Roy Oswalt pitched a gem against South Boston yesterday as the Sharks routed the Gang 10-0. Oswalt pitched a complete game shutout, surrendering only five hits and no walks while striking out six. Oswalt has pitched well in five of his last six starts since coming back from his injury last month. The one low note was a 10-2 loss to Marietta.
Albert Pujols drove in six runs and hit his 39th home run in Philly's 11-3 shellacking of Las Vegas. Brandon Webb won after missing his last start due to injury to improve to 11-7. Reed Johnson also contributed 3 RBIs. The Rat Pack used eight pitchers in the game, including rarely utilized Casey Janssen, who pitched the last three innings. It was Vegas' ninth straight loss.
The Mudcats beat the Animals in the late game yesterday, but lost David Eckstein to injury. Eckstein has been on the disabled list twice already this year as a member of the Endzone Animals and now will give the Mudcats a chance to pay him to sit at home and play his Nintendo Wii.
Newark won twice yesterday becoming the first team to 90 wins on the season. In game one against Hillsborough, Jim Edmonds hit two homers and drove in six runs for the Sugar Bears. Randy Johnson won his 197th career victory. Ryan Howard hit his 50th homer of the season for Hillsborough. Edmonds hit another homer in the second game as John Smoltz started his 300th career game. His seven strikeouts left him four shy of 2000 for his career.
Jose Contreras shut down Vancouver for a 5-0 shutout, though Contreras couldn't make it through the full nine. Contreras lasted eight innings, holding Vancouver to four hits and two walks. Mike Wuertz finished the ninth to preserve the shutout.
Look for a new Trade Talk article later tonight.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Falcons turn to trash heap for help
Arkansas went dumpster diving Tuesday, salvaging three players from the scrap heap of Sunday's deadline castoffs. First, Arkansas signed up Pat Burrell who was cut by Hoboken after posting a .160 average with 53 strikeouts in 156 at bats. True to form, Burrell went 0-3 in his Falcons debut with three strikeouts. Next, Arkansas grabbed Juan Cruz who had made a spot start in Philly for injured Brandon Webb. Cruz also spent some time pitching in relief with Las Vegas. Cruz made more of a positive impact than Burrell, pitching 6 innings and surrendering two runs and earning a victory in the Falcons 3-2 win over Sardine City. The third cast-off was Marietta's Chad Qualls who was released when the Mighty Men acquired B.J. Ryan over the weekend. Qualls had been 4-4 with a 5.03 ERA in 50 appearances for the Mighty Men.
The Falcons have actually had a bit of success picking up players off the junk pile this year. Bob Wickman, who was a disaster for the Buddahs, has emerged as a solid closer for the Falcons, picking up 12 saves in 13 tries and compiling a 2.77 ERA. Bernie Williams, released to make room for Burrell, was doing very well as part of a platoon - .847 OPS, .360 average in 25 ABs. Another platoon role player, Craig Biggio is batting .286 and recently hit his 1500th career DMBL hit.
Marietta's Francisco Liriano lost for only the second time yesterday. Liriano was pounded for seven runs (six earned) in 2.1 innings, to fall all the way to 12-2 on the season. It was by far Liriano's worst performance of the season as D.C. jumped all over Liriano early and often. Brad Hennessey relieved Liriano in the third and poured a jug of kerosene onto the fire, giving up six more runs in his 3.1 innings.
Liriano's loss gave Philly's Johan Santana a chance to jump back into competition for the McDonald Award against the Rat Pack. The Endzone Animals gave Santana enough run support for an 8-4 victory and Santana improved to 13-2 on the season.
The Falcons have actually had a bit of success picking up players off the junk pile this year. Bob Wickman, who was a disaster for the Buddahs, has emerged as a solid closer for the Falcons, picking up 12 saves in 13 tries and compiling a 2.77 ERA. Bernie Williams, released to make room for Burrell, was doing very well as part of a platoon - .847 OPS, .360 average in 25 ABs. Another platoon role player, Craig Biggio is batting .286 and recently hit his 1500th career DMBL hit.
Marietta's Francisco Liriano lost for only the second time yesterday. Liriano was pounded for seven runs (six earned) in 2.1 innings, to fall all the way to 12-2 on the season. It was by far Liriano's worst performance of the season as D.C. jumped all over Liriano early and often. Brad Hennessey relieved Liriano in the third and poured a jug of kerosene onto the fire, giving up six more runs in his 3.1 innings.
Liriano's loss gave Philly's Johan Santana a chance to jump back into competition for the McDonald Award against the Rat Pack. The Endzone Animals gave Santana enough run support for an 8-4 victory and Santana improved to 13-2 on the season.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Monday Squeakers
Vancouver pounded out 20 hits against the Buddahs yesterday, though it took them 11 innings to pull off the victory. Moises Alou hit five of the hits and drove in three runs. Mike Piazza had four hits for New Jersey, putting him at 1998 for his career.
Newark barely escaped with a 9-8 victory over Hillsborough. The score bounced back and forth between the two teams. The Hitmen held a 6-3 lead until a 5-run seventh gave Newark an 8-6 lead. But the Sugar Bears couldn't hold on and the Hitmen tied it up in their half of the ninth. Mark Teahen then hit the winning single in the bottom of the ninth with two outs to give the Sugar Bears their seventh straight win.
Derek Jeter tied Edgar Martinez for 10th on the all-time hits list as Marietta eked out a 6-5 victory by D.C. Jim Thome had a three-run homer in the contest and A.J. Burnett got the win despite surrendering five unearned runs in 6.1 innings. A Wes Helms error and a passed ball by Jorge Posada allowed four runs to score for the Bushslappers in the third inning yesterday and Jeter's error in the fifth gave D.C. their fifth run of the game.
The new guys are having an immediate impact for Hoboken. Brandon League picked up his ninth victory of the season after pitching two scoreless innings and Greg Norton had two RBIs to help the Cutters edge the Mudcats 7-6.
Newark barely escaped with a 9-8 victory over Hillsborough. The score bounced back and forth between the two teams. The Hitmen held a 6-3 lead until a 5-run seventh gave Newark an 8-6 lead. But the Sugar Bears couldn't hold on and the Hitmen tied it up in their half of the ninth. Mark Teahen then hit the winning single in the bottom of the ninth with two outs to give the Sugar Bears their seventh straight win.
Derek Jeter tied Edgar Martinez for 10th on the all-time hits list as Marietta eked out a 6-5 victory by D.C. Jim Thome had a three-run homer in the contest and A.J. Burnett got the win despite surrendering five unearned runs in 6.1 innings. A Wes Helms error and a passed ball by Jorge Posada allowed four runs to score for the Bushslappers in the third inning yesterday and Jeter's error in the fifth gave D.C. their fifth run of the game.
The new guys are having an immediate impact for Hoboken. Brandon League picked up his ninth victory of the season after pitching two scoreless innings and Greg Norton had two RBIs to help the Cutters edge the Mudcats 7-6.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Deadline deals
Well the deadline came and went last night and there were a few deals that were made.
After shopping him for half of the season, Sardine City finally unloaded B.J. Ryan to Marietta. The Mighty Men get a significant boost to their bullpen which already featured DMBL greats Trevor Hoffman and Mariano Rivera. The Straphangers get a fifth round pick which should help them net a decent player next season.
Vancouver was at the heart of the weekend's other two trades. It seems as though they are giving up hopes of contention, though it can be argued that they didn't really lose any players that had been contributing to any success so far.
The first shipped outfielder J.D. Drew back home to Philadelphia. Drew played the first six years of his career with Philly. But Drew was left off the protected list in '06 and went on to have perhaps his finest season with Vancouver. Now Drew is back to Philly to help the Animals secure the Morris Division, while Vancouver gets back a couple of fifth round picks. Philly cut Juan Cruz, who had made a spot start in place of injured Brandon Webb, to make room for Drew.
The second deal came just under the wire, dealing reliever Wes Littleton to Hoboken for an 8th round pick. Sources say that Hoboken came close to acquiring Chris Carpenter, but the deal fell through at the last second. Littleton had been a relatively decent member of Vancouver's disastrous bullpen this season and should help out with Hoboken's equally disastrous pen.
Vancouver continued a roster overhaul after the deals, sending several role players packing. Vancouver brought in veteran Scott Spiezio, who had played with two other teams so far this year, to help solidify their bench. Hoboken also made a few moves to shake up their roster, cutting atrocious Pat Burrell and Braden Looper, as well as farmhand Aaron Cook.
The only other team to make a non-DL related move was Las Vegas who cut Cliff Floyd in favor of the younger Cory Sullivan.
After shopping him for half of the season, Sardine City finally unloaded B.J. Ryan to Marietta. The Mighty Men get a significant boost to their bullpen which already featured DMBL greats Trevor Hoffman and Mariano Rivera. The Straphangers get a fifth round pick which should help them net a decent player next season.
Vancouver was at the heart of the weekend's other two trades. It seems as though they are giving up hopes of contention, though it can be argued that they didn't really lose any players that had been contributing to any success so far.
The first shipped outfielder J.D. Drew back home to Philadelphia. Drew played the first six years of his career with Philly. But Drew was left off the protected list in '06 and went on to have perhaps his finest season with Vancouver. Now Drew is back to Philly to help the Animals secure the Morris Division, while Vancouver gets back a couple of fifth round picks. Philly cut Juan Cruz, who had made a spot start in place of injured Brandon Webb, to make room for Drew.
The second deal came just under the wire, dealing reliever Wes Littleton to Hoboken for an 8th round pick. Sources say that Hoboken came close to acquiring Chris Carpenter, but the deal fell through at the last second. Littleton had been a relatively decent member of Vancouver's disastrous bullpen this season and should help out with Hoboken's equally disastrous pen.
Vancouver continued a roster overhaul after the deals, sending several role players packing. Vancouver brought in veteran Scott Spiezio, who had played with two other teams so far this year, to help solidify their bench. Hoboken also made a few moves to shake up their roster, cutting atrocious Pat Burrell and Braden Looper, as well as farmhand Aaron Cook.
The only other team to make a non-DL related move was Las Vegas who cut Cliff Floyd in favor of the younger Cory Sullivan.
Friday, July 13, 2007
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.
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.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Philly tightens grip on Morris lead
Ramon Hernandez's two homers gave the South Boston Gang all that they would need against the lackluster Sardine City Straphangers. Chuck James shut out the Sardines for 6.1 innings and the Gang's bullpen held on for a 7-0 final. South Boston has now won five of their last six though they have a long way to go to be back in contention.
Hillsborough won their 11th straight are now alone in fifth place overall. John Lackey turned in another quality start for the Hitmen, holding the Buddahs to one run in eight innings to improve to 13-6. Carlos Delgado had a three run pinch-hit homer in the sixth to lead the Hitmen to their 7-1 victory.
It took Philadelphia 14 innings to get past the Honolulu Sharks 5-4. The Animals have now won six in a row and are appearing to take a firm hold on the Morris Division lead. Philly is now 6 1/2 games up on the Bushslappers. After starter Matt Cain was roughed up for four runs in five innings, the Philly bullpen held the Sharks to a mere three hits in the final nine innings and surrendered zero runs. The pen also struck out 12 in those nine innings.
Vancouver rallied in the late innings against Hoboken to send their game to extra innings, only to watch the Cutters win the game in the 10th. The Cutters accumulated a 5-0 lead through seven, but Vancouver finally got on the board in the eighth when David Ortiz hit a solo homer. Vancouver scored three more to tie it up in the ninth after Jason Isringhausen's two-base error opened the floodgates. A Chris Shelton double in the tenth put Hoboken back on top to stay.
Hillsborough won their 11th straight are now alone in fifth place overall. John Lackey turned in another quality start for the Hitmen, holding the Buddahs to one run in eight innings to improve to 13-6. Carlos Delgado had a three run pinch-hit homer in the sixth to lead the Hitmen to their 7-1 victory.
It took Philadelphia 14 innings to get past the Honolulu Sharks 5-4. The Animals have now won six in a row and are appearing to take a firm hold on the Morris Division lead. Philly is now 6 1/2 games up on the Bushslappers. After starter Matt Cain was roughed up for four runs in five innings, the Philly bullpen held the Sharks to a mere three hits in the final nine innings and surrendered zero runs. The pen also struck out 12 in those nine innings.
Vancouver rallied in the late innings against Hoboken to send their game to extra innings, only to watch the Cutters win the game in the 10th. The Cutters accumulated a 5-0 lead through seven, but Vancouver finally got on the board in the eighth when David Ortiz hit a solo homer. Vancouver scored three more to tie it up in the ninth after Jason Isringhausen's two-base error opened the floodgates. A Chris Shelton double in the tenth put Hoboken back on top to stay.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Hitmen starters get it done
Check out the league message board for some rules discussions. One suggestion deals with outfield elligibility and another is about stadiums. Also don't forget the trade deadline is this Sunday, July 15th.Hillsborough is up to 10 wins in a row now with a 4-2 win over New Jersey. The Hitmen have gotten some great results from their starters lately and yesterday was no exception. Jeremy Bonderman pitched eight innings and allowed only two runs and five hits, while striking out seven and walking one. Bonderman improved to 10-9. The Hitmen have eight quality starts in their last nine, and the one that didn't quite qualify was a solid five inning performance from C.C. Sabathia that ended early due to rain.
Billy Wagner notched his 25th save of the season and 250th of his career in Vancouver's 5-2 win over Hoboken yesterday. Wagner now leads the league by one save over Philly's Francisco Rodriguez who is still the front-runner for the Eck.
Arkansas' Curt Schilling took his first lost of the season yesterday. Schilling, who started out in AAA to begin the season on a rehab assignment, won his first four decisions since taking Ervin Santana's spot in the rotation a month ago, but he hit a brick wall yesterday. Schilling wasn't that bad (7 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, 7 K) considering the opponent but the Arkansas offense couldn't find enough offense to keep up with the Sugar Bears.
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