Sugar Bears streak hits 9

The Sugar Bears extended their win streak to 9 games, but this time it was a nailbiter. D.C. took a 3-2 lead in the 9th when Carlos Beltran singled in the go-ahead run. But Jonathan Papelbon couldn't hold it down for the O-Bombers, giving up an RBI single to Melky Cabrera in the bottom half of the inning. Reminiscent of his long All-Star Game performance, Papelbon remained in the game for almost 4 innings before giving up a single in the 12th to Miguel Olivo. Kevin Gregg then replaced him and promptly gave up back to back singles, including the game winner to Manny Ramirez. The loss was D.C.'s 5th straight. Newark's magic number for clinching the Hanover is now 5.

Arkansas defeated the Hitmen for the second straight time, taking a 6-4 contest yesterday. Ricky Nolasco pitched 6.2 innings and allowed only 1 run, while striking out 6 to claim his 10th victory of the year. The Falcons held off a late 8th inning rally by Hillsborough, then tacked on an insurance run to preserve the lead. Joakim Soria nailed down the 9th for his 25th save.

Edwin Encarnacion, in his first game back from a lengthy injury, went 5-6 with 2 RBIs and led the Bombers to a 6-5, 12th inning upset of the Endzone Animals. Encarnacion's double in the 12th was a key in moving the eventual game winning run over to third base (the slothlike Jason Kendall could not leg it out and score on the play). The loss dealt a blow to the Animals' playoff hopes, as they fell out to 3 1/2 games back of the final playoff spot. The Bombers had suffered through one of the worst injury stretches in the DMBL this year, at one time having 4 players on the shelf, so Encarnacion's return is just in time.

Amityville recently signed the 86-year old Jamie Moyer to fill in for several injuries in their rotation. Fresh from being cut by Team Buddah, the Ancient One held his former team to 1 run on 5 hits in 8 innings in picking up his 2nd win of the season (against 8 losses).