Hillsborough took over sole possession of first place in the Morris Division with a 6-0 blanking of Philadelphia. Felix Hernandez held the Animals to 3 hits and 1 walk and struck out 10 to improve to 5-1 on the season. The Hitmen have now one 3 straight and have a 1/2 game lead on idle Vancouver.
Michael Young was 4-4 with 3 RBIs and 2 homers to lead the Cutters to a 6-4 victory over Amityville. The Cutters are trying to work their way back into the race and have now won 7 of their last 10 and are only 5 games under the .500 mark.
Marietta and New Jersey slugged it out as the Mighty Men edged Team Buddah 12-11. The Mighty Men took an early 5-0 lead, but the Buddahs scored 6 runs in the 3rd to take the lead. The Buddahs extended the lead to 8-5, but Marietta inched back and tied it back up at 9-9 in the 6th. In the 7th, Seth Smith hit a two-run homer to give Jersey the lead back, but Taylor Teagarden and Derek Jeter hit homers in the bottom half to give Marietta the 12-11 lead that would serve as the final. Teagarden (2 homers) and Adrian Gonzalez (1 homer) both finished with 3 RBIs and 3 hits each and Alberto Callaspo also had 3 hits for the Mighty Men. Smith had 4 RBIs and 3 hits for the Buddahs
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
Granderson, Santana earn top honors
This week, the JR Cigars Smokin' Batter of the Week Award goes to Las Vegas' Curtis Granderson. Granderson has been manning the leadoff position for the Rats ever since Yunel Escobar was hurt and he's been taking full advantage. Granderson batted .407/.393/1.111 for the week. Yes, his OBP was lower than his batting average. Granderson also hit 3 doubles, 2 triples and 4 homers, scored 7 runs and drove in 12.
His main competition was Carolina's Troy Tulowitzki, who hit .565 with a .643 OBP and 1.043 slugging. He had 6 extra base hits (2 homers), scored 5 runs and had 9 RBIs. Other batters of note: Las Vegas' Alex Rodriguez has woken up out of his slump (.375/.429/.969, 6 HR, 9 R, 10 RBI) and Hillsborough had a trifecta of stars: Carlos Gonzalez (.440/.481/.840, 12 RBI), Juan Uribe (.458/.500/.708, 7 R), and Casey McGehee (.440/.481/.600, 9 RBI).
This week's Dads on Vacation (yeah yeah I know it was Mother's Day yesterday, but we don't want to humiliate mom after her day) Pitcher of the Week goes to Arkansas' Johan Santana. Santana started off the season on a rough note, but has recently straightened himself out and now boasts a respectable 4-4 record with a 3.82 ERA. In fact, it wasn't too long ago that Santana was 1-4 with a 6.98 ERA. This week, Santana went 2-0 with a 1.10 ERA in two starts.
Other top pitchers: Las Vegas' A.J. Burnett could have easily won the prize this week (1-0, 0.82 ERA, 0.91 WHIP), but we went with the "story" player. We're slaves to the ratings, what can I say? Marietta's Joel Pineiro (1-1, 1.20, 1.00), Vancouver's Zack Greinke (1-0, 2.77, 14 K) and Bridgewater's Erik Bedard (1-0, 2.31, 11 K) also had noteworthy weeks.
Three relievers had excellent weeks as well, starting with Newark's Kiko Calero, who was 1 hit shy of pitching 4.2 perfect innings and earning a win and 3 saves. Vancouver's perfect save season continued thanks to pitchers like Ronald Belisario who also pickedup 3 saves with a 0.94 WHIP. Chad Qualls returned from the DL for New Jersey and doesn't seem to have any rust - 3 saves, 0.80 WHIP.
His main competition was Carolina's Troy Tulowitzki, who hit .565 with a .643 OBP and 1.043 slugging. He had 6 extra base hits (2 homers), scored 5 runs and had 9 RBIs. Other batters of note: Las Vegas' Alex Rodriguez has woken up out of his slump (.375/.429/.969, 6 HR, 9 R, 10 RBI) and Hillsborough had a trifecta of stars: Carlos Gonzalez (.440/.481/.840, 12 RBI), Juan Uribe (.458/.500/.708, 7 R), and Casey McGehee (.440/.481/.600, 9 RBI).
This week's Dads on Vacation (yeah yeah I know it was Mother's Day yesterday, but we don't want to humiliate mom after her day) Pitcher of the Week goes to Arkansas' Johan Santana. Santana started off the season on a rough note, but has recently straightened himself out and now boasts a respectable 4-4 record with a 3.82 ERA. In fact, it wasn't too long ago that Santana was 1-4 with a 6.98 ERA. This week, Santana went 2-0 with a 1.10 ERA in two starts.
Other top pitchers: Las Vegas' A.J. Burnett could have easily won the prize this week (1-0, 0.82 ERA, 0.91 WHIP), but we went with the "story" player. We're slaves to the ratings, what can I say? Marietta's Joel Pineiro (1-1, 1.20, 1.00), Vancouver's Zack Greinke (1-0, 2.77, 14 K) and Bridgewater's Erik Bedard (1-0, 2.31, 11 K) also had noteworthy weeks.
Three relievers had excellent weeks as well, starting with Newark's Kiko Calero, who was 1 hit shy of pitching 4.2 perfect innings and earning a win and 3 saves. Vancouver's perfect save season continued thanks to pitchers like Ronald Belisario who also pickedup 3 saves with a 0.94 WHIP. Chad Qualls returned from the DL for New Jersey and doesn't seem to have any rust - 3 saves, 0.80 WHIP.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Mudcats rally, steal win from Hitmen
Carolina rallied in the 9th to steal a victory from Hillsborough. Down 5-3, Jeff Francoeur led off the inning with a double, then scored on a Troy Tulowitzki single. Prince Fielder then gave the Cats the lead with a 2-run home run, his 13th of the season. C. J. Wilson struck out the side in the bottom of the 9th to nail down his 6th save.
Ricky Nolasco and the Falcons shut out Vancouver yesterday 3-0, holding the Fist to just 4 hits and striking out 12 batters. After losing 5 straight, the Falcons now won two in a row but have a long way to go to get back into the competition. The Falcons sit 10 1/2 games out of 1st, but with Johan Santana and Cliff Lee starting to pitch better, it's too early to count them out.
Newark evened their record at 22-22 with a 10-7 win over Amityville. Mark Rzepczynski held the Ant Slayers to one run on 5 hits in 6 innings despite walking 6. The Ant Slayers made it closer than it appeared by scoring 6 runs in the 8th, but fell short. Will Venable and Manny Ramirez were each 3-4 with 4 RBIs, with Venable hitting two homers.
Nice pitchers duel in Philadelphia where the two teams were held to a combined 7 hits. Philly's Matt Cain held the Buddahs to 3 hits, but gave up 2 runs and took the loss. Andy Pettite earned the win with 6.2 shutout innings, giving up just 3 hits and walking 7. Unfortunately for Philly, they lost more than the game, as Adam Lind was lost to injury for at least a week.
Blue Ridge, a surprise contender so far, took down the first-place Bridgewater Mallers 8-2 behind a stellar performance from rookie J.A. Happ. Happ pitched 8 innings and held the Mallers to 5 hits and 2 runs while striking out 8. Aaron Hill hit a grand slam in the 2nd inning - it was his 7th of the year.
Ricky Nolasco and the Falcons shut out Vancouver yesterday 3-0, holding the Fist to just 4 hits and striking out 12 batters. After losing 5 straight, the Falcons now won two in a row but have a long way to go to get back into the competition. The Falcons sit 10 1/2 games out of 1st, but with Johan Santana and Cliff Lee starting to pitch better, it's too early to count them out.
Newark evened their record at 22-22 with a 10-7 win over Amityville. Mark Rzepczynski held the Ant Slayers to one run on 5 hits in 6 innings despite walking 6. The Ant Slayers made it closer than it appeared by scoring 6 runs in the 8th, but fell short. Will Venable and Manny Ramirez were each 3-4 with 4 RBIs, with Venable hitting two homers.
Nice pitchers duel in Philadelphia where the two teams were held to a combined 7 hits. Philly's Matt Cain held the Buddahs to 3 hits, but gave up 2 runs and took the loss. Andy Pettite earned the win with 6.2 shutout innings, giving up just 3 hits and walking 7. Unfortunately for Philly, they lost more than the game, as Adam Lind was lost to injury for at least a week.
Blue Ridge, a surprise contender so far, took down the first-place Bridgewater Mallers 8-2 behind a stellar performance from rookie J.A. Happ. Happ pitched 8 innings and held the Mallers to 5 hits and 2 runs while striking out 8. Aaron Hill hit a grand slam in the 2nd inning - it was his 7th of the year.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Rats, Sardines, Mighty Men unload on their opponents
Marietta pounded the Mallers yesterday 14-3, breaking their 6-game winning streak and dealing Ryan Rowland-Smith his first loss of the year (including spring training). Derek Jeter was 4-4 with 3 runs scored and Mark DeRosa and Alberto Callaspo each had 3 hits.
Sardine City got revenge for Monday's pummeling by pounding the Animals 14-7. The Sardines tallied 21 hits, including 4 each from Ryan Braun and James Loney. Unfortunately for the Straphangers, they lost leadoff hitter Nyjer Morgan for over a month. When he was chasing down a fly ball in the 9th, field security mistook him for a crazed fan that had ran out on the field. The security team tasered Morgan into submission before realizing they'd made a huge mistake. "My bad" said one of the security guards in a press conference after the game.
Speaking of beatdowns, the Rats kept their winning streak alive at 5 with a 15-7 rout of Blue Ridge. Alex Rodriguez has seemingly woken from his slump, contributing another home run in the game. Curtis Granderson was 3-6 with 4 RBIs, a double and a homer run and Joe Mauer was 3-6 with 2 homers and 3 RBIs.
Sardine City got revenge for Monday's pummeling by pounding the Animals 14-7. The Sardines tallied 21 hits, including 4 each from Ryan Braun and James Loney. Unfortunately for the Straphangers, they lost leadoff hitter Nyjer Morgan for over a month. When he was chasing down a fly ball in the 9th, field security mistook him for a crazed fan that had ran out on the field. The security team tasered Morgan into submission before realizing they'd made a huge mistake. "My bad" said one of the security guards in a press conference after the game.
Speaking of beatdowns, the Rats kept their winning streak alive at 5 with a 15-7 rout of Blue Ridge. Alex Rodriguez has seemingly woken from his slump, contributing another home run in the game. Curtis Granderson was 3-6 with 4 RBIs, a double and a homer run and Joe Mauer was 3-6 with 2 homers and 3 RBIs.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Greinke stymies Buddahs, improves to 8-0
Yesterday we got another stellar performance from Vancouver's Zack Greinke, pitching 7 innings and holding the Buddahs to 1 run on 5 hits while striking out 9 and walking 3. Greinke improved to 8-0 on the season in the 3-2 win. Also of note...Ron Belisario closed out the 9th to earn his 7th save. Vancouver has now leads the league with 18 saves and has yet to blow a save. This all despite rostering any veteran closers. Belisario and Joe Thatcher (8 saves) have earned the bulk of the team's saves, but 3 other pitchers have 1 save apiece.
Bridgewater rolled off their 6th straight victory, a 6-1 defeat of fraternal rival Matthew's Mighty Men. The Mallers have now opened up a 2 1/2 game lead in the Morris Division. Paul Konerko was 3-4 with a double and homer and 2 RBIs and Erik Bedard struck out 7 in 6.2 innings to earn his 2nd win of the year.
Meanwhile, Las Vegas has taken advantage of the Mighty Men's struggles, inching up the ranks to 3 games behind the Hanover Division leader. The Rats beat the Bombers 6-1 yesterday behind Alex Rodriguez's 2 homers and 4 RBIs. The team had become increasingly frustrated with A-Rod, who was acquired recently from Amityville. Rodriguez had been 1-24 entering yesterday's game with 15 strikeouts. "Hopefully he woke up from his nonsense" said team skipper Eric Wickstrom. "I know Vegas has just a little more distractions than Amityville, but at least there are no swarms of flies breaking into his home or anything."
Old time rivals Arkansas and Newark faced off and, before the game, made a bunch of moves to try to shake their teams out of slumps. Looks like it worked for the Sugar Bears who routed the Falcons 10-4. The Sugar Bears sent the Drew brothers down to the minors along with franchise hero Chipper Jones. The replacements came through in the game - Asdrubal Cabrera had 2 RBIs and Chase Headley was 2-4. Things were 50-50 for the Falcons, as new catcher Jason Varitek hit a 3-run homer in his Arkansas debut, but leadoff hitter Scott Podsednik was 0-5 and new shortstop Julio Lugo was 0-3.
Bronson Arroyo gave up 6 runs in 7.2 innings, but earned his first win of the year anyway with the Endzone Animals pounding the Sardines 17-6 yesterday. Four Philly hitters had 3 hits each and Mark Teixeira had 4 RBIs. Yes, Albert Pujols hit his league-leading 25th home run. He now leads in that category by 11 homers.
Bridgewater rolled off their 6th straight victory, a 6-1 defeat of fraternal rival Matthew's Mighty Men. The Mallers have now opened up a 2 1/2 game lead in the Morris Division. Paul Konerko was 3-4 with a double and homer and 2 RBIs and Erik Bedard struck out 7 in 6.2 innings to earn his 2nd win of the year.
Meanwhile, Las Vegas has taken advantage of the Mighty Men's struggles, inching up the ranks to 3 games behind the Hanover Division leader. The Rats beat the Bombers 6-1 yesterday behind Alex Rodriguez's 2 homers and 4 RBIs. The team had become increasingly frustrated with A-Rod, who was acquired recently from Amityville. Rodriguez had been 1-24 entering yesterday's game with 15 strikeouts. "Hopefully he woke up from his nonsense" said team skipper Eric Wickstrom. "I know Vegas has just a little more distractions than Amityville, but at least there are no swarms of flies breaking into his home or anything."
Old time rivals Arkansas and Newark faced off and, before the game, made a bunch of moves to try to shake their teams out of slumps. Looks like it worked for the Sugar Bears who routed the Falcons 10-4. The Sugar Bears sent the Drew brothers down to the minors along with franchise hero Chipper Jones. The replacements came through in the game - Asdrubal Cabrera had 2 RBIs and Chase Headley was 2-4. Things were 50-50 for the Falcons, as new catcher Jason Varitek hit a 3-run homer in his Arkansas debut, but leadoff hitter Scott Podsednik was 0-5 and new shortstop Julio Lugo was 0-3.
Bronson Arroyo gave up 6 runs in 7.2 innings, but earned his first win of the year anyway with the Endzone Animals pounding the Sardines 17-6 yesterday. Four Philly hitters had 3 hits each and Mark Teixeira had 4 RBIs. Yes, Albert Pujols hit his league-leading 25th home run. He now leads in that category by 11 homers.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Hillsborough sweeps Weekly Awards
This week it was a close call for the JR Cigars Smokin' Batter of the Week Award. In the end, we gave it, by a nose, to Hillsborough's Casey McGehee. McGehee batted .500 this week (15-30) with 2 homers and 8 RBIs and 10 runs scored. He also had a 1.298 OPS. His biggest rival this week was Las Vegas' Matt Holliday, who batted .440, but had a 1.356 OPS with 4 doubles, 2 homers, 10 runs, and 7 RBIs. Both players' teams finished the week riding a 3-game winning streak, and both are either in second or tied for second place in their respective divisions. Also, Hillsborough had a secretary named Lincoln and Vegas had a secretary named Kennedy.
A few other candidates that were close, but...ahem...no cigar: Bridgewater's Erick Aybar (.524/.583/.714), Amityville's Matt Kemp (.435/.500/.696), Carolina's Magglio Ordonez (.419/.441/.742, 2 HR, 8 RBI), and Marietta's Derek Jeter (.440/.481/.560, 7 R).
This week's Superuseless Superpowers Pitcher of the Week prize goes to Hillsborough's Dan Haren. Haren won both games he started this week and held his opponents to an 0.61 ERA and 0.82 WHIP, while compiling 17 strikeouts in 14.2 innings. Oh yeah, he also pitched a complete game shutout of Sardine City on Saturday.
Haren had to fight off not one, not two, but THREE Bridgewater pitchers to take this week's honor. Luckily for him, the Bridgewater vote got split up between the three candidates. Andrew Bailey is on pace to challenge John Smoltz's save record. This week he was a perfect 5-5 in save opportunities and didn't give up any runs in his 5 appearances. Teammate Chris Carpenter was 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP, including a complete game and 12 Ks in 17 IP. Finally Josh Beckett was 1-1 with a 1.69 ERA and 1.06 WHIP.
Newark's Brad Bergeson also deserves an honorable mention, going 2-0 with a 0.50 ERA and 2 complete games. His 1.11 WHIP and only 9 Ks fell below Haren's marks, but a stellar week for the Sugar Bear nonetheless.
A few other candidates that were close, but...ahem...no cigar: Bridgewater's Erick Aybar (.524/.583/.714), Amityville's Matt Kemp (.435/.500/.696), Carolina's Magglio Ordonez (.419/.441/.742, 2 HR, 8 RBI), and Marietta's Derek Jeter (.440/.481/.560, 7 R).
This week's Superuseless Superpowers Pitcher of the Week prize goes to Hillsborough's Dan Haren. Haren won both games he started this week and held his opponents to an 0.61 ERA and 0.82 WHIP, while compiling 17 strikeouts in 14.2 innings. Oh yeah, he also pitched a complete game shutout of Sardine City on Saturday.
Haren had to fight off not one, not two, but THREE Bridgewater pitchers to take this week's honor. Luckily for him, the Bridgewater vote got split up between the three candidates. Andrew Bailey is on pace to challenge John Smoltz's save record. This week he was a perfect 5-5 in save opportunities and didn't give up any runs in his 5 appearances. Teammate Chris Carpenter was 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP, including a complete game and 12 Ks in 17 IP. Finally Josh Beckett was 1-1 with a 1.69 ERA and 1.06 WHIP.
Newark's Brad Bergeson also deserves an honorable mention, going 2-0 with a 0.50 ERA and 2 complete games. His 1.11 WHIP and only 9 Ks fell below Haren's marks, but a stellar week for the Sugar Bear nonetheless.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Vancouver, Greinke streak past Buddahs
Vancouver won their 6th straight - a 7-1 win over New Jersey. The two Jones each hit a home run, Garrett's being a grand slam in the 3rd. Meanwhile, ace Zack Greinke continues his stellar season, improving to 7-0 while pitching 8 innings and allowing only 1 run on 6 hits and 2 walks. Greinke struck out 6. Greinke also leads the league in strikeouts (62) and is second among starters in ERA (2.04) behind only New Jersey's Rick Porcello.
Sardine City swept their series against Philadelphia and now sit in second place in the Hanover Division and one game over the .500 mark (18-17). Jordan Zimmerman pitched 7.2 innings and allowed only 1 run on 4 hits, while striking out 10 to earn the win. The Sardines won the game 2-1.
Jason Bartlett hit a solo home run in the 10th to edge the Rat Pack 4-3 in extra innings. The Bombers outhit the Rats 12-5 in the game, but walked 9 Vegas batters. Gavin Floyd started the game, but lasted only 5 innings despite giving up only 2 hits. Floyd walked 7 batters and ran up 112 pitches in his short outing. A.J. Burnett, intent on matching Floyd, walked 5 in his 5.1 innings, but gave up 5 hits. With the win, the Bombers evened their record at 17 - the 6th team (out of 7 teams) in the Morris Division that have a .500 or better record. Only the Falcons have a losing record in the division.
Scott Feldman went the distance, holding the Hitmen to only 4 hits, and earned the win in a 5-4 victory over Hillsborough. Amityville was trailing 4-3 entering the 9th, but George Sherrill plunked leadoff hitter Rajai Davis. Matt Kemp hit a triple and easily scored Davis. Nelso Cruz came through with a base hit to win the game.
Ryan Rowland-Smith, who had been undefeated in spring training, continues his undefeated streak with a strange win over Marietta yesterday. Rowland-Smith gave up 5 runs in 7 innings, giving up 8 hits and striking out zero batters. Rowland-Smith, despite his record, has an unimpresive 5.24 ERA and only 18 strikeouts in 44.2 innings.
Sardine City swept their series against Philadelphia and now sit in second place in the Hanover Division and one game over the .500 mark (18-17). Jordan Zimmerman pitched 7.2 innings and allowed only 1 run on 4 hits, while striking out 10 to earn the win. The Sardines won the game 2-1.
Jason Bartlett hit a solo home run in the 10th to edge the Rat Pack 4-3 in extra innings. The Bombers outhit the Rats 12-5 in the game, but walked 9 Vegas batters. Gavin Floyd started the game, but lasted only 5 innings despite giving up only 2 hits. Floyd walked 7 batters and ran up 112 pitches in his short outing. A.J. Burnett, intent on matching Floyd, walked 5 in his 5.1 innings, but gave up 5 hits. With the win, the Bombers evened their record at 17 - the 6th team (out of 7 teams) in the Morris Division that have a .500 or better record. Only the Falcons have a losing record in the division.
Scott Feldman went the distance, holding the Hitmen to only 4 hits, and earned the win in a 5-4 victory over Hillsborough. Amityville was trailing 4-3 entering the 9th, but George Sherrill plunked leadoff hitter Rajai Davis. Matt Kemp hit a triple and easily scored Davis. Nelso Cruz came through with a base hit to win the game.
Ryan Rowland-Smith, who had been undefeated in spring training, continues his undefeated streak with a strange win over Marietta yesterday. Rowland-Smith gave up 5 runs in 7 innings, giving up 8 hits and striking out zero batters. Rowland-Smith, despite his record, has an unimpresive 5.24 ERA and only 18 strikeouts in 44.2 innings.
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