Hoboken, Honolulu improve their position

Hoboken kept at it with a 5-0, 2-hit shutout of South Boston yesterday. Boof Bonser gave the Cutters 7.2 innings and struck out nine. Chris Duncan's three-run homer in the third gave the Cutters all the runs they needed. Hoboken moved into sole possession of fifth place, a half game ahead of idle Hillsborough.

Meanwhile Honolulu took game one against Vancouver by a 2-1 margin. Cliff Lee outduelled Jake Peavy to improve to 5-7. Honolulu moved into a virtual tie with the Hitmen, though Hillsborough is percentage points ahead of the Sharks. Vancouver slipped back to 1 1/2 games out.

Newark pounded the crap out of D.C. yesterday 18-0. Slapper fans criticized the Sugar Bears for beating up on the reanimated corpse of Josh Hancock (2 IP, 9 H, 8 ER), but Newark manager Don Mattingly pointed out that no one showed them any mercy when zombie Darryl Kile took the mound for them several years ago. Carlos Guillen was 4-5 in the game and Jim Edmonds and Nick Johnson each had four RBIs.

Grief too much to bear for Reyes

Perhaps no one was affected by the news of Josh Hancock's demise more than teammate Jose Reyes. Reyes tried to play through the pain yesterday, but after legging out a double in the top of the 10th, Reyes asked to be taken out of the game. "I just couldn't go on pretending nothing was wrong" said Reyes after the game. Despite the fact that Hancock pitched in the game, and pitched well (2.1 IP, 0 runs), Reyes still opted out. "Maybe it was seeing him out there, a lifeless shell of what he was, that pushed him over the edge" said manager Kevin Elster. Reyes will take the rest of the week off to grieve. When asked to comment on the situation, the Josh Hancock zombie could only respond "brains....".

Meanwhile in Vancouver, Granderson-mania is running wild. The recently recalled rookie was 2-2 last night with a triple, raising his average to .800! Granderson has been subbing for the injured J.D. Drew. Granderson was so excited that he had to leave the game last night and will probably be rested tonight against lefty Johan Santana.

Hoboken's Vicente Padilla improved to 5-0 yesterday after an impressive 7 inning start in which he limited the Straphangers to two runs on eight hits and three walks. Padilla struck out seven.

Jered Weaver made his return from injury yesterday and looked good despite not factoring into the decision. Weaver pitched 8 innings, allowing 9 hits and 4 runs (2 earned), one walk and eight strikeouts. Reliever Tom Gordon blew the save for Weaver after the Sharks went up by one on a three-run ninth inning, but Gordon couldn't hold on to the lead and Team Buddah scored two to win the game on a Jacques Jones RBI-single in the ninth.

R.I.P. Josh Hancock

D.C. Bushslappers middle reliever Josh Hancock died tragically in a car accident over the weekend. He will however courageously continue through the end of the season, or however long, D.C. wants him, to pitch through his contract this season. "That's just the kind of guy Josh was" said teammate Dan Wheeler. Perhaps on his darkest day, he was given a spiritual boost when called on to pitch in the 16th inning of a marathon game with the Mighty Men. Hancock allowed the tying run to score, but pitched the 17th inning to record his third win of the season. Though not technically a rookie, Hancock was in his first season in the DMBL. He was drafted by Vancouver in the 2007 draft, but did not make the team out of spring training. D.C. later signed Hancock to bolster their relief corps. Hancock is not the first to fulfill his contract after dying. Mike Darr and Darryl Kile both were drafted and played after their deaths, though they were not very effective. "Vell, vat do you expect? Zey ver dead?" said former Sugar Bears team physician Otto von Frankenstein.

Jason Schmidt had a big day Friday night against South Boston. Schmidt pitched a complete game 4-hit shutout of the Gang to improve to 5-2 on the season. Schmidt is now tied with Tom Glavine for #15 on the all-time shutout list and his three strikeouts tied him with Bartolo Colon at number 14 with 1220 in his career. He also moved past Andy Benes on the all-time win list to number 24, one behind Colon.

J.D. Drew's injury Saturday opened the door for Curtis Granderson to get his first DMBL starts of his career. Granderson was called up from AAA Tacoma and immediately had an impact. Granderson was 3-4 in both games of yesterday's doubleheader against New Jersey, including two doubles and a triple. Granderson has now earned a shot at proving he belongs on the roster. "We'll let him play out J.D.'s injury and see where he stands when he comes back." said Ironfist manager Darren Daulton. Granderson will initially sit against lefties.