Falcons injuries pile up

Arkansas' Curt Schilling pitched a brilliant 2-hit complete game against D.C. yesterday as the Falcons won 7-1. One of the two hits was a Carlos Beltran solo homer. Meanwhile Arkansas' injury plague continues as the Falcons lost Orlando Cabrera for at least a week. He joins Roger Clemens, Chris Coste, Bob Wickman, and Eric Hinske in the infirmary. Clemens might actually be able to still make his start Friday thanks to an off day Wednesday.

Chad Billingsley pitched another solid game, but the Vancouver pen couldn't hold the lead for him and ended up losing 5-3 to the Mudcats. Billingsley had pitched six innings and allowed only two runs but Chad Gaudin gave up two solo homers to start off the eighth inning. Joel Peralta gave up another solo shot in the ninth to Grady Sizemore to add insult to injury.

The first wave of callups has begun.

Newark recalled Matt Stairs, Dave Bush, Kevin Millwood and James Shields. Stairs may see some pinch hitting action, but the pitchers will most likely only be used in extreme situations where the rest of the pen is tired. It is possible that one of them will get a spot start to rest the regular starters for the playoffs toward the end of the month. Newark is close to clinching so they may not have much left to play for anyway.

Vancouver has recalled Jose Guillen and Manny Corpas. Corpas will see some time in the bullpen, likely at the expense of Chad Gaudin, who has been horrible. Guillen will serve as an emergency bat off the bench.

Hillsborough added reliever Matt Guerrier to their roster. Guerrier spent some time earlier with New Jersey and will give the Hitmen some more bullpen depth.

Playoff picture begins to take shape

Marietta's streak finally came to an end at ten games after dropping the first game to Sardine City yesterday. Tom Glavine pitched a solid game to earn his 8th win of the season. Offensive heavyweights Juan Pierre and Josh Barfield each had three hits to break Sardine City's own little five-game losing streak. Marietta has put some distance between themselves and the rest of the wild card pack - Marietta now stands five games ahead of fourth-place D.C.

While the top half of the playoff order seems pretty much set, the bottom half looks to be a little more contestable. D.C. won two games to hold onto the fourth spot yesterday. Against New Jersey, the Bushslappers slapped out 20 hits in 14 innings, including a 4-run 14th to win 11-7 against the Buddahs. The Slappers also scratched out a 3-2 win over the Falcons after trailing most of the game.

Hillsborough is holding on at number five after splitting yesterday's games. J.D. Drew went 3-4 with 5 RBIs to lead Philly to a 9-3 victory over the Hitmen, but Hillsborough overcame the loss with a 7-3 beating of Honolulu. Carlos Delgado drove in four and C.C. Sabathia won his 10th.

Vancouver split two close games yesterday to remain in sixth. The Fist dropped the first game, 5-4, to South Boston, after the Gang scored runs in each of the last three innings to win the game. But in a nailbiter later in the day, Vancouver edged the Mudcats in ten innings, 9-8, thanks to a huge day from David Ortiz (4-6, 6 RBIs, 3 HR).

The last two teams fighting it out are Honolulu and Hoboken. Honolulu beat Hoboken early in the day yesterday, only to lose to Hillsborough later. Hoboken went on to drop their second game to Marietta. As it stands now, Honolulu is one game out of the last playoff spot and Hoboken is 1 1/2 behind Honolulu. Carolina and Arkansas are still somewhat alive, but need to get on the ball quickly.

Tuesday is roster expansion day as all teams rosters can expand to the full 30 player limit. While some teams have a slew of inelligibles, others will benefit from an increased bench and/or bullpen. We'll take a look at some of the callups on Wednesday.

Edge of Your Seat Thursday

Arkansas edged the Sugar Bears in 10 innings yesterday, 4-3. The Sugar Bears took the lead in the top of the 10th, but the Falcons tied it up on a Lance Berkman RBI single and won the game on a Barry Bonds RBI single. Berkman had three of the four RBIs in the game and Bonds and Orlando Cabrera each had three hits.

D.C. almost lost another game to the last-place Rat Pack, but a four-run ninth gave the Bushslappers the victory. It started with a two-run Frank Thomas homer that cut the lead to one. George Sherrill was brought in to replace starter Joe Blanton. After loading the bases, Sherrill gave up the walkoff double to Alfonso Soriano giving D.C. a 7-6 victory. D.C. won despite getting out hit 13-8 by Vegas and walking seven batters. The Rats left 13 batters on base in the game.

Hillsborough beat New Jersey 4-3 to complete the trifecta of one-run games. Unlike the other two games, all the runs were scored early in the game. Jeremy Bonderman improved to 13-9 and Ryan Howard drove in 3 runs.

Honolulu and Philadelphia played a close game, but alas, it was a 2-run game with a wild ending, although it was extra innings. The Sharks finally won a game against the Animals after losing four straight. Jermaine Dye led off the inning with a double and Jason Giambi reached base on an infield single...yes the same speedy Jason Giambi we all know and love. Two batters later, Francisco Rodriguez threw a pitch in the dirt that advanced Giambi to second. With two outs after striking out the next batter, Frank Catalanotto lined a single that scored both runners, giving the Sharks the lead. Rodriguez threw yet another wild pitch to advance the Little Cat, but Ryan Freel struck out to end the inning, the third Shark strikeout of the inning. Tom Gordon sent the Animals down 1-2-3 in the bottom half of the inning to preserve the game. By the way, Jason Giambi passed the 1000 career RBI mark in the game, becoming the 19th player to reach the mark.

Finally, in the day's biggest blowout, Vancouver destroyed (relatively speaking) Hoboken 5-2. Chad Billingsley continues to impress with six shutout innings, striking out six Cutters and improving to 2-2. Billy Wagner picked up his 30th save and Moises Alou hit the 200th home run of his career.

Mighty Men streak into Wild Card lead

The Mighty Men kept rolling along yesterday with a 5-2 win over Carolina. Mike Mussina contributed a solid eight innings, surrendering only two runs on five hits. Milton Bradley hit a three-run homer in the third to give the Mites the lead and that proved to be enough for Moose. The win was the eighth in a row for the Mighty Men. Marietta has now opened up a 4 1/2 game cushion on D.C.

Speaking of which, D.C. fell victim to the classic "revenge factor" when El Duque Hernandez threw a gem against the Slappers. Duque surrendered only one run and five hits through seven and struck out nine. Hernandez was cut March 31st by D.C. after only one appearance - a disastrous mopup appearance where Duque gave up five runs in 1.1 innings. El Duque finally got his revenge and his first win on the season as the Rat Pack won 8-4 Wednesday.

Vancouver has made a late season revival, winning three of the first four in a crucial series with Hoboken. This time it was Ben Sheets, limiting the Cutters to one run in seven innings. Scott Spiezio got his first start since joining Vancouver and went 3-5. Vancouver is now sitting in sixth place overall, a half game ahead of Hoboken and one game ahead of the Sharks.

Arkansas and Newark battled it in a 10-inning contest. Newark jumped out to a 6-0 lead early, but the Falcons came right back with a huge 6-run third inning. The Sugar Bears went up 8-7 in the top of the tenth after a Manny Ramirez solo shot to lead off the inning. Orlando Cabrera made things interesting in the bottom of the tenth when he reached base on a single and stole second with only one out, but Cabrera got greedy and was thrown out trying to steal third.

Reyes races toward record

Only four games in the DMBL yesterday, so let's get to it.

Arkansas finally got a win against Newark yesterday, scraping out a 6-5 win as the series shifted to the Natural State. Newark held the lead until Lance Berkman hit a three-run homer to tie things up. Berkman was brought in to pinch-hit for catcher Henry Blanco. The game ended as Cla Meredith hit Chris Coste with the bases loaded in the ninth to end the game. A walkoff hit by pitch? "He was crowding the inside of the plate and I own the plate" said Meredith after the game. "I don't care if we lost as long as he got the message."

Derek Jeter and Matt Diaz each had three hits and Wily Mo Pena drove in 3 RBIs as Marietta breezed by the Mudcats 7-3. Woody Williams earned his second straight win after a dismal start. "My first three starts are really a test" said Williams. "If the team sticks with me after three bad games, then I start to pitch well." Vancouver benched Williams after three dreadful starts and later traded him to Marietta. Williams' ERA now stands at 7.43 for the season. Marietta has now won seven straight.

Kelvim Escobar and the Bushslappers had no problems with the Rat Pack yesterday, easily winning 7-1. Escobar contributed 8 innings en route to his 12th win of the season. Jose Reyes hit his 20th triple of the season and continues to ascend the all-time mark. In only his third season, Reyes is already eighth on the all-time chart with 51, only 24 shy of the all-time mark of 75 set by Deion Sanders. "I must erase the stain of Deion from the record books" said Reyes.

South Boston pounded out a 12-2 win over the Straphangers yesterday. Garrett Atkins, Prince Fielder, and Vladimir Guerrero each had three RBIs in the victory.

Smoltz racks up 2000th

Newark's John Smoltz picked up strikeout number 2000 for his career Monday. Smoltz pitched eight innings to earn his 13th win of the year against the Falcons, 8-4. Bobby Abreu was 4-5 with 2 stolen bases and 3 RBIs.

Nate Robertson pitched a 6-0, complete game shutout of the Sardine City Straphangers to earn only his second win of the season. Robertson held the Sardines to five hits and two walks. Garrett Atkins and Vlad Guerrero each had three hits and hit their 27th homers of the season.

Jacques Jones hit a two-run walkoff homer to give Team Buddah a 5-4 win over Hillsborough yesterday. Ichiro Suzuki and Shea Hillenbrand both had four hits in the win.

The Rat Pack spoiled the sweep for the Bushslappers yesterday. D.C. had a 4-2 lead in the eighth, but Joe Mauer and Mark Teixeira hit back-to-back doubles to give the Rats a 5-4 lead. Frank Thomas hit two homers in a losing cause, though he did move into fifth all-time with 1285 RBIs.

Erik Bedard shut down the Sharks yesterday 5-0. Bedard held the Sharks to four runs over 7.2 innings and J.J. Putz completed the shutout. The Animals were held to only six hits as well, but four of them were home runs, including two by Scott Rolen.

Sunday wrapup

Vancouver has now won five straight after a two-month long slump and are now tied for sixth overall. The Fist have taken the first two from Hoboken over the weekend behind solid pitching efforts from Greg Maddux and Jake Peavy. Vancouver took game one after Juan Rincon couldn't hold the 2-1 lead in the ninth. Moises Alou hit a two-run single to take the lead from the Cutters. Game two also required some late inning heroics from Vancouver. John Garland was cruising behind a 2-0 lead in the seventh when Mike Lowell hit a three-run homer to give Vancouver the lead. Jake Peavy limited the Cutters to five hits and two runs over seven innings for the win, striking out 11.

The Honolulu Sharks dropped their last two games to Philly and now have fallen into a sixth-place tie with Vancouver. Philly's Johan Santana struck out 11 in 8.1 innings en route to his 14th win of the year. Jose Lopez was 3-3 with a homer run in the first game and 2-4 with 2 RBIs in the second. Brandon Webb pitched 8 solid innings to give the Animals a 4-2 win. David Ross added two solo home runs in the victory.

Marietta is now sitting comfortably atop the wild card standings after winning five straight. Trevor Hoffman held off a late Mudcat rally in the ninth to preserve an 8-7 win for the Mighty Men. Derek Jeter moved into 10th on the all-time hits list. Newly-acquired B.J. Ryan was a key part to the game two victory, pitching three perfect innings, striking out five and earning his first victory as a Mighty Man. Ryan has now pitched seven innings for Marietta and has not allowed a single baserunner. He has also struck out 11.

D.C. pounded away on Las Vegas in game one, then were lucky to escape with a victory in the second game. Jose Reyes went 4-4, leading the way for the Bushslappers 20-hit, 13-3 win over Vegas in game one. Pinch-hitter Mike Lamb was the only Slapper to not get a hit. Game two took 10 innings, but D.C. pulled off the victory anyway, 3-2. The game was tied in the early innings and the two bullpens were taking turns shutting each other down. Jose Reyes finally broke the tie in the 10th with a triple that scored Carlos Beltran. Joe Nathan pitched a perfect 10th to earn the save.

Blog bits... Mike Piazza hit his 2000th career DMBL hit in New Jersey's 7-5 win over Hillsborough. He's the seventh player to do so in the history of the league. In the same series, Alex Rodriguez passed Barry Larkin for #14 on the hits list...Newark's Chipper Jones tied Sammy Sosa for number 9 on the RBI list with 1237.

Billingsley stabilizes Fist staff

Chad Billingsley earned his first DMBL win, holding D.C. to only three hits and zero runs over 7.1 innings. Billingsley, who was going to spend the year at AA Spokane, was called up recently because the rest of the staff was falling apart at the seams. Though shaky at times, Billingsley still has only a 2.70 ERA and 1.27 WHIP in 4 starts. Picking up his 28th save was Billy Wagner, now up by two for the league lead over Francisco Rodriguez. David Ortiz hit two homers in the game.

Strange stat line from Hoboken, as the Cutters have now won two straight against the powerhouse Sugar Bears. The Cutters won 12-8, holding the Sugar Bears to only three hits. That's right, the Sugar Bears scored eight runs on only three hits! It certainly didn't help that the Cutters walked 11 Sugar Bears batters and hit two more, but still... One of the hits was a Michael Barrett grand slam in the first inning after three of the first four batters walked.

The Buddahs pulled off a ninth-inning miracle comeback over the Straphangers. The Sardines held a 7-5 lead in the ninth but the pressure was too much for Akinori Otsuka. After getting the first two batters out in the inning, Otsuka could not get the final out. The unlikeliest of heroes, Dioner Navarro, who is batting .216 on the season, hit a two-run single to tie the game, then Andy Phillips, he of the .118 average, got the game winning hit - only his second hit of the season.

Curt Schilling was roughed up again yesterday by Hillsborough. Ryan Howard hit two homers and drove in seven runs in a 9-0 rout of the Falcons. Jeremy Bonderman limited Arkansas to only four hits over 7.1 innings while striking out 12.

Don't forget there are no games tomorrow. Games will resume Sunday with a doubleheader late in the day. Trade Talk will be delayed until either Sunday or Monday.

Wednesday doubleheader recap

Roy Oswalt pitched a gem against South Boston yesterday as the Sharks routed the Gang 10-0. Oswalt pitched a complete game shutout, surrendering only five hits and no walks while striking out six. Oswalt has pitched well in five of his last six starts since coming back from his injury last month. The one low note was a 10-2 loss to Marietta.

Albert Pujols drove in six runs and hit his 39th home run in Philly's 11-3 shellacking of Las Vegas. Brandon Webb won after missing his last start due to injury to improve to 11-7. Reed Johnson also contributed 3 RBIs. The Rat Pack used eight pitchers in the game, including rarely utilized Casey Janssen, who pitched the last three innings. It was Vegas' ninth straight loss.

The Mudcats beat the Animals in the late game yesterday, but lost David Eckstein to injury. Eckstein has been on the disabled list twice already this year as a member of the Endzone Animals and now will give the Mudcats a chance to pay him to sit at home and play his Nintendo Wii.

Newark won twice yesterday becoming the first team to 90 wins on the season. In game one against Hillsborough, Jim Edmonds hit two homers and drove in six runs for the Sugar Bears. Randy Johnson won his 197th career victory. Ryan Howard hit his 50th homer of the season for Hillsborough. Edmonds hit another homer in the second game as John Smoltz started his 300th career game. His seven strikeouts left him four shy of 2000 for his career.

Jose Contreras shut down Vancouver for a 5-0 shutout, though Contreras couldn't make it through the full nine. Contreras lasted eight innings, holding Vancouver to four hits and two walks. Mike Wuertz finished the ninth to preserve the shutout.

Look for a new Trade Talk article later tonight.

Falcons turn to trash heap for help

Arkansas went dumpster diving Tuesday, salvaging three players from the scrap heap of Sunday's deadline castoffs. First, Arkansas signed up Pat Burrell who was cut by Hoboken after posting a .160 average with 53 strikeouts in 156 at bats. True to form, Burrell went 0-3 in his Falcons debut with three strikeouts. Next, Arkansas grabbed Juan Cruz who had made a spot start in Philly for injured Brandon Webb. Cruz also spent some time pitching in relief with Las Vegas. Cruz made more of a positive impact than Burrell, pitching 6 innings and surrendering two runs and earning a victory in the Falcons 3-2 win over Sardine City. The third cast-off was Marietta's Chad Qualls who was released when the Mighty Men acquired B.J. Ryan over the weekend. Qualls had been 4-4 with a 5.03 ERA in 50 appearances for the Mighty Men.

The Falcons have actually had a bit of success picking up players off the junk pile this year. Bob Wickman, who was a disaster for the Buddahs, has emerged as a solid closer for the Falcons, picking up 12 saves in 13 tries and compiling a 2.77 ERA. Bernie Williams, released to make room for Burrell, was doing very well as part of a platoon - .847 OPS, .360 average in 25 ABs. Another platoon role player, Craig Biggio is batting .286 and recently hit his 1500th career DMBL hit.

Marietta's Francisco Liriano lost for only the second time yesterday. Liriano was pounded for seven runs (six earned) in 2.1 innings, to fall all the way to 12-2 on the season. It was by far Liriano's worst performance of the season as D.C. jumped all over Liriano early and often. Brad Hennessey relieved Liriano in the third and poured a jug of kerosene onto the fire, giving up six more runs in his 3.1 innings.

Liriano's loss gave Philly's Johan Santana a chance to jump back into competition for the McDonald Award against the Rat Pack. The Endzone Animals gave Santana enough run support for an 8-4 victory and Santana improved to 13-2 on the season.

Monday Squeakers

Vancouver pounded out 20 hits against the Buddahs yesterday, though it took them 11 innings to pull off the victory. Moises Alou hit five of the hits and drove in three runs. Mike Piazza had four hits for New Jersey, putting him at 1998 for his career.

Newark barely escaped with a 9-8 victory over Hillsborough. The score bounced back and forth between the two teams. The Hitmen held a 6-3 lead until a 5-run seventh gave Newark an 8-6 lead. But the Sugar Bears couldn't hold on and the Hitmen tied it up in their half of the ninth. Mark Teahen then hit the winning single in the bottom of the ninth with two outs to give the Sugar Bears their seventh straight win.

Derek Jeter tied Edgar Martinez for 10th on the all-time hits list as Marietta eked out a 6-5 victory by D.C. Jim Thome had a three-run homer in the contest and A.J. Burnett got the win despite surrendering five unearned runs in 6.1 innings. A Wes Helms error and a passed ball by Jorge Posada allowed four runs to score for the Bushslappers in the third inning yesterday and Jeter's error in the fifth gave D.C. their fifth run of the game.

The new guys are having an immediate impact for Hoboken. Brandon League picked up his ninth victory of the season after pitching two scoreless innings and Greg Norton had two RBIs to help the Cutters edge the Mudcats 7-6.

Deadline deals

Well the deadline came and went last night and there were a few deals that were made.

After shopping him for half of the season, Sardine City finally unloaded B.J. Ryan to Marietta. The Mighty Men get a significant boost to their bullpen which already featured DMBL greats Trevor Hoffman and Mariano Rivera. The Straphangers get a fifth round pick which should help them net a decent player next season.

Vancouver was at the heart of the weekend's other two trades. It seems as though they are giving up hopes of contention, though it can be argued that they didn't really lose any players that had been contributing to any success so far.

The first shipped outfielder J.D. Drew back home to Philadelphia. Drew played the first six years of his career with Philly. But Drew was left off the protected list in '06 and went on to have perhaps his finest season with Vancouver. Now Drew is back to Philly to help the Animals secure the Morris Division, while Vancouver gets back a couple of fifth round picks. Philly cut Juan Cruz, who had made a spot start in place of injured Brandon Webb, to make room for Drew.

The second deal came just under the wire, dealing reliever Wes Littleton to Hoboken for an 8th round pick. Sources say that Hoboken came close to acquiring Chris Carpenter, but the deal fell through at the last second. Littleton had been a relatively decent member of Vancouver's disastrous bullpen this season and should help out with Hoboken's equally disastrous pen.

Vancouver continued a roster overhaul after the deals, sending several role players packing. Vancouver brought in veteran Scott Spiezio, who had played with two other teams so far this year, to help solidify their bench. Hoboken also made a few moves to shake up their roster, cutting atrocious Pat Burrell and Braden Looper, as well as farmhand Aaron Cook.

The only other team to make a non-DL related move was Las Vegas who cut Cliff Floyd in favor of the younger Cory Sullivan.

Cutters deal Wainwright to Gang

South Boston and Hoboken finalized a deal yesterday. Hoboken sent young starter Adam Wainwright to South Boston in exchange for role player Greg Norton and reliever Brandon League. Both players were not in the Gang's future for next year. South Boston has plans to convert Wainwright into a starter next season, though he'll continue to work out of the pen this year.

Hillsborough's winning streak ends at 11 games after a 6-1 loss to Jake Westbrook and the Buddahs yesterday. Westbrook pitched eight innings and surrendered only four hits and one run. Meanwhile, Hillsborough starter Justin Verlander also broke the streak of quality starts by surrendering five runs in 5.1 innings.

Francisco Liriano improved to 12-1 with an impressive performance against Carolina yesterday. Liriano shut down the Cats for seven innings, holding them to three hits and zero runs while striking out 8. The Mighty Men won the game 4-1.

D.C. scored six runs on five homers in a 6-1 victory over Las Vegas yesterday. All five home runs were solo shots. Anibal Sanchez pitched a brilliant eight innings, holding the Rats to only three hits and one unearned run over eight innings.

Hoboken held on to win a tight 3-2 win over Vancouver. Once again the Iron Fist came up just shy of tying the game up in the ninth. Hoboken had led the game 3-0, but Vancouver scored two on a David Ortiz homer in the ninth. Former Vancouver reliever David Riske, who was recently recalled from AAA Weehawken, retired the final batters for his first save of the season.

Final reminder! This weekend is the last chance to make any trades this year or to claim any players off waivers who will be elligible as keepers next year.

Philly tightens grip on Morris lead

Ramon Hernandez's two homers gave the South Boston Gang all that they would need against the lackluster Sardine City Straphangers. Chuck James shut out the Sardines for 6.1 innings and the Gang's bullpen held on for a 7-0 final. South Boston has now won five of their last six though they have a long way to go to be back in contention.

Hillsborough won their 11th straight are now alone in fifth place overall. John Lackey turned in another quality start for the Hitmen, holding the Buddahs to one run in eight innings to improve to 13-6. Carlos Delgado had a three run pinch-hit homer in the sixth to lead the Hitmen to their 7-1 victory.

It took Philadelphia 14 innings to get past the Honolulu Sharks 5-4. The Animals have now won six in a row and are appearing to take a firm hold on the Morris Division lead. Philly is now 6 1/2 games up on the Bushslappers. After starter Matt Cain was roughed up for four runs in five innings, the Philly bullpen held the Sharks to a mere three hits in the final nine innings and surrendered zero runs. The pen also struck out 12 in those nine innings.

Vancouver rallied in the late innings against Hoboken to send their game to extra innings, only to watch the Cutters win the game in the 10th. The Cutters accumulated a 5-0 lead through seven, but Vancouver finally got on the board in the eighth when David Ortiz hit a solo homer. Vancouver scored three more to tie it up in the ninth after Jason Isringhausen's two-base error opened the floodgates. A Chris Shelton double in the tenth put Hoboken back on top to stay.

Hitmen starters get it done

Check out the league message board for some rules discussions. One suggestion deals with outfield elligibility and another is about stadiums. Also don't forget the trade deadline is this Sunday, July 15th.

Hillsborough is up to 10 wins in a row now with a 4-2 win over New Jersey. The Hitmen have gotten some great results from their starters lately and yesterday was no exception. Jeremy Bonderman pitched eight innings and allowed only two runs and five hits, while striking out seven and walking one. Bonderman improved to 10-9. The Hitmen have eight quality starts in their last nine, and the one that didn't quite qualify was a solid five inning performance from C.C. Sabathia that ended early due to rain.
Billy Wagner notched his 25th save of the season and 250th of his career in Vancouver's 5-2 win over Hoboken yesterday. Wagner now leads the league by one save over Philly's Francisco Rodriguez who is still the front-runner for the Eck.

Arkansas' Curt Schilling took his first lost of the season yesterday. Schilling, who started out in AAA to begin the season on a rehab assignment, won his first four decisions since taking Ervin Santana's spot in the rotation a month ago, but he hit a brick wall yesterday. Schilling wasn't that bad (7 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, 7 K) considering the opponent but the Arkansas offense couldn't find enough offense to keep up with the Sugar Bears.

Woeful Woody

D.C. broke their hex yesterday with an 8-6 win over Honolulu. D.C. moved back into sole possession of fourth place overall. Frank Thomas had five RBIs in the game including a grand slam in the eighth that gave the Bushslappers the lead.

Woody Williams' woes continued against his former team Vancouver yesterday. Williams lasted only 3.2 innings, surrendering 5 earned runs and eight hits. Williams was fortunate enough to escape with a no decision. Marietta came roaring back in the sixth inning, knocking Vancouver starter Jake Peavy out of the game. Jim Thome hit his 30th homer in the game, a 9-7 victory for the Mighty Men.

Meanwhile, Hillsborough continued to roll, winning their ninth straight. Sure it took them 11 innings to beat the Cutters, but the Hitmen kept their streak alive. The game was tied 3-3 going into the 10th, but Geoff Jenkins hit an RBI double to give the Cutters the lead. It was short-lived, however, because the Hitmen tied it up in the bottom of the 10th. After a quick top of the 11th, the Hitmen started off their half of the 11th with a leadoff double. With two outs to go, Russell Martin hit a weak grounder to Ian Kinsler at second. Kinsler hesitated then panicked and threw the ball past Chris Shelton and into the dugout, scoring Ryan Howard from third and losing the game for the Cutters.

D.C., Hillsborough head in opposite directions

The Sugar Bears' streak is over at twelve after a doubleheader sweep at the hands of South Boston. The Gang took the first game thanks to a 2-homer, 5-RBI outburst from Ramon Hernandez and a solid outing from Dontrelle Willis. Randy Johnson did notch his 2000th career strikeout in the match, but he did not provide much help outside of that. The second game was much closer, but the Gang scored two runs in the eighth (seems to be a popular inning for comebacks) to take the lead 4-3. Brandon League won the game in relief and improved to 8-2.

Francisco Liriano shut out Vancouver 6-0 yesterday to improve to 11-1 on the season. Liriano held Vancouver to 6 hits in 6 innings and the Marietta pen finished the game off. The win spoiled the DMBL debut of Chad Billingsley who only gave up one run over seven innings of work, while striking out six. Billingsley took the place of the struggling Ben Sheets. Sheets was sent down to AAA to work on his mechanics. Vancouver got them back, however, in the second game as Moises Alou blasted three home runs (all solo shots) to help squeak by 8-7. Vancouver actually hit six homers in the contest, though they only managed 8 runs. Gerald Laird was the only one to hit a homer with a runner on base.

D.C. has hit a wall lately, losing their eighth straight game after a marathon 17 inning loss to Honolulu yesterday. D.C. has now dropped into a fourth place tie with Honolulu and is only one game ahead of Hoboken and Hillsborough for sixth place. It's a very tight race lately - 1 1/2 games separates third place Marietta from seventh place, so it'll be very interesting to see what happens in the next few weeks.

The anti-Bushslappers have been the Hillsborough Hired Hitmen who have won eight straight and are now tied for the sixth playoff spot with Hoboken. Hillsborough shut down the Cutters yesterday with back-to-back solid performances from Justin Verlander and Felix Hernandez. Verlander held the Cutters to only three hits and one run over seven innings in game one and Felix struck out nine in seven innings, while giving up only five hits and one run.

Remember Brett Myers' struggles earlier this season? Well those struggles are ancient history. Since starting the season at 0-12 with an 8.40 ERA, Myers has gone on a bit of a hot streak. He's 5-1 since that low point and has brought his ERA down to 6.34, including seven quality starts in his last eight outings and a recent Pitcher of the Week award.

Take note that the DMBL trading deadline will be this Sunday. After this point, any players that are signed off the waiver wire are not elligible to be kept after the season is over.

Sugar Bears win 11 straight again

Andy Pettitte made his season debut for Carolina, earning the win despite a mediocre performance. Pettitte, starting for the injured Carlos Zambrano, allowed five runs in six innings in a 9-5 win over South Boston. Paul Konerko was 4-5 with 3 RBIs and Travis Hafner also contributed 3 RBIs.

D.C. has finally cooled off, losing four straight after yesterday's 6-5 loss to Hillsborough. The slump coincides with the recent injury to second baseman Luis Castillo. "Luis is the heart and soul of this squad" said teammate Carl Crawford. "Sure he only has 9 extra base hits in 77 games but he has intangibles....intangibles!" The Hired Hitmen scored all six runs in the last three innings, including a 4-run eighth that featured a 3-run Ryan Howard shot.

Newark won their 11th straight game with a 9-6, 18-hit slugfest victory over Marietta. Newark batters are now hitting .323 on the season with a .408 on base percentage and .592 slugging. Newark also became the first team to win 80 this season (Philadelphia is the next highest with 62 wins!).

Chris Carpenter pitched a solid game to help Vancouver stymie Philly 3-1 yesterday. Carpenter improved to 6-3 for Vancouver (9-7 overall) with an 8-inning performance, holding the Animals to five hits and one earned run. Moises Alou drove in all three runs in the game.

The trading deadline is approaching. Sunday July 15th will be the last day to make any deals or to claim any free agents that will be elligible as keepers for next season.

Wakefield, Williams prove poor reinforcements

Carolina took two from D.C. yesterday thanks to some solid pitching from starters Clay Hensley and Roy Halladay. Halladay, who had the better outing of the two, pitched a complete game, holding the Bushslappers to only two runs. Bill Hall, who hit a homer in each of the games, has quietly put up a solid season. Hall hit his 33rd and 34th homer of the season in yesterday's games and is batting .283 with a .974 OPS.

Tim Wakefield made his season debut for the Falcons against Vancouver yesterday. Unfortunately for Wakefield, Vancouver showed no mercy to the former Iron Fister. Wakefield gave up seven runs, six earned, in only 2.1 innings pitched, while giving up five hits and two walks and striking out none. Wakefield was recently signed by Arkansas to replace struggling Daniel Cabrera in the rotation.

Jake Peavy shut down the Falcons in game two of the doubleheader, pitching a 3-hit complete game. Peavy surrendered only one run - a Lance Berkman solo shot - in the contest while striking out nine.

Speaking of replacement players, Marietta had hoped that Woody Williams would enjoy a change of scenery and replaced Gil Meche in their rotation, but so far it's been a disaster. Most recently, Williams was rocked for six runs in 2.2 innings against the Sharks and now sports a 12.10 ERA on the season. Williams will probably be given one more chance - his next start is against the team that traded him, Vancouver.

Philly ended their four-game slide by pounding Boof Bonser and the Hoboken Cutters 10-2. Vernon Wells had 3 RBIs and Erik Bedard improved to 11-5 in the contest.

The Sugar Bears completed a 5-game sweep of Team Buddah and have now won 10 in a row. The Sugar Bears are now 49 games over .500.

Mighty Men dominate Sharks

Marietta continued their dominance over Honolulu with their fourth straight win over the Sharks, 10-2. Jim Thome was 5-5 with 3 doubles, 2 homers and 4 RBIs. Francisco Liriano improved to 10-1 with a brilliant 6-inning, 2-hit performance. Liriano didn't allow any runs and struck out 10. The Sharks could only muster 3 hits the entire game. Unfortunately for the Sharks, they play the Mighty Men two more times today.

Ryan Howard had a huge day for Hillsborough yesterday. Howard was 3-4 with six RBIs and his 42nd home run of the year. The Hitmen won the game 8-2 over the Gang. Starter Dontrelle Willis could not get any outs in the first inning, surrendering six runs and walking four. The South Boston bullpen only surrendered two runs over the rest of the game, but the damage was done.

The Cutters edged the Endzone Animals 6-3 yesterday. The Animals led 3-2 but Francisco Rodriguez could not hold onto the lead. The Cutters scored four runs in the eighth on back to back doubles by Mike Cameron and Hanley Ramirez. Juan Rincon nailed down the ninth for his 15th save.
Randy Johnson failed to get his 2000th strikeout after being chased in the second inning by Team Buddah. Johnson gave up six runs in the inning, though only two were earned. The Sugar Bears got him off the hook with a 7-run fourth, however, winning the game 12-7.

Today is a special Fourth of July doubleheader.

Day of Blowouts

D.C. pounded the snot out of Carolina yesterday, 15-8. Esteban German, filling in for the injured Luis Castillo, was 5-6 with three doubles and four runs scored. Lyle Overbay was 4-5 with 6 RBIs and Alfonso Soriano went 3-6 with 4 RBIs. Altogether, D.C. slapped out 20 hits and walked 10 times. Carolina starter Jason Jennings, no stranger to getting bitchslapped (bushslapped?), surrendered 13 runs and 14 hits in 4.1 innings.

Meanwhile in Hillsborough, the Hired Hitmen scored early and often against the South Boston Gang, taking the contest 12-4. Jason Bartlett was 3-3 with 2 stolen bases and Brad Hawpe hit a pinch-hit grand slam in the sixth. With the win, Hillsborough evened up their record at 53-53.

Finally in Vancouver, the Iron Fist were once again shellacked, this time by Arkansas, 16-4. It looked like a close contest in the beginning. Starter Ben Sheets had given up five runs, but Vancouver climbed back to make it a one run game after a 4-run fourth. Then in the eighth all hell broke loose. You knew it was going to be a bad inning when Wes Littleton hit Barry Bonds with the first pitch. Both benches cleared, but it was mostly just a lot of screaming. Bonds was forced to leave the game. Littleton was able to get two outs, though he allowed two more to score, then the two-out rally began. Brian Sweeney was called in to stop the bleeding, but instead cut the wound deeper. Seven runs crossed the plate that inning and four more in the ninth. Orlando Cabrera was 5-5 in the game with 4 runs and 4 RBIs and Brandon Phillips also drove in four.

Meanwhile, in a return to sanity, Las Vegas and Sardine City's starters duelled but Vegas prevailed 2-1 in the end. Cole Hamels pitched well for the Sardines (7 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 7 K), but it was not enough against Oliver Perez's brilliant outing. A rare sight this year (Perez is 5-14 with an 8.87 ERA on the season), Perez pitched 8 innings, surrendering only one run and seven hits, while striking out seven.

Newark rallied to beat Team Buddah yesterday. The Buddahs were clinging to a 3-2 lead late in the contest, when Bobby Abreu hit a two run shot off Todd Jones, giving the Sugar Bears the lead back. Both starters pitched brilliantly but were not factors in the decision. Tom Gorzelanny limited the mighty Sugar Bear offense to three hits and one run in six innings, while Javier Vazquez struck out 12 Buddahs in 6.1 innings for the Sugar Bears.

Clemens wins 200th

Friday night, Roger Clemens joined Pedro Martinez and Greg Maddux as the third member of the 200 win club. It wasn't Clemens' finest game, but he got the job done against Morris Division leader Philadelphia. Clemens improved to 10-6 on the season.

Hoboken's winning streak ended at eight on Saturday when the Hired Hitmen clobbered the Cutters 10-3. The Cutters were held in check by Felix Hernandez who struck out 10 in six innings of work. The Cutters, however, reverted back to their winnings ways, edging the Endzone Animals 9-8 Sunday. The Animals have had a rough weekend, dropping three of their last four and now face the Cutters three more times this week.

Ryan Howard hit his 40th homer in a loss to South Boston Sunday. Howard extended his league lead to five over Albert Pujols and Manny Ramirez.

Justin Morneau extended his hitting streak to 20 games with a 2-5 night against Vancouver. Curt Schilling improved to 3-0 with the win.

A new This Week is now up for your reading pleasure.