ASG candidates: Micro starters

The Micro Conference doesn't seem to have the depth at starting pitcher that the Diamond Conference has, but that doesn't mean there's no all-star quality names to consider for the potential roster.

If no-hitters are a qualification for your all-star ballot, then Vancouver's Johnny Cueto is your man. His no-no in June helped his otherwise to-this-point mediocre stats and fueled an Iron First resurgence after a slow start. He's now 7-5 and lowered his ERA to 3.81 and his WHIP to 1.21. Teammate Matt Latos deserves a look, with a lower ERA (3.05), WHIP (1.18) and better winning percentage, 7-4.

Rookie Tanner Roark is probably the least-heralded name in the Allentown rotation but he leads the squad with a 2.88 ERA (good for 10th in the league) and stands at 7-5. Lefty David Price is the veteran of the rotation, and despite just an 8-7 mark, he's among the league leaders in WHIP (1.01), strikeouts (126), innings (127.1) and complete games (5) to go with 2 shutouts. A couple of other Mules might warrant consideration. Hishahi Iwakuma is 7-3 with a 3.12 ERA and 1.18 WHIP while John Lackey is 8-6 with a 3.81 ERA and 1.20 WHIP. Roark and Lackey also have a conference-leading 12 quality starts.

Collin McHugh is the strongest candidate for Poovey Farms. He is second in the conference with a 1.04 WHIP and stands at 9-4 with a 3.07 ERA.

Hoboken is led by an unlikely candidate. Hiroki Kuroda, in his final season, is tops in the conference with 10 wins, to go with 11 quality starts, 3.12  ERA and 1.17 WHIP. Two other Cutters are on opposite sides of the ballot. Despite a 4.59 ERA, Kyle Lohse has been lucky enough to go 9-4 while Clayton Kershaw is just 6-7 despite leading the league virtually all year in strikeouts (150) and among the most innnings pitched (121.7). He's also third in K/BB (6.5) and though his 3.77 ERA isn't all-star like he sports a 1.17 WHIP and 3 complete games.

Corey Kluber is Sardine City's best hope for an all-star starter. Another candidate with a weak record (6-5), the righty is carrying the rotation, with a league-high 5 complete games, in addition to 2 shutouts. He's also among the conferences elite in strikeouts (123) and WHIP (1.14) and innings (118.2).

Blue Ridge dealt its best pitcher, Jon Lester, earlier in the year. He was 6-3 with a 2.72 ERA in 12 starts. Now the Bombers are left with Matt Garza as their best hope. Though he's 5-6, the veteran righty has a 3.64 ERA and among the conference's best in WHIP (1.12) and quality starts (11).

Arkansas ripped off a huge winning streak toward the midway point of the season, thanks mostly to its offense, but Matt Shoemaker and Alex Cobb have been among the beneficiaries. Shoemaker has improved to 8-4 with a 1.14 WHIP though his 4.05 ERA could be a turn-off. Cobb has the better ERA (3.28) but weaker WHIP (1.26) yet he's 7-5 in 10 quality starts. Rookie Marcus Stroman also is 7-5 with a 1.17 WHIP and 3.82 ERA.

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.

Showdown for the Kruk Division

Don't look now but there's another race to watch in the remaining days of the 2012 season.

After four straight wins -- including Tuesday night's no-hitter -- Hopatcong has tied Amityville for the third playoff seed. The Ant Slayers clinched the Drabek Division the other night. Coupled with Newark's loss on Wednesday, the Floating Fish go into tonight's season-ending series versus the Sugar Bears with a two-game lead in the Kruk Division.

After Wednesday's results, if the playoffs started today:
#1 Marietta*, 106-53
#2 Vancouver*, 92-68
#3 Amityville*, 88-71
#4 Hopatcong, 88-71
#5 Newark, 86-73
#6 Rowdy, 86-74
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Hoboken, 85-74 -- 1/2 game back of No. 6 seed
Bridgewater, 85-75 -- 1 1/2 back
Hillsborough, 83-76 -- 2 1/2 back

In an amazing coincidence, every team in the Kruk and Van Slyke divisions won Tuesday night as every team in the Drabek and Fisk divisions lost, leaving the playoff race essentially intact, other than the official elimination of Sardine City.

Should Hopatcong and Amityville remain tied for the No. 3 seed at the end of 162 games, the tiebreaker is head-to-heard record, which would go to -- no one! The two teams split 10 games this season! Both teams also are 21-18 within their respective divisions as they face off against division foes this weekend. If the tiebreaker gets that far, Hopatcong currently has a run differential of +114 while Amityville has a margin of +96.

Of course, those tiebreakers all get thrown out the window if Newark sneaks away with the Kruk Division, the only division still undecided. (FYI, Sugar Bears are 4-6 versus Amityville). With a two-game lead, Hopatcong needs just one win in their head-to-head matchup versus the Sugar Bears this weekend to clinch it. Head-to-head this season, Hopatcong holds a 7-4 advantage against Newark. Scheduled starters for both clubs look like this:

NWK @ HPG
Harrison (6-8, 3.91) v. Peavy (0-0, 0.00)
Baker (12-11, 3.47) v. Cain (13-8, 3.44)
Lohse (14-8, 3.37) v. Luebke (13-8, 3.70)

In a surprise move, Hopatcong opted to give Jake Peavy his first start of the season in Game No. 160 over Tim Stauffer, who's struggled much of the year, going 5-17 with a 6.41 ERA and 1.59 WHIP.

Whether Newark wins the Kruk or not, the Sugar Bears still have work to do. They hold just a 1/2-game lead on Rowdy for the 5th seed and other squads are hot on their heels. The Roddy Pippers, who are off today, are just 1/2 game up on Hoboken and 1 game ahead of Bridgewater for that final playoff seed.

Rowdy will finish the season with two games at St. Louis and Bridgewater is also off today before a two-game set at Philly tomorrow. Starting tonight, Hoboken hosts three games against Marietta, which already has clinched the No. 1 seed.

Still hanging on to a sliver of hope is Hillsborough, which sent ace Justin Verlander to the mound yesterday for his final start of the season, and sits 2 1/2 games back of Rowdy for the final seed. The Hit Men will be rooting for Philly, Marietta, St. Louis and Hopatcong to win this weekend while they aim for a sweep in Amityville, who they're 7-4 against this season. The probable starter matchups:

HIL @ AMI
Hernandez (15-9, 3.81) v. Lester (16-6, 4.66)
Haren (12-9, 3.49) v. Weaver (14-11, 4.65)
Scherzer (6-16, 6.36) v. Hamels (14-10, 4.16)