Game on!

Welcome to the second half!

Hoboken took no time to get back in the swing of things, opening up with a giant-sized can of Whoop-ass® on Arkansas. The Cutters crushed the Falcons 11-4 in the first game thanks to a huge game from Hanley Ramirez (5-6, 4 runs) and Chris Duncan (3-4, 6 RBIs, HR). Jarrod Washburn notched his 10th win of the season. Game 2 featured more of the same, as the Cutters pounded out a 9-5 victory. This time it was Geoff Jenkins with the big game (3-4, 4 RBIs, 2 HRs).

D.C. and Las Vegas made a trade yesterday. D.C. parted with Matt Holliday, prospect Alex Gordon, and their first round pick in 2008 for reliever Chris Ray, first baseman Derrek Lee, and third baseman Ryan Zimmerman. It's a bit of a strange trade. D.C. already has one of the better pens in the league with Papelbon and Nathan both having great years, so it's unclear how Ray will fit in there. Zimmerman is an upgrade over Mike Lamb on that side of the platoon, but Esteban German has been crushing lefties this year. Derrek Lee, who will miss the 2007 DMBL season, will probably be an upgrade over Overbay next year, but how much? Lee's power numbers seem down in rehab so far. Holliday seems like a large price to pay for a deal that only marginally upgrades D.C. this year and only marginally upgrades them next year. Meanwhile, Las Vegas still believes in struggling prospect Alex Gordon, who can't seem to get on the right side of the Mendoza line in AAA.

Because of the special All-Star This Week in DMBL, there will be no edition this week. Next week's installment will feature players of the week from the two week span. New editions may possibly come on Sundays instead of Mondays from now on.

Oswalt back on track

There was a bit of a pitchers' duel in Vegas yesterday. South Boston's Aaron Harang and Las Vegas' Chris Young battled it out. Young gave way to the bullpen in the sixth, but Harang took a 1-0 shutout into the eighth before surrendering two runs in the bottom half of the inning. There were only 11 hits between the two teams in the game.

Honolulu's Roy Oswalt finally straightened out his season. After getting clobbered in his first two starts, Oswalt turned in a complete game two-hit performance against Arkansas, surrendering only one run. Oswalt struck out 6.

Hoboken's Scott Kazmir probably had the best game yesterday, holding D.C. to one run on four hits in eight innings, while striking out nine and walking only one.

The injuries are starting to pile up. Hoboken and Philadelphia both placed team members on the DL. Hoboken lost outfielder Geoff Jenkins for two weeks and signed Damian Miller. The Cutters plan to replace Jenkins with Pat Burrell. Scrappy Philly shortstop David Eckstein may be lost for a month. Philly signed infielder Marco Scutaro who was released before the season by Team Buddah and last played a regular season game for Carolina back in 2005.

Day of Almost Cycles

The Hoboken Cutters won twice in extra innings yesterday. This despite the defensive deficiency of Hanley Ramirez. Ramirez had one error in the first game and another two in the second, giving him nine errors on the pre-season. The Cutters plan on playing a few games of "pepper" before game time today, hopefully giving Ramirez a chance to improve. Teammate and longtime Cutter Geoff Jenkins said it might be the result of a practical joke gone wrong. "It's part of our rookie hazing" said Jenkins. "We put some sulfuric acid on the glove the first game and he burned his hand a little. I think he's a little afraid of his glove now...the big pussy."

Sardine City's Raul Ibanez was one single away from hitting for the cycle against Hillsborough. Ibanez hit a double in the second inning, flied out in the fourth, hit a triple in the sixth and homered in the eighth. "If I had known that, I wouldn't have flied out in my second atbat" said Ibanez. Meanwhile, Carolina's Rocco Baldelli also almost hit the cycle, but needed a slighly harder to achieve home run. However, Baldelli did go 4-4 in the game. Baldelli has been trying to return from injuries that kept him out all last year.

Marietta's Jim Thome hit two homers in his game against Philly. Thome is also trying to return from a season lost to injury last year.

Vancouver's Fernando Nieve turned in another impressive start yesterday against Newark. Nieve pitched eight innings and allowed only three hits and one unearned run. "If he keeps this up, we might have to find a place for him in the rotation" said manager Darren Daulton. Nieve is considered a longshot to make the final roster.

Hillsborough's Juan Pierre swiped three bases against Vancouver catcher Victor Martinez to take over the league lead in stolen bases with five. Pierre and several other Hitmen have been given the green light to run as often as they can.

Another impressive Marietta Mighty Man rookie pitcher: Jeremy Sowers turned in a complete game win against Las Vegas, surrendering only one run and seven hits, but no strikeouts.

A Jaret Wright vs. Josh Beckett pitchers' duel? Must be spring training.