Sugar Bears even series, Mighty Men take lead

Just like that the Hired Hitmen's big 2-0 series lead evaporated. The Sugar Bears once again flexed their offensive muscle in an 8-1 rout of Hillsborough yesterday. Starter Justin Duchscherer held the Hitmen to just 2 hits over 5.2 innings and Asdrubal Cabrera went 2-5 with a homer and 3 RBIs. Both teams will take a breather before resuming the series in Newark on Wednesday. Newark will try to reverse the trend that has seen the road team win in each game of this series - a certain recipe for doom for the Sugar Bears.

The Mighty Men hosted Carolina yesterday in game three of their series, once again pulling off a one-run victory, 5-4. Both teams got most of their production in the 3rd inning. The Cats started things off when Alex Rios hit a two-run homer, then scored another two runs later in the inning, taking an early 4-0 lead. But the Mighty Men came right back and scored three runs. With the Cats clinging to a 4-3 lead entering the 9th, Carolina brought in closer Brian Fuentes to finish the job. With one out, Adrian Beltre hit a double, then the Mudcats intentionally walked Milton Bradley and struck out Brian Giles. Carolina was now one out away from taking the series lead, but pinch hitter Nick Punto came through with a base hit to tie the game. Josh Hamilton then hit a liner up the middle to win the game 5-4. Marietta will send Ervin Santana to the mound for game 4, while Carolina will go with Daisuke Matsuzaka.