Poovey annihilates Allentown, 19-0

Poovey Farms unleashed the fury of a thousand dairy cows as they dominated Allentown in every aspect of the game, rolling up a 19-0 victory in one of the most lopsided games in recent memory on Wednesday night.

Not only did the Dairy Cows pile up 19 runs on 18 hits off four Mules pitchers, they held the formidable Allentown lineup to just one hit. Poovey Farms ace Jose Fernandez, in his final DMBL season, struck out 13 and walked none over seven innings, on just 102 pitches (69 for strikes). Deolis Guerra finished off Allentown over the last two innings, adding one strikeout. The lone baserunners were Matt Wieters, with a 6th inning single, and Adrian Gonzalez reached on an error by Josh Donaldson in the 7th.

The Cows put up 3 runs in the 1st, a run in the 3rd, and 6 runs in both the 5th and 7th innings before finally capping off the scoring with another 3-spot in the 8th. Despite all the runs, the Poovey Farms attack wasn't about shock and awe power. Only 4 of their 18 hits were for extra bases: two home runs by Brian Dozier, who finished with 3 hits and 3 RBI, a double by Jean Segura and triple by Trea Turner. The Cows also benefited from 5 walks and 4 hit batsmen.

Segura and Turner led the team with 4 RBI and 3 hits apiece. The rookie Turner extended his league lead in hits with 190 and triples with his 12th. Brandon Guyer scored a team-high 4 runs out the No. 2 hole, despite just 1 hit; he reached base four times thanks to a walk and two HBPs. No. 9 hitter Alex Gordon was the only starter without a hit.

After a dreadful first half, Fernandez has been among the hottest pitchers since the All-Star break. He improved to 11-9 with the win, lowering his ERA to 3.34 and WHIP to 1.13. He ranks second in the league with 228 strikeouts and his Game Score of 88 tied for 3rd best in the league this season.

Allentown's David Price took the brunt of the beating, yielding 8 runs and 10 hits over 4 2/3 innings to drop to 10-10 on the year. He did strike out 6. David Robertson gave up 2 runs on 2 hits over 1 1/3 innings, also plunking a batter. Neftali Feliz had perhaps the ugliest line, surrendering 3 runs on 2 hits but failing to record an out. But you might get an argument from Mike Montgomery, who in 2 innings of mopup was tagged for 6 runs on 4 hits but also walked 2 and hit 3 batters.

The win kept the Dairy Cows above .500 at 66-65 and also kept their flickering playoff hopes alive. Though they trail Vancouver by 14 games for the Hernandez Division, Poovey Farms is still on the cusp of a three-team race for the 6th and final playoff seed as a wildcard.

The Cows trailed Livingston by 3 1/2 games after Wednesday's game but also would have to leap over San Francisco and Hopatcong, who trailed 1 and 2 games, respectively, at the time for the second wild card. Meanwhile, Allentown dropped to 63-68 as their playoff hopes fade, trailing the final wild card spot by at least 6 games with about 30 to play.