Hennessey looked very solid against Honolulu. Hennessey pitched eight innings and allowed only two runs on seven hits. Hennessey had spent the earlier part of the season in relief for the Mighty Men.

Josh Willingham's 5 RBIs propelled the Hired Hitmen to a 9-6 victory over South Boston. Willingham hit two homers in the game - his 8th and 9th of the season. Hillsborough has now won four in a row and is only three games under .500. With the streak, the Hitmen are now back in the playoff picture, only four games back of Vancouver.

Site down

For some unknown reason the DMBL site is down. The Did You Know will be delayed until at least later this afternoon. I have already contacted the hosting company and hopefully the problem will be resolved soon.

UPDATE: It appears as though there's a problem with the domain name. It may have expired (of course I didn't get any notice) and some shmuck snatched it up, so I may have to switch domain names. I already registered dmbl.us as a backup so if I don't hear anything about the .org name then I may have to switch everything over. It'll take some time for the new domain to register, so there won't be any games tonight unless the site comes back online by 6:00 or so. Sorry about the delays, hang in there with us.

UPDATE: I've switched the domain to http://www.dmbl.us/. Please update your bookmarks if you haven't already. Thursdays games will continue as planned.

Dicey deal

Las Vegas is busy on the trading block. This time the Rats surrendered highly-touted pitching prospect Daisuke Matsuzaka to Sardine City in return for their second round pick that they traded to the Straphangers earlier this year. Sardine City sent Cameron Maybin packing to make room for Dice-K on the farm team. Interestingly the trade was made while the two teams were playing each other on the field. Sardine City beat the snot out of starter Oliver Perez, who could only record one out while surrendering seven earned runs on five hits and three walks.

Greg Maddux was hanging on to a 4-3 lead against the Falcons when it all unraveled in the eighth. Maddux started off by giving up a hit to Lance Berkman, then walking Justin Morneau. Barry Bonds then launched his fourth homer in the last three games, giving the Falcons a 6-4 lead. Bob Wickman held down the fort in the ninth for his sixth save and 100th career save. Wickman became just the tenth player all-time to reach the mark.

Honolulu and Marietta began the first of their key divisional series. Marietta came back from a 7-3 deficit to tie the game up at seven with a four-run seventh inning, only to watch Honolulu grab the lead back after a Jason Giambi solo shot. Tom Gordon, who squeaked out of a jam in the eighth, could not hold it together for another inning. After giving up a leadoff double to Todd Helton, Gordon walked the next four batters, including walking in the tying and winning runs! Derek Jeter with the...um...walk-off walk? Did Gary Carter fall asleep in the dugout?
John Smoltz won his 150th career victory yesterday against Team Buddah. Smoltz held the Buddahs to one run on six hits over eight innings. Smoltz also struck out five.

New Did You Know? coming later tonight.

Tuesday tidbits

Arkansas got a little revenge on Hoboken yesterday with an 8-4 victory over the Cutters. Roger Clemens turned in a solid performance (7 IP, 6 K, 3 ER, 9 H) and Barry Bonds hit his third homer in two games.

Carolina edged the Sharks 8-7, despite giving up 19 hits. The Sharks left a whopping 16 men on base in the game. Roy Halladay gave up 10 hits in 5.2 innings, but still got the victory by holding the Sharks to only one earned run.

Philly salvaged a game against Newark yesterday, 9-1. Erik Bedard held the Sugar Bears to only three hits, but walked six in seven innings. Newark starter Randy Johnson was pounded for six runs in only 1.2 innings.

Vancouver swept Las Vegas and much-maligned closer Billy Wagner saved all three games. Wagner now leads the league in saves (19) by two over Philly's Francisco Rodriguez.

Game on!

Welcome to the second half!

Hoboken took no time to get back in the swing of things, opening up with a giant-sized can of Whoop-ass® on Arkansas. The Cutters crushed the Falcons 11-4 in the first game thanks to a huge game from Hanley Ramirez (5-6, 4 runs) and Chris Duncan (3-4, 6 RBIs, HR). Jarrod Washburn notched his 10th win of the season. Game 2 featured more of the same, as the Cutters pounded out a 9-5 victory. This time it was Geoff Jenkins with the big game (3-4, 4 RBIs, 2 HRs).

D.C. and Las Vegas made a trade yesterday. D.C. parted with Matt Holliday, prospect Alex Gordon, and their first round pick in 2008 for reliever Chris Ray, first baseman Derrek Lee, and third baseman Ryan Zimmerman. It's a bit of a strange trade. D.C. already has one of the better pens in the league with Papelbon and Nathan both having great years, so it's unclear how Ray will fit in there. Zimmerman is an upgrade over Mike Lamb on that side of the platoon, but Esteban German has been crushing lefties this year. Derrek Lee, who will miss the 2007 DMBL season, will probably be an upgrade over Overbay next year, but how much? Lee's power numbers seem down in rehab so far. Holliday seems like a large price to pay for a deal that only marginally upgrades D.C. this year and only marginally upgrades them next year. Meanwhile, Las Vegas still believes in struggling prospect Alex Gordon, who can't seem to get on the right side of the Mendoza line in AAA.

Because of the special All-Star This Week in DMBL, there will be no edition this week. Next week's installment will feature players of the week from the two week span. New editions may possibly come on Sundays instead of Mondays from now on.

All-Star Snubs

Well, not everyone's going to make the All-Star teams, and if these guys made it, another worthy player might have to be taken off the list, but these lists are still fun to make. Here's a look at the top five snubs from each team:

Morris Division

1) Justin Morneau, ARK - Morneau fell victim to Albert Pujols' equally impressive 2007 season and his popularity, but Morneau had a bit of a claim to the spot as well. Morneau is seventh in batting average (.333), ninth in slugging (.633), tied for sixth in RBI (66), tied for seventh in home runs (25) and ninth in OPS (1.024). Of course it didn't help him that Pujols was on top of him most of those categories, but maybe Morneau will be better remembered next season.

2) Erik Bedard, PHI - Bedard was *this close* to making the team this year. A tiebreaker sent D.C.'s Derek Lowe instead, but Bedard was just as worthy. Bedard is 8-3 (10th) with a 3.40 ERA (5th) for the first-place Endzone Animals. His 87 strikeouts in 98 innings is not too shabby either.

3) Greg Maddux, VAN - The old man can still pitch. Maddux is having a bit of a resurgence this year, but his lack of decisions has hurt his chances. Maddux is only 5-2 in 13 games so far this year, but his 3.39 ERA is good for fourth in the league and he's only allowed 11.3 runners per 9 innings (4th) and he leads the league in walks per nine innings (1.2). Maddux is also fourth in quality start percentage (.692).

4) Rocco Baldelli, CAR - Throughout his career, Baldelli has struggled to stay healthy, but now that he has, he is fulfilling the promise that many saw for his career. Baldelli is batting .310 on the season with 18 homers, 52 RBI, 58 runs scored, 6 steals, and an .868 OPS.

5) Scott Proctor, PHI - These guys always get overlooked, but Proctor, along with D.C.'s Joe Nathan and South Boston's Brandon League could have easily found a spot on the roster. Proctor may have been the best of the bunch. The Philly righthander has allowed only 32 baserunners in 50.1 innings and struck out 41, while compiling a 1.61 ERA. Proctor also has a 7-0 record, good enough for fourth on his team in victories!

Hanover Division

1) Mark Teahen, NWK - Newark is certainly well-represented on the team, but Teahen could have easily been another candidate. Teahen is batting .324 with a .988 OPS, 20 HRs, 66 RBIs and 62 runs scored. We won't feel too bad since Newark has eight representatives, we wont' feel too bad about it.

2) Josh Bard, HBK - Bard is having a great season as Hoboken's catcher/DH. So far, Bard has a .321 average, 50 RBI, and a .850 OPS. Bard would have liked to back up starter Joe Mauer, but Bard will have to wait one more year.

3) Gary Matthews, SAR - Matthews is the heart and soul of the Sardine City offense. So far he leads the team in average (.319), runs (41) and triples (5). Matthews also has 35 RBIs, 18 doubles, and a .832 OPS. Given the way Sardine City's offense has started though, it's understandable that the voters might have overlooked Matthews.

4) Jeff Francis, HON - Overshadowed by the more successful Jason Schmidt and the hot prospect, Jered Weaver, Jeff Francis has been having a great year for the Sharks and is one of the reasons the team is successful this year. Francis has accumulated a 10-3 record to go along with his 3.87 ERA. His low K total might turn off voters (49 in 109.1 innings), but you can't argue with the results.

5) Mike Mussina, MAR - Along with Scott Kazmir from Hoboken, these two are likely victims of poor win-loss records that voters love. Mussina, who is only 6-6 for Marietta, has a decent 4.06 ERA, but he has 98 strikeouts in 104 innings and has excellent peripheral numbers (1.6 BB/9, 11.5 R/9, 5.2 K:BB) indicating Moose may be in for a strong second half.

Plenty of more All-Star news and info is coming in a special edition of This Week in the DMBL tonight!

One-run Madness!

It was a tense day for most of the teams in the league - five of the six games were decided by one run yesterday.

C.C. Sabathia outdueled Nate Robertson to give Hillsborough a 2-1 victory yesterday. Sabathia improved to 7-2 on the season by limiting the Gang to only five hits over eight innings and striking out six. If Sabathia didn't miss almost a month due to injuries earlier this year, he might have been up there with Santana in the wins department. Robertson is still looking for his first win of the year, though he's far from Brett Myers territory at 0-4.

Jose Contreras also was impressive in helping New Jersey upset the Sugar Bears 3-2. Contreras has been very solid for the fledgling franchise and in fact earned himself a spot on the Hanover Division All-Star team. Contreras foiled an otherwise solid DMBL debut for Newark's rookie lefty, Joe Saunders. Saunders pitched seven innings and allowed only three runs on seven hits, but it wasn't enough. Mike Piazza hit his 14th home run this season and is now sitting at 398 for his career. Also with his 1961st hit, Piazza moved past Tony Gwynn for seventh all-time.

Johan Santana picked up win # 11 on the season by shutting down the Cutters. Santana was actually in line for the loss, when Adam Wainwright failed to hold the lead in the seventh. Wainwright began the inning after Scott Kazmir had pitched six strong innings, but the first two batters reached base and two sac flies later, the lead was gone.

The Straphangers won in similar fashion against the Rat Pack. With a 3-1 lead entering the eighth, newly-acquired George Sherrill had just pitched a 1-2-3 seventh and was trying to preserve the lead. But Ivan Rodriguez and Joe Crede both started the inning off with doubles and Kevin Youkilis tied the game with a sacrifice fly. Finally with two outs, Willy Taveras drove in the winning run and Akinori Otsuka retired the Rats in order in the ninth. Tom Glavine earned the victory and also reached 1500 strikeouts for his career.

Meanwhile Carolina and D.C. ran a marathon game that lasted 16 innings. "It's not Sunday is it?" asked Grady Sizemore, referring to the doubleheader day. D.C. had a 4-0 lead until the sixth when Carolina cut the lead in half. Carolina actually took the lead in the eighth after Travis Hafner and Johnny Estrada homered. Brian Fuentes couldn't hold the lead in the ninth so it was off to extra innings. Finally in the 16th, Richie Sexson came through with an RBI single to score Sizemore and the game was over.

Tomorrow we'll take a look at the biggest All-Star snubs.

Reyes = triple threat

D.C. pounded on the Sugar Bears and suddenly the defending champions seem almost mortal. The Bushslappers won by a 13-4 score. Jose Reyes was 4-5 with another triple and 3 RBIs. Reyes now has a Deion Sanders-esque six triples in his last seven games and is now second in the league with 11 triples. Marietta's Wes Helms still leads the league with 13 three-baggers.

Honolulu and Vancouver slugged it out and the Sharks came out victorious with a 13-11 victory. Former Iron Fist Torii Hunter was 4-4 with 3 home runs and 6 RBIs. Both starters were chased early and Vancouver lost reliever Brian Sweeney for two weeks to injury. Kenny Rogers recorded his first career save after the Honolulu pen was spent. While the Sharks were scoring aplenty, the top of the order went a combined 0-17.

Carolina edged Sardine City 5-3 yesterday, but they lost starting second baseman Jose Vidro for two weeks. Mark Grudzielanek will take over. Rocco Baldelli hit his 18th homer of the season - easily a career best. In fact, Baldelli had 19 career homers in two years in the DMBL entering this season. Brian Fuentes picked up his 16th save.

Today are the last games before the All-Star Break. Rosters will be announced later today.

Hit the road, Eck

Today is your last chance to vote for the All-Star game. If you haven't voted yet, what are you waiting for?

Hoboken's Vicente Padilla was impressive in a 4-hit shutout of the South Boston Gang. Padilla improved to 8-2 and lowered his ERA to 3.93. Padilla also struck out 9 in the game. Also impressive yesterday was Carolina's Roy Halladay, who also 4-hit the Straphangers. Halladay only managed a mere 5 strikeouts.

Philadelphia activated David Eckstein off the disabled list and promptly handed his walking papers. After trying to trade the shortstop over the weekend and getting no bites, Eck was sent packing. Eckstein was batting a respectable .287, though somewhat empty (.693 OPS), but became superfluous when the club acquired Jimmy Rollins from Newark.

Newark blew a 9-8 lead in the bottom of the ninth when Cla Meredith gave up a three-run walk-off home run to Frank Thomas. In the game, Newark also survived a 6-run seventh inning that chased starter Chien-Ming Wang from the game. Newark felt that someone had to be "punished" for this embarrassing loss. So who would you think paid the price? Wang for giving up 7 runs? Meredith for blowing the lead in the final inning? Nick Johnson or Marlon Anderson for each going 0-5? Nope, it was obviously Tim Wakefield's fault! Wakefield was cut to make room for former Sugar Bear Alex Cora. "What the-- I wasn't even on the active roster?" reacted Wakefield after receiving the news. "It's not Tim" said GM Butch Garretson after the game "we just wanted to get Alex on the team again. That guy is a real sparkplug!"

The Myers Hex is over

Brett Myers finally broke the curse Sunday by shutting out the Sharks for seven innings and earning his first win of the season. Myers has actually been pitching fairly well over his last three appearances, lowering his ERA from 9.87 to 7.73. It may not seem like much, but after the way his season began, he probably feels like Cy Young right now.

D.C.'s Frank Thomas passed Gary Sheffield for the 12th spot on the home run list with 341. Thomas has only seven homers and is batting .221 in a part-time role. Ken Griffey of Sardine City also hit a milestone Saturday by passing Jeff Bagwell for the number four slot in career hits, his 2048th.

Friday Night Blog Bits: Johan Santana is now two strikeouts away from 1000 on his career. He would be the 23rd player to achieve the goal...Albert Pujols hit home run number 200 and Manny Ramirez his home run number 400 in their careers. Manny is now sixth all-time, while Pujols has some work to do - he's only at #37...Tom Glavine is only four strikeouts away from 1500 in his career.

Duncan Responsibility

First off, a reminder. The All-Star game is rapidly approaching, so if you haven't voted yet, make sure you do it soon! Now on to the games...

Chris Duncan possibly cost the Cutters their game against the Sugar Bears yesterday. In the first inning, Duncan bobbled a ball in the field when Chipper Jones yelled out "Mine!" from the infield. The gaffe cost the Cutters two runs in the first inning. Then in the second inning, Duncan fell for the same trick again Jones yelled "Ha!" from the dugout and Duncan, spooked again, let the ball fall in front of him, scoring Mark Teahan. Two more runs would score that inning and soon the Cutters were down 6-0, all unearned runs. Duncan tried to make up for his bloopers in the sixth with a solo home run, but in the seventh, Chipper would make Duncan pay for it. On a high fly ball from Nick Johnson, Jones yelled "Yabba Dabba Doo" and Duncan let the ball fall out of his glove. Luckily for Duncan, no runs scored that inning, but he was left feeling very embarrassed. "That was not cool at all" said Duncan after the game. Cutters manager Wally Backman called Jones "Bush League" and Cutters GM/owner Mark Hrywna was seen throwing furniture around in the owner's box. "Hey it's all part of the game" Jones stated in the post-game press conference.

Jermaine Dye had a huge night for Honolulu. The Shark outfielder was 3-5 with 3 home runs, leading the Sharks to an 8-2 spanking of the Rat Pack. Dye now has 29 homers on the year and is tied with Ryan Howard for the league lead. In the game, Jason Schmidt secured his 10th win of the season.

Brad Penny held the Straphangers to only three hits over seven innings to improve to 7-6 as the Buddahs shut out Sardine City 8-0. Team Buddah, despite being eight games under .500 actually has a positive run differential now (352 for, 346 against).

Marietta and D.C. both parted with two of their prospects yesterday. D.C. gave up on Phillip Humber and signed up DMBL veteran Matt Morris. Meanwhile, Marietta was less calm about releasing disappointing Kei Igawa. After Igawa was torched in AAA, an irate David Landsman was rumored to have issued a hit on Igawa. Igawa was taken into protective custody just in case, though Landsman denied the charges. In a video taken by a fan's cell phone, Landsman appears to say "put a bullet in the back of his head", but the video is a bit grainy. Nevertheless, Igawa was issued his walking papers and Paul Byrd was welcomed back to the Mighty Men clubhouse.