Newark, Sardine City gaining steam

Uhoh don't look now but Newark is on a seven-game winning streak after yesterday's 12-4 rout of Hoboken. With the win, the Sugar Bears climbed over the .700 win percentage and now sport the league's top record and a two-game lead on the Rat Pack. Javier Vazquez improved to 9-1 on the season and Hideki Matsui was 3-5 with 4 RBIs in the game.

The other hot team in the league is the Hired Hitmen, who just a few weeks ago announced that they would hold a fire sale. The Hitmen beat up on their rivals, the Falcons yesterday 9-5. Nick Markakis was 4-4 and new signee Kevin Millar was 2-3 in his season debut. The Hitmen have now won four in a row and seven of their last nine to move percentage points behind 6th place Tampa Bay and three games over .500.

Meanwhile Philadelphia is slowly creeping up on slumping Vancouver, moving to within one game of first place after a 7-2 win over Carolina. Mark Teixeira was 3-5 and Jorge Posada drove in three in the win. Meanwhile Vancouver dropped their third straight, a 6-4 loss to D.C. Vancouver starters have been getting pummelled in the last four games. It began when Ben Sheets gave up 6 in 3.2 innings against Carolina before the break. Then Greg Maddux gave up 5 earned runs in 6.2 in the first game against Philly, while Jake Peavy was smoked in the second game to the tune of 7 runs in 3 innings. Yesterday it was Chad Billingsley giving up 6 in 5.2 innings. Will Zack Greinke end the run or will he receive his daily dose tonight?

Finally, Sardine City fans have had a lot to cheer about in the last month or so as the Straphangers have played themselves into wild card contention. The Sardines won a 5-2 contest against Team Buddah yesterday, their third straight. The Sardines are 22-12 since (game day) May 1st. Sardine City owes a lot of their success to their young pitching staff, finally coming of age - Cole Hamels (5-6, 3.42), Fausto Carmona (6-3, 3.60) and Phil Hughes (3-3, 3.63) have all been solid, and Daisuke Matsuzaka has shown glimmers of hope. With a little more help in their bullpen and perhaps a couple of bats, the Straphangers could be in the mix for their first post-season berth.