Frustrated Fist fall to Buddah

The 2009 DMBL All-Star Ballot has been posted. The game less than a month away, so get those votes in!

How the heck did Vancouver lose to New Jersey yesterday? Vancouver outhit Team Buddah 17-6, yet still lost 4-3 in extra innings. The Buddahs got on the board quickly with a first-inning Fernando Tatis home run. The Fist got in trouble with some walks and a passed ball, leading to another run. Vancouver quickly tied it up in the 2nd with a pair of runs. Vancouver took the lead in the 7th on a Troy Glaus single, but Buddah tied it up the next inning. Buddah finally won it in the 10th on a hit by Casey Blake. So how do you get 17 hits and score only 3 runs? Well, let's examine that 7th inning, which should have been a huge inning for Vancouver. Jerry Hairston led off the inning with a single, but was thrown out trying to steal second. Vancouver followed up with back to back singles. Adam Jones smacked a liner for a base hit, but Chase Headley was thrown out trying to score. The next hit finally scored a run, but Victor Martinez struck out to end the inning. The club left 13 batters on base and also hit into a double play in the later innings.

The day's other extra inning affair was an offensive battle. Sardine City built up ay 7-3 lead on Philadelphia but Jimmy Rollins hit a grand slam in the 8th to tie it up. Raul Ibanez then hit a 2-run shot in the 11th to give the Sardines a 9-7 lead, but Mark Teixeira came through with a 2-run double to tie it up. Marco Scutaro gave the Straphangers the lead for good in the 12th when his base hit scored Stephen Drew. The Sardines had 20 hits in the game, including Carlos Quentin (4-6) and Raul Ibanez (3-6, 4 RBIs). Quentin has been on a bit of hot streak lately, hitting .340 in his last 12 games with a 1.154 OPS.

Hillsborough won their 3rd straight and took a 1/2 game lead in the Morris Division. The Hitmen edged the Ant Slayers by a 6-5 margin. Shin-Soo Choo was 4-4 with 3 doubles and Freddy Sanchez was 3-5 with 2 RBIs.

Manny Ramirez was 3-4 with 2 home runs and 6 RBIs to lead the Sugar Bears to an 8-4 win over archrival Arkansas. The Sugar Bears scored 4 runs in the 8th to break a 4-4 tie and even the series at one game apiece. Yadier Molina was 3-3 with 2 doubles in a losing cause.