Berkman, Wright stay red hot

Lance Berkman kept his hot streak alive with another home run today and 4 RBIs. David Wright is trying to keep pace with a homer and 2 RBIs as well. Both players have exploded the last two games and will compete over the weekend for a box of Fonsecas. Arkansas was getting blown out in last night's game by a 9-3 margin entering the bottom of the 8th, but Wright hit his 2-run homer to bring the team to within 4 runs. Then in the 9th, it all fell apart for D.C. Ray Durham led off with a single then Ty Wigginton was hit by a pitch. Martin Prado and Ryan Ludwick both walked. Then with the bases loaded, Berkman hit a mammoth shot over the right field wall to win the game for Arkansas.

Adam Wainwright shut out the Iron Fist on 3 hits in a 4-0 win for Blue Ridge. Carl Crawford was 4-4 and Michael Young hit a homer and drove in 2 against his former club. Vancouver's offense has gone into a tailspin since David Ortiz was injured 4 days ago. Since then, the club has scored a total of 4 runs and has 25 hits in 4 games. The good news is that Ryan Doumit will rejoin the team today after being out for almost 3 weeks. The bad news is, the catchers were not the problem - Victor Martinez and Jeff Clement have combined to go 6 for 15 in the past 4 games (.400 average).

Roy Oswalt pitched the day's other shutout - a 4-hit effort against Las Vegas. Oswalt struck out 9 Rats to improve to 4-3 in the 4-0 victory.

The Sugar Bears rallied in the 9th to take a 6-5 decision against the Cutters. Jack Cust's 3-run homer gave the Sugar Bears just enough to overcome the deficit while Joey Devine pitched a 1-2-3 inning for his 7th save. With the Rats and Mighty Men both losing, the Sugar Bears are once again tied for 1st place in the Hanover Division.

Amityville earns first franchise victory

Amityville won their first game by battling the Rat Pack through 13 innings. The Ant Slayers held a 2-1 lead through five and a half, but the Rats tied the game up on an Ichiro Suzuki double. The bullpens shut each other out until the top of the 13th when Emanuel Burris and Johnny Damon both hit solo home runs to give the Ant Slayers their first victory.

Sardine City avenged yesterday's loss with a 6-3 win over Team Buddah. Josh Johnson earned the win by striking out 9 in 6.1 innings, surrendering only one run on 4 hits and 2 walks. Miguel Montero was 3-3 and Raul Ibanez had 2 RBIs in the contest. Buddah starter Jamie Moyer, who was rocked for 6 runs in 5 innings was released after the game. "There can be no losing on this team" said manager Matt Nokes. One can only wonder if the entire team will be released by the end of April.

Newark pummeled the Cutters yesterday 11-4 behind Jarrod Saltalamacchia's 4-6 night. Salty only needed a home run to hit for the cycle, but fell short. Bobby Abreu was also 3-3 in the contest and Manny Ramirez had 3 RBIs.

Adam Wainwright stymied the defending champion Iron Fist 5-0 yesterday. Wainwright allowed only 2 hits and struck out 4 in a complete game shut out. The Bombers could only muster five hits themselves but made them count. Chris Ianetta and Nate McLouth each had 2 RBIs.

Forgot to mention yesterday that Arkansas Falcons outfielder Rick Ankiel made his triumphant return to the DMBL, this time as a batter. When last we saw Ankiel way back in 2001, he had looked like a promising member of the Falcons rotation. Hopefully he can stick around more than one year in his new role.

Cutters deal Wainwright to Gang

South Boston and Hoboken finalized a deal yesterday. Hoboken sent young starter Adam Wainwright to South Boston in exchange for role player Greg Norton and reliever Brandon League. Both players were not in the Gang's future for next year. South Boston has plans to convert Wainwright into a starter next season, though he'll continue to work out of the pen this year.

Hillsborough's winning streak ends at 11 games after a 6-1 loss to Jake Westbrook and the Buddahs yesterday. Westbrook pitched eight innings and surrendered only four hits and one run. Meanwhile, Hillsborough starter Justin Verlander also broke the streak of quality starts by surrendering five runs in 5.1 innings.

Francisco Liriano improved to 12-1 with an impressive performance against Carolina yesterday. Liriano shut down the Cats for seven innings, holding them to three hits and zero runs while striking out 8. The Mighty Men won the game 4-1.

D.C. scored six runs on five homers in a 6-1 victory over Las Vegas yesterday. All five home runs were solo shots. Anibal Sanchez pitched a brilliant eight innings, holding the Rats to only three hits and one unearned run over eight innings.

Hoboken held on to win a tight 3-2 win over Vancouver. Once again the Iron Fist came up just shy of tying the game up in the ninth. Hoboken had led the game 3-0, but Vancouver scored two on a David Ortiz homer in the ninth. Former Vancouver reliever David Riske, who was recently recalled from AAA Weehawken, retired the final batters for his first save of the season.

Final reminder! This weekend is the last chance to make any trades this year or to claim any players off waivers who will be elligible as keepers next year.