Falcons roll into crowded Morris playoff mix

How about those Arkansas Falcons? After languishing near the bottom of the Morris Division for most of the season, the Falcons have put together a 5-game winning streak that put the club back up over the .500 mark. Yesterday's 3-1 win over Carolina pushed them to 37-36. Though they're still in 5th place, they're only 1 1/2 out of 4th and 6 1/2 out of first. Johan Santana pitched 7 solid innings to earn the win and Ivan Rodriguez had 2 RBIs in the game.

Vancouver and Philly battled it out in 16 innings with the Iron Fist earning the 10-8 victory. Vancouver rallied from a 4-0 deficit and took the lead with a 5-run 5th inning. Philadelphia tied the game at 6 in the 7th and the two teams didn't score again until the 16th inning. Michael Cuddyer, just signed off the scrap heap, hit a 2-run go-ahead home run in the top of the inning to give the Animals an 8-6 lead. But it didn't last. Frank Francisco quickly loaded the bases, then with no one out and Justin Masterson relieving Francisco, Chase Utley hit a walkoff grand slam to win the game for Vancouver. Utley ended the night with 6 RBIs.

Marietta and Newark saw a matchup of DMBL future Hall of Famers as Mike Mussina faced Randy Johnson. Mussina won the game, improving to 9-4, though it wasn't pretty, but Mussina tied Tom Glavine for #7 on the all-time win list (170). He's now one behind John Smoltz, who is sitting out this season. Of course Johnson made a little history himself - his loss tied him for the #7 spot with Kevin Appier (120).

The Sardine City Straphangers scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the 9th to steal a game from Hoboken 5-4. Carlos Quentin's double tied up the game as Alfredo Amezega scored from second. Ryan Braun won the game for the Sardines with a sac fly. Kevin Kouzmanoff was 2-4 in the game with a homer and 3 RBIs. Taking over for the injured Jorge Cantu (who was filling in for the injured Evan Longoria), Kouzmanoff has been putting up some good numbers (.348 average, 1.130 OPS, 3 HR, 7 RBI in 23 AB). The bad news for Kouz? Longoria is expected to return in time for today's match.