Wakefield, Williams prove poor reinforcements

Carolina took two from D.C. yesterday thanks to some solid pitching from starters Clay Hensley and Roy Halladay. Halladay, who had the better outing of the two, pitched a complete game, holding the Bushslappers to only two runs. Bill Hall, who hit a homer in each of the games, has quietly put up a solid season. Hall hit his 33rd and 34th homer of the season in yesterday's games and is batting .283 with a .974 OPS.

Tim Wakefield made his season debut for the Falcons against Vancouver yesterday. Unfortunately for Wakefield, Vancouver showed no mercy to the former Iron Fister. Wakefield gave up seven runs, six earned, in only 2.1 innings pitched, while giving up five hits and two walks and striking out none. Wakefield was recently signed by Arkansas to replace struggling Daniel Cabrera in the rotation.

Jake Peavy shut down the Falcons in game two of the doubleheader, pitching a 3-hit complete game. Peavy surrendered only one run - a Lance Berkman solo shot - in the contest while striking out nine.

Speaking of replacement players, Marietta had hoped that Woody Williams would enjoy a change of scenery and replaced Gil Meche in their rotation, but so far it's been a disaster. Most recently, Williams was rocked for six runs in 2.2 innings against the Sharks and now sports a 12.10 ERA on the season. Williams will probably be given one more chance - his next start is against the team that traded him, Vancouver.

Philly ended their four-game slide by pounding Boof Bonser and the Hoboken Cutters 10-2. Vernon Wells had 3 RBIs and Erik Bedard improved to 11-5 in the contest.

The Sugar Bears completed a 5-game sweep of Team Buddah and have now won 10 in a row. The Sugar Bears are now 49 games over .500.

Reyes of Sunshine

Las Vegas rookie Anthony Reyes put on an impressive showing last night against the Mudcats. Reyes carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning and ended up with a complete game, two-hit shutout of the 'Cats. Reyes struck out 7 and walked two. Bill Hall broke up the no-no leading off the ninth with a single up the middle.

There was an exciting game in Marietta, where Vancouver earned their third straight win - all by one run and two in extra innings. Vancouver jumped out to a quick 7-1 lead in the second by pounding the snot out of starter A.J. Burnett. Marietta started creeping back and eventually narrowed the score to 7-6, but Vancouver extended their lead to 11-6. The Mighty Men erupted in the eighth inning, scoring six runs off relievers Chris Britton and Billy Wagner. The Mighty Men were clinging to a 12-11 lead when they brought in their usually-reliable closer Mariano Rivera, but Mr. Clutch, Conor Jackson came through again and tied the game on a double in the gap. Finally in the bottom of the tenth, Jason Bay singled and Michael Young scored to win the game for the Fist.

As lucky as Vancouver has been, Team Buddah has been just the opposite. The dropped their third straight game, all one-run losses.

The Sugar Bears were held in check for the first time this season. And by "in check" I mean single digit scoring. The potent Newark lineup still put up eight runs against Dontrelle Willis and won the game to improve to 4-0. Michael Barrett hit a grand slam in the first inning to set the stage. Tomorrow the Bears face their first right hander of the season.

Two more waiver claims yesterday. Arkansas snagged Orlando Cabrera from Sardine City and Las Vegas grabbed a couple of middle relievers.