Round 1 Recap

Sardine City owned Vancouver in the regular season, winning 9 of their 12 meetings throughout the season. Things looked to continue the same way after game one. Sardine City pounded Vancouver 9-4 behind Daric Barton's 4-5, 3-RBI night. Iron Fist starter Roy Oswalt was shelled for 6 runs in 5.2 innings. But Vancouver came right back in the next game, 6-4, salvaging a 1-1 split in the series. Vancouver scored 5 runs in the first inning and the Straphangers never recovered. Zack Greinke held them to just 4 hits in 7.2 innings. The series shifted to Sardine City, but Mat Latos quieted the Straphanger crowd with a dominant effort (8 IP, 6 H, ER, 5K) to win the game 6-1. With the series on the line, the Straphangers were determined not to go down quietly. The Sardines jumped out to an early 4-2 lead, but Vancouver tied it up in the 5th. Josh Willingham hit a solo homer in the 9th to give the Fist the 5-4 lead and Joaquin Benoit retired the side in the bottom of the 9th to win the series for Vancouver.

Hoboken came up just shy of winning the Hanover Division title, so they were expected to breeze through round one. The franchise has only won one playoff game in their previous two appearances, so the Cutters were hoping to improve on their previous record against Carolina. Game one was a battle as the two teams traded leads and eventually ended up in extra innings. Rookie Mike Stanton proved to be the hero with a walk-off solo homer in the 10th inning to give the Cutters a 1-0 series lead. Winning game one appeared to give Hoboken some confidence as they easily dispatched the Mudcats in game two 8-3. Stanton had a huge game (4-5, home run, 3 RBIs) and Jhoulys Chacin gave a solid effort (7.2 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 5 K). The Mudcats were on the brink when they returned to Carolina for game three, but they pulled off a 7-5 win anyway. The Cats actually held a 7-2 lead, but Hoboken had a brief comeback attempt in the 9th. Rookie Stephen Strasburg turned in an impressive performance, holding the Cutters to one run on three hits in seven innings, while striking out seven. Game four was another battle, this time between starters Clay Buchholz and C.J. Wilson. Both starters gave up only one run and struck out 7 each, but neither was awarded a decision. It was fitting that the series both began and ended in extra innings. This time it was Ian Kinsler who drove in the winning run in the 10th with a double that scored Hanley Ramirez. The Cutters had won their first post-season series in franchise history.

Vancouver advances to face the number one seed, Philadelphia, starting tomorrow. Vancouver won 7 of their 13 regular-season games. Hoboken, meanwhile, faces Las Vegas, whom they have also beaten 7 out of 13 games.

Who's going to win the batting title, eh?

A first basemen from Canada is assured of winning the 2011 DMBL batting title. It's just a matter of whether it's the one from the East Coast (Toronto, Ontario) or the West Coast (New Westminster, B.C.). Fans in New Jersey and Arkansas have something to root for in the final few games of the season.

New Jersey's Joey Votto (originally from Toronto) is making a case for the Kevin Mitchell Award -- as well as a Sabrmetric triple crown -- despite Team Buddah not being in the playoff hunt, and British Columbia native Justin Morneau of Arkansas is hot on his tail for the league lead in batting average.

Entering the final two games of the season, Morneau (.33558) trails Votto (.337308) by less than 2 percentage points. Votto's season, however, ends in today's matchup at Blue Ridge against probable starter Tommy Hunter while Morneau is at home, scheduled to face Marietta's Francisco Liriano, followed by Chris Carpenter in the season finale.

Morneau is all but guaranteed to lead the league in hits, holding a 202-198 advantage over Votto, who's among the top 10 in walks. If he can replicate the 2-for-4 performance from his last game in the final two (going 4-for-8), Morneau would finish at .337704, and would have to hope for Votto to go 1-for-3, as he did in yesterday's game, which would leave Votto at .337288.

If Votto can secure just two hits -- almost regardless of how many at-bats it would take him -- Morneau would need a serious two-game tear to catch him. Votto finishes at .337837 if he goees 2-for-5, and .337268 if he goes 2-for-6.

If Morneau can manage 3 hits in his final two games, he needs to do it within the span of 5 at-bats, to remain above .337 (.337726 if he goes 3-for-5).