Galarraga, back on track, takes prize

This week's JR Cigars Smokin' Batter of the Week is Philadelphia's Fred Lewis. Hey wasn't he the guy who played Webster? No, no that's Emmanuel. Lewis is the outfielder that Philadelphia acquired from Carolina earlier this season in the Magglio Ordonez deal. Wait, wasn't he a tight end for the Philadelphia Eagles? Chad Lewis. Stay on topic here. Lewis has been on fire for the Endzone Animals of late. This week he hit .458 with a .548 on base percentage and .833 slugging with 2 doubles, 2 triples, a home run, 7 runs scored, and 9 RBIs. Wait, I know, he's that angry comedian guy who's complaining about Aruba's weather or something like that. Ugh, that's Lewis Black. You're way off, try to pay attention. Lewis has been a big part of the Endzone Animals turnaround. When he was acquired from Carolina, the Animals were 7-12. Since then, they've gone 22-9 and are now in 4th place (oh but it's a close 4th place, they are only 1 game behind 3rd place Hillsborough and 2 1/2 games out of first place). OK, so he's the guy that explored the frontiers to the Pacific and all that? I give up.

Other contenders: Lewis' strongest competition came from Newark's J.D. Drew (.450/.560/850, 2 HR, 6 R, 8 RBI) and Amityville's Johnny Damon (.448/.419/.966, 3 HR, 4 2B, 10 RBI, 8 R). Either one could have easily won it, but I wouldn't have gotten to do my little schtick above, so there. Besides no way I'd give it to Damon with an OBP lower than his batting average! That's a big strike against you. More... Elijah Dukes of Team Buddah hit 5 homers and drove in 9 runs; Dustin Pedroia had a solid week for Carolina (.472/.486/.722); Hillsborough's Aubrey Huff (.433/.452/.733) kept up his stellar season; Arkansas' Rick Ankiel (.474/476/.895) and Marietta's Kevin Youkilis (.414/.452/.759) also had notable weeks.

It was an easy pick for this week's Text Messages From Last Night Pitcher of the Week Award. After starting the season 0-7 with a 9.17 ERA, Armando Galarraga, Amityville's 2nd round pick in the 2009 draft, finally won his first game with 7 shutout innings against Hoboken. He followed that up with an excellent effort against D.C. Sunday for his second win. For the week, Galarraga was 2-0 with an 0.60 ERA and 0.93 WHIP. Hey, didn't he used to play first base... We're not doing this again.

It was a good week to be a pitcher in Carolina. Ace starter Roy Halladay was 2-0 with a 2.40 ERA and 0.87 WHIP and 14 strikeouts. His teammate John Maine also did well, winning both his starts with a 2.70 ERA and 13 Ks. They were both helped out by closer Brian Fuentes who saved 4 games in his 4 appearances.

Other notables - Zack Greinke of Vancouver won his two starts (2-0, 2.12 0.76 WHIP) and Philadelphia's Brandon Webb was 2-0 with a 2.04 ERA and 0.96 WHIP.