Let's Go Streaking!

Lots of teams have been getting their streaks on recently, and the standings have been shaken up as a result!

The hottest team at the moment are the Carolina Mudcats, who won their seventh in a row today to snatch the top wildcard seed. It seems like all year the top three spots have been occupied by Hanover Division teams, but a seven-game winning streak (and 11 out of your last 12!) is guaranteed to move you up in the standings. Today's 1-0 win over the Amityville Ant Slayers definitely wasn't textbook -- Mudcat starter Dice-K Matsuzaka lasted just 2 innings before getting injected after plunking Torii Hunter, but the bullpen kept the Slayers scoreless. Meanwhile, Amityville starter Jon Lester also prevented a run until the bottom of the 8th, when he gave up a lead-off home run to Xavier Nady, the only run of the game.

The Newark Sugar Bears beat up the Vancouver Iron Fist, 13-3, for their fifth straight win. The Sugar Bears now have a magic number of 2 to clinch a playoff berth, 11 to clinch the division, and 13 for the best record in baseball. The Morris Division-leading Hillsborough Hired Hitmen also have been hot, winning their second straight game (and 7th out of their last 10) after out-slugging the Sardine City Straphangers, 13-11. The Hitmen have a magic number of 19 to clinch the Morris Division title and 10 for a playoff berth.

Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Endzone Animals won their third in a row with a 10-4 win over the Marietta Mighty Men, while the Las Vegas Rat Pack made it back-to-back wins over the Arkansas Golden Falcons, 4-1.

For Amityville, it was their fourth loss in a row; it was three straight defeats for the Iron Fist and Straphangers; and two in a row for the Mighty Men and Golden Falcons.

In non-streak related games, the New Jersey Buddahs overcame the D.C. O-Bombers, 3-2, while the Blue Ridge Bombers won a wild 3-2 game over the Hoboken Cutters. After Blue Ridge starter Edwin Jackson left in the 3rd with an injury, the Bombers used eight more pitchers to finally win it in the bottom of the 9th on a solo home run by Nate McLouth. The Cutters, on the other hand, used only starter Matt Garza.