Crawford leads Bombers to 5 straight

Blue Ridge continued their hot streak, taking their fifth straight and sweeping Arkansas with an 8-6 win. The Falcons scored 6 runs in the first inning but the Bombers would not be deterred. The Bombers took the lead with a 5-run 4th inning that featured a 2-run Mark DeRosa home run. Neither starting pitcher lasted long. Gavin Floyd was chased in the first inning and the Falcons' Ricky Nolasco was ousted in the 4th, but the bullpens did the job. The two bullpens only gave up one run in their 12.2 innings combined - and that one earned run was given up by Jose Valverde, who left the game with an injury. Carl Crawford was 4-5 with 3 RBIs, missing the cycle for the second straight day by one home run.

Jose Reyes was 5-5, leading his team to a 7-2 win over Vancouver. Reyes had a double and a triple, plus a stolen base in the contest. Oliver Perez held the Fist to only 2 hits over 6.2 innings, but he was wild, giving up 4 walks and 2 runs. In the game, Ryan Spilborghs' hitting streak came to an end - yes we got the death threats about jinxing him yesterday, thank you Chester M. in Tacoma.

Amityville knocked off Hoboken 8-6 yesterday, perhaps basking in the positive glow of picking up outfielder Lastings Milledge off waivers from D.C. Milledge was 1-2 in the game, but the team said he brought something more to the game. "It's the intangibles that Milledge brings and a general positive outlook" said teammate Pat Burrell. Burrell was so inspired by Milledge's optimism that he hit a 3-run game winning home run yesterday.

Newark took the rubber match of their series with Vegas yesterday, but it wasn't easy. The two teams battled it out for 14 innings, until Newark broke the 2-2 tie with a 4-run inning. Vegas tried to rally but could only score one more run - OK, the Sugar Bears practically gave it to them when Joey Devine walked two batters and then Scott Downs tossed a pitch in the dirt to score the lone run, but I digress.

Here come the Bombers

Watch out for the Blue Ridge Bombers! Yesterday's 5-4 win over Arkansas was the team's 4th straight, bringing them to 3 games under the .500 mark. Edwin Encarnacion and Carl Crawford each had 3 hits. Crawford, in fact, only needed a home run to hit for the cycle. The club broke a tie with Arkansas to move into 5th place alone.

Vancouver's Ryan Spilborghs was 2-4 yesterday, bringing his league-high hitting streak up to 14 games. Spilborghs, who is now batting .333 for the season, led the team to a 5-3 win over D.C. Jeff Clement and Jerry Hairston each were 2-3. The Fist suffered a blow though when starter Hiroki Kuroda, in only his second DMBL start, tripped over a blade of grass in the second inning. "They cut the honorable grass to high!" said Kuroda through an interpreter. This opens the door for the return of Vancouver legend Greg Maddux, who announced that this will be his final season in the DMBL. Maddux has already accepted a part-time role as pitching coach for the team.

Denard Span and Mike Napoli each had 4 RBIs in an 11-2 clubbing of Amityville. Span hit a two-run double and Napoli capped the same inning off with a grand slam in a 4th inning that saw the Cutters score 7 runs. Jeremy Guthrie limited the Ant Slayers to 4 hits in 6 innings of work to even his record at 3-3.

Las Vegas got revenge against Newark with a 9-3 victory, pounding Randy Johnson for 7 runs in 2.2 innings. Jeff Keppinger (3-5, 2 RBIs), Chris Davis (3-5, 2 homers, 3 RBIs) and Richie Sexson (3-4) led the Rat offensive and Tim Lincecum improved to 4-1. The Sugar Bears remained in a 2nd place tie with Marietta, who lost 6-5 to New Jersey, but both teams lost a game to the Rats in the standings.