Carpenter hits for cycle in playoff win

Having your leadoff hitter go 5-for-5 is great. Having him hit for the cycle is just icing on the cake.

In what's believed to be a DMBL playoff first, Matt Carpenter of Las Vegas hit for the cycle, shredding the Hoboken pitching Wednesday night for five hits, three runs and two RBIs. The second-seeded Rat Pack took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 series against the No. 4 Cutters after the 10-1 thrashing.

Playing first base, Carpenter singled to lead off the game, later scoring on a wild pitch. He was stranded after a one-out double in the second. Leading off the 5th, Carpenter tripled and promptly scored on Joe Mauer's double, collecting three hits off starter Kyle Lohse. He singled off lefty reliever Luis Avilan in the 6th but did not complete the cycle until mashing a two-run home run in the 8th, again off Avilan.

Carpenter was one of the Rat Pack's two first-round picks in the 2013 draft, primarily playing first base against right-handers and compiling a solid rookie campaign, hitting .280/.347/.428, with 37 doubles.

Second-half winners and losers

Powered by a 15-game win streak, and winning 20 of 21 games in the final quarter of the season, Blue Ridge had the biggest turnaround in the second half. The 13-game improvement pushed the Bombers to a 45-34 record but it wasn't enough to clinch a playoff berth. Despite an eight-game drop-off in the second half, it was Arkansas that held on to secure the sixth and final playoff spot. The Golden Falcons enjoyed a 43-39 first half but stumbled to a 35-45 mark in the second half.

The Fisk division had two of the top turnarounds in the second half. Livingston Lords of Swing finished 69-93 overall but nearly went .500 in the second half, going 40-41 -- 11 wins better than their 29-51 first half.

Had the playoffs been based on the second half standings, it would have been Blue Ridge that had the sixth-best record. The only other change to the final playoff setup -- had they been based on the second half standings -- was Hoboken and Vancouver changing places as the 3rd and 4th seeds, respectively, thanks to the Cutters' six-game improvement versus the Iron Fist's five-game decline.

Both the league's top two teams remained consistent, with Philly notching 58 wins in the second half, after a 59-win first half, staying one game better than Las Vegas, which went 57-23 in the second half after a 56-26 first half. Brick City had the worst record in the second half, going 26-54, four wins fewer than they had in the first half. The biggest drops in the second half were by Bridgewater, 14 fewer wins and Amityville, 11 fewer wins.

Kruk
Philly, 58-22 (+1)
Hopatcong, 47-34 (-3)
Bridgewater, 26-53 (-14)
Brick City, 26-54 (-4)

Drabek
Las Vegas, 57-23 (-1)
Arkansas, 35-45 (-8)
Hillsborough, 35-46 (-2)
Amityville, 32-46 (-11)

Van Slyke
Hoboken, 52-30 (+6)
Rowdy, 37-42 (-2)
Marietta, 33-47 (0)
Boston, 31-47 (+2)
Fisk
Vancouver, 50-32 (-5)
Blue Ridge, 45-34 (+13)
Livingston, 40-41 (+11)
Sardine City, 37-45 (+1)

Next up, we'll take a look at the best individual performances during the second half of the 2013 season.