Rivera notches another win

Mariano Rivera picked up another victory in Marietta's 11-8 win over Carolina yesterday - his 5th of the year. Down 7-5 in the 8th, Rivera came in to shut down the Mudcats, but promptly gave up a game-tying 2-run home run to A. J. Pierzynski, then gave up the go-ahead run later in the inning, but the Mighty Men stuck with him. The Cats sent in Brian Fuentes to nail down the win, but Fuentes got into trouble soon. Kevin Youkilis tied the game up on a single and then Fuentes fell apart, walking Jason Bay and surrendering a three-run homer to Derek Jeter. Chris Perez came in and struck out the final two batters, but the damage was done. Rivera retired the side in order to preserve his own victory. Things didn't work out too well for Fuente, who not only took the loss and saw his ERA balloon to 12.91, but was issued his walking papers after the game. Carolina picked up C.J. Wilson off the scrap heap to replace Fuentes. The loss was Carolina's 5th straight.

The hot team du jour seems to be Team Buddah, who has now won 7 of their last 10 and beat Hillsborough 9-7 yesterday despite allowing a 6-run rally in the 8th. Highly-touted rookie Rick Porcello allowed only one unearned run in 7 innings while striking out 8 and allowing only 4 hits. All the runs Buddah gave up were unearned, owing to two critical Rafael Furcal errors.

Meanwhile, a team going the other direction is Sardine City, who dropped their 5th straight. Blue Ridge scored 7 runs in the 6th and 7th innings to take an 8-4 win over the Straphangers. The Sardines outhit and outwalked the Bombers, but were unable to capitalize and left 11 men on base in the match.

Mat Latos made an impressive debut for Vancouver yesteday, allowing only 1 earned run in 7 innings and striking out 8, but the Iron Fist bullpen couldn't seal the deal. The score was tied 2-2 entering the 8th when Hoboken began the inning with their first 6 batters reaching base safely. The Cutters were up 6-2 before the first out was recorded. The Cutters would go on to score 4 more runs, capped by a 2-run Hanley Ramirez homer. Ramirez ended the game going 4-5 and Batter of the Week Russ Branyan was 3-5 with 2 RBIs.

After today's games, DMBL will take a hiatus until Monday the 19th.

Rivera, Branyan take top honors

This week's JR Cigars Smokin' Batter of the Week is Hoboken's Russ Branyan. Though Branyan is part of a platoon, he still got his atbats in this week, batting .409 with a 1.367 OPS. Branyan smacked 3 homers, scored 6 runs, and drove in 7 runs in 22 at bats. Branyan has never had a full-time gig in the DMBL and has never had a season in which he's batted over .200, but this year he's batting .340 with a 1.131 OPS, 5 homers, and 10 RBIs.

Other contenders for this week's honor: Albert Pujols (1.155 OPS, 5 homers, 8 R, 14 RBIs) and Jimmy Rollins (.471/.500/1.000, 5 RBI, 2 SB in 17 AB) of Philadelphia, Marietta's trifecta of Ichiro Suzuki (.417/.440/.750, 2 SB, 2 HR, 8 R), Derek Jeter (.448/.515/.552, 6 R), and Alberto Callaspo (.423/.484/.769), and Newark's Lyle Overbay (.381/.440/.571, 4 RBIs).

This was definitely the week of the reliever with several outstanding performances. But this week's Star Wars Uncut Pitcher of the Week has to go to Mariano Rivera of Marietta. We already know that Rivera has been having a quirky season, but this week he has racked up 3 saves and one win in 4 appearances. He gave up zero runs, struck out 5 in 4 innings and has an 0.75 WHIP.

Other top relievers: New Jersey's David Robetson (1-0, 5 IP, 10 K, 1.00 WHIP, 6 G), Bridgewater's Andrew Bailey (3 saves in 3 G), Amityville's Angel Guzman (5 K, 0.50 WHIP in 6 IP), and Philly's Trevor Hoffman (1-0, save, 5 K, 4.2 IP, 0.86 WHIP).

The top starters (doing their best to discredit the "DMBL hates lefties" myth): Newark's Ted Lilly (1-0, 2.25, 1.00 WHIP) and Koji Uehara (2-0, 2.92, 1.05 WHIP), Philly's C.C. Sabathia (1-0, 1.69, 14 K, 16 IP, 0.88 WHIP) and Blue Ridge's J.A. Happ (1-0, 1.50 ERA, 1.08 WHIP).

Buddahs turn losing streak into a winning streak

The Buddahs have bounced back in a big way after ending their 9-game losing streak by rolling off 4 straight against Arkansas. Yesterday Andy Pettitte and the pen held the Falcons to only 1 hit in a 2-0 win. Justin Morneau was the lone Falcon to get a hit, although 2 others reached on walks and one was hit by a pitch. The Buddahs struck out 9 Falcons in the game.

Carolina won their series against the Rat Pack with a 5-3, 11-inning win yesterday. The Cats tied the score at three in the 9th on a Delmon Young double. Then in the 11th, Prince Fielder hit a two-run homer to win the game. Evan Meek earned his first DMBL victory with a solid 4-inning performance, where he gave up only 2 hits and one run and struck out 6.

Sardine City has risen up in the ranks - remember they were the last team this year to earn a victory - and is now sitting pretty in 2nd in the Hanover Division with an 11-7 record. Yesterday the Sardines took a 3-1 decision against Bridgewater. John Lackey pitched 6 innings and allowed only 1 run, while striking out 7 to earn the win.

Rivera continues odd season

The Iron Fist came back from a 4-1 deficit to tie their game up against Marietta yesterday, but Mike DeRosa's solo walkoff home run in the 9th ended their hopes. The winning pitcher of record was Marietta closer Mariano Rivera who is having a bit of an odd season. The future Hall of Famer has struggled to convert saves - Rivera only has one save on the season versus 2 blown saves, but...Rivera is now tied for the league lead with 4 wins. The record for wins by a reliever is 16 by Vancouver's Jeff Zimmerman, set in 2000.

Watch out for the Endzone Animals - Philly's now won 5 straight after defeating Amityville 8-5 yesterday. The Animals are now in 2nd place in the Morris Division at 11-8. The Animals jumped all over starter Randy Wolf yesterady, bouncing the him in the 4th inning after giving up 6 runs. Albert Pujols and Torii Hunter each had a homer and 3 RBIs in the game.

The Mudcats and Rat Pack slugged it out, with the Cats coming out 9-7 victors. Dustin Pedroia was 4-5 with 2 RBIs and Grady Sizemore and A.J. Pierzynski each had 3 hits to lead the Carolina offense. Meanwhile, Yunel Escobar was 4-5 for the Rats. Vegas starter Rich Harden was roughed up for 6 runs in just 1 inning of work.

Gavin Floyd outdueled Javier Vazquez to give the Bombers a 3-2 win over Newark yesterday. Floyd pitched 8 innings and gave up only 1 run on 9 hits and 4 walks. Vazquez only gave up one earned run in his 7.1 innings of work, but it was the unearned run that did him in - even though he wasn't in the game when it scored. Brian Wilson relieved Vazquez in the 8th with Blue Ridge leading 1-0 and a runner on 1st. Facing his first batter, Pablo Sandoval, Wilson took an easy ground ball and threw the ball over the head of first baseman Nick Johnson. Both runners would score later in the inning, securing the win for the Bombers.

Mudcat streak snapped by Rats

Las Vegas snapped Carolina's 7-game winning streak on a walk off single by Dan Uggla that gave the Rats a 2-1 victory. Tim Lincecum pitched 8 innings, giving up only 1 run on 5 hits and striking out 8, but didn't get a decision. On the other side, Yovani Gallardo struck out 10 rats in 7 innings, while giving up one run on 4 hits.

Meanwhile, the other first place team, Marietta, won for the second straight day by the same score over Vancouver: 3-2. The Mighty Men took the lead in the 8th when Alberto Callaspo tripled in Kurt Suzuki. Callaspo finished the game 2-3 with 3 RBIs. John Danks and Mike Adams (who took the win) limited the Iron Fist to only 4 hits. The Iron Fist were able to stay in the game by turning 4 double plays in the game, extending their league lead in the category. The Fist now have 31 DPs on the season, 10 more than second place Arkansas.

Russell Branyan hit two solo home runs and Adam Kennedy was 4-5 as the Cutters edged the Hired Hitmen 7-6 in 10 innings. The Hitmen got in trouble right off the bat in the 10th, giving up a leadoff single to Adam Dunn. Though the next batter hit into a fielder's choice, Branyan singled, and Mike Napoli walked to load the bases. With one out, Kennedy came through with a base hit to the left side.

Newark's offense finally woke up, unleashing an 11-4 barrage against Carlos Zambrano and the Blue Ridge Bombers. Nick Johnson was 3-5 with a homer and 3 RBIs, Asdrubal Cabrera was 3-4 with 2 RBIs and 2 doubles and J.D. Drew hit a triple and a double in the game. It was the first time Newark scored in double digits this season.

One from the top, one from the bottom

The Mudcats have been on a roll of late, notching 7 straight wins as of Monday. Sitting atop the Morris Division, Carolina has the best record in the DMBL at 12-3. And the unlikely leader for the Mudcats this week was catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who batted .550 with 2 homers and 11 RBIs and a smokin' 1.515 OPS, earning him this week's JR Cigar's Smokin' Batter of the Week Award.

Meanwhile, in the Hanover Division, the defending champion Mighty Men are sitting pretty at 12-4, but no fancy-shmancy winning streak, so their top player will have to settle for a book of matches. Ichiro Suzuki led the Mighty Men with his .424 average, scoring 10 runs and stealing 2 bases. Other players of note: Philly's Albert Pujols (.933 OPS, 5 HR, 9 RBI, 9 R), Blue Ridge's Andrew McCutchen (.440/.462/.720, 5 R), and Vancouver's Marlon Byrd (.524/.524/.667, 3 doubles) and Michael Cuddyer (1.231 OPS, 4 HR, 12 RBI).

And on the other end of the spectrum, our Trololo Pitcher of the Week hails from the worst team in the league - Team Buddah. The Buddahs finally snapped their 9 game losing streak with an 8-7 edging of the Golden Falcons yesterday. But maybe there is some hope for the struggling franchise as their prized pitcher Rick Porcello gets this week's top pitcher nod. Sure, Porcello didn't get a win, but he still managed to work 16.1 innings, giving up only 3 runs for a 1.65 ERA and 0.92 WHIP.

Other top contenders: Sardine City's Jordan Zimmeran (1-0, 0.73 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 17 K), Las Vegas' A.J. Burnett (1-0, 1.25, 1.05, 14 K), Amityville's Tommy Hunter (1-0, 1.42, 0.95) and Hoboken's Mark Buehrle (2.08, 1.00).

DMBL to use new platform in 2011

Since there have been a lot of complaints about the DMB software not being realistic, I've been forced to look into other, better alternatives. Also since DMB has been sold, it seems as though the new company isn't as passionate about continuing the improvement of the product. So after an exhaustive search, including OOTP and other popular simulations, I've found the perfect platform.


Atari's Home Run baseball. With its slick graphical interface, it is very easy to configure and manage your team. It's realistic portrayal and lifelike portrayal of real baseball will allow our league to evolve in a higher direction. Gone are the days of tedious manager tendencies and lefty and righty lineups. Home Run simplifies the game. No more do we see such useless positions as "catcher" - really, after Joe Mauer and Victor Martinez, there's no one good anyway. The three players in the field really exemplify the teamwork ethic, moving in unison toward all batted balls.

The stats will be kept by me in a handy notebook, just like back in the olden days. If any sport lends itself to being "retro", it's baseball. I'll jot some names down and pretend that the current batter is whoever is in the lineup, then we'll just tally up all the scores at the end and voila, we have a box score.

Now surely the game has a few drawbacks. For example, I won't be able to publish the reports as quickly, so you'll just have to be patient with me. And I'll have to manually do the schedules again. But the hard work and sacrifice are all worth it to make the league more realistic and cut down on complaints. So enjoy DMB while it lasts, 'cause next year, our league is going to hit a Home Run!