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.