Division leaders show chinks in the armor

Carolina has now won the first two games against fraternal rival Philadelphia after yesterday's 3-1 victory. Roy Halladay went eight innings and allowed only one run on five hits. Brian Fuentes notched his 19th save on the season. The first-place Endzone Animals have now dropped four straight and have seen their lead shrink to only 4 1/2 games on the D.C. Bushslappers.

Meanwhile the league's hottest team is the Mighty Men of Marietta who eked out their seventh straight victory over South Boston yesterday, 8-7. The Mighty Men were down 6-3 early in the game, but they tied it up with a 3-run Wes Helms homer in the seventh. Edgar Renteria gave the Gang a lead with a solo homer in the eighth, but it wasn't enough. After closer Huston Street had put two men on, Salamon Torres tried to get out of the jam, but gave up a 2-run triple to Ray Durham that gave the Mighty Men the victory.
Barry Bonds hit his 30th homer yesterday in the Falcons' 6-2 victory over the Hitmen. Still on a tear.

How about those Cutters? Hoboken has now taken the first two games against Newark in the Cereal Bowl. The Cutters got to starter John Smoltz early in the game, scoring five runs in the first three innings and never looking back. The Sugar Bears made it close, but not close enough. Both teams had the same amount of hits and the Cutters had one more walk, but it was a costly error by Carlos Guillen and a passed ball by Gregg Zaun that made the difference in the game.

Vancouver got trounced once again, 13-7, making it four of the last five games in which they gave up more than 10 runs. After a bullpen re-shuffling, manager Darren Daulton is at a loss of what to do. "It's like watching a fire burn your house down and all you have in your hands is a can of gasoline" said Daulton. Chris Carpenter, who had been solid in his last two starts, had more than a gas can, he had a bottle of nitroglycerin in his hands. Carpenter surrendered eleven earned runs in 3.1 innings. "Yeah, my bad" said Carpenter after the game.

Bonds on fire

Bonds. Again. Bonds has now homered in his last five games. Bonds has seven homers in those five games and 29 on the season. Sure, Arkansas lost 5-1 to Vancouver, but has anyone been on such a tear in recent memory? All eyes will be on Barry over the weekend. By the way, Chris Carpenter, who won the game for Vancouver is now 4-2 since being traded from South Boston. The ERA is a bit higher than they'd like at 4.50, but he has been effective recently and more importantly, Carpenter is giving the Fist a lot of innings, giving the struggling bullpen much needed rest.

Philadelphia rallied to beat Hoboken yesterday after being down 5-3 in the ninth. Scott Rolen lined a double off Juan Rincon that scored two runs and gave the Animals the 6-5 lead. Francisco Rodriguez secured the ninth for his 19th save of the season.

Remember when Brett Myers couldn't buy a win...or a quality start for that matter? He's looked like a completely different pitcher lately. With the monkey now off his back, Myers looked excellent against Sardine City on Thursday, holding the Straphangers to only one run on seven hits in eight innings for his second victory of the year. He's still not getting any run support, but at least things are starting to fall his way. His ERA is now down to 6.96.

Making an emergency start for injured Gil Meche, Brad Hennessey looked very solid against Honolulu. Hennessey pitched eight innings and allowed only two runs on seven hits. Hennessey had spent the earlier part of the season in relief for the Mighty Men.

Josh Willingham's 5 RBIs propelled the Hired Hitmen to a 9-6 victory over South Boston. Willingham hit two homers in the game - his 8th and 9th of the season. Hillsborough has now won four in a row and is only three games under .500. With the streak, the Hitmen are now back in the playoff picture, only four games back of Vancouver.

Dicey deal

Las Vegas is busy on the trading block. This time the Rats surrendered highly-touted pitching prospect Daisuke Matsuzaka to Sardine City in return for their second round pick that they traded to the Straphangers earlier this year. Sardine City sent Cameron Maybin packing to make room for Dice-K on the farm team. Interestingly the trade was made while the two teams were playing each other on the field. Sardine City beat the snot out of starter Oliver Perez, who could only record one out while surrendering seven earned runs on five hits and three walks.

Greg Maddux was hanging on to a 4-3 lead against the Falcons when it all unraveled in the eighth. Maddux started off by giving up a hit to Lance Berkman, then walking Justin Morneau. Barry Bonds then launched his fourth homer in the last three games, giving the Falcons a 6-4 lead. Bob Wickman held down the fort in the ninth for his sixth save and 100th career save. Wickman became just the tenth player all-time to reach the mark.

Honolulu and Marietta began the first of their key divisional series. Marietta came back from a 7-3 deficit to tie the game up at seven with a four-run seventh inning, only to watch Honolulu grab the lead back after a Jason Giambi solo shot. Tom Gordon, who squeaked out of a jam in the eighth, could not hold it together for another inning. After giving up a leadoff double to Todd Helton, Gordon walked the next four batters, including walking in the tying and winning runs! Derek Jeter with the...um...walk-off walk? Did Gary Carter fall asleep in the dugout?
John Smoltz won his 150th career victory yesterday against Team Buddah. Smoltz held the Buddahs to one run on six hits over eight innings. Smoltz also struck out five.

New Did You Know? coming later tonight.

Tuesday tidbits

Arkansas got a little revenge on Hoboken yesterday with an 8-4 victory over the Cutters. Roger Clemens turned in a solid performance (7 IP, 6 K, 3 ER, 9 H) and Barry Bonds hit his third homer in two games.

Carolina edged the Sharks 8-7, despite giving up 19 hits. The Sharks left a whopping 16 men on base in the game. Roy Halladay gave up 10 hits in 5.2 innings, but still got the victory by holding the Sharks to only one earned run.

Philly salvaged a game against Newark yesterday, 9-1. Erik Bedard held the Sugar Bears to only three hits, but walked six in seven innings. Newark starter Randy Johnson was pounded for six runs in only 1.2 innings.

Vancouver swept Las Vegas and much-maligned closer Billy Wagner saved all three games. Wagner now leads the league in saves (19) by two over Philly's Francisco Rodriguez.

Don't masquerade with the guy in shades oh no

Bonds was at it again yesterday, hitting his fifth homer of the week against Las Vegas, but it wasn't enough. The Rat Pack held on for a 7-6 victory despite a scare in the ninth. Ryan Zimmerman was 4-5 with 4 RBIs in the game and Anthony Reyes improved to 4-10 despite zero strikeouts, a 2.00 WHIP and four earned runs in six innings.

Vancouver snapped their seven game slide by beating Philadelphia 3-2. Chris Carpenter had his best start since being acquired by the Iron Fist - a complete game yielding only four hits and two runs, with seven strikeouts. The effort was only the second complete game of the season for Vancouver. Sardine City is the only team not to have a complete game all season and there are two teams that have only one on the year.

When Corey Hart was released by Las Vegas back on May 12th, Hart was devastated. Hart was drafted in round four and expected to be a big part of the team's plans. Hart was only hitting .212 when he was released but he did have 4 RBIs in his last game with the club. Vegas told him "It ain't enough". "I gave it everything in my heart" said Hart soon after. Hart was ready to give up his baseball career, but he remembered his personal motto to "Never Surrender". So as Hart walked home that night, he threw on his sunglasses and said "You got it made with the guy in shades oh no". Las Vegas decided that they had made a mistake and resigned the rookie. GM Eric Wickstrom called up Hart and told him "I am by your side". Hart was reportedly so happy that he was "dancing with his mirror".

Bonds heats up

The Holiday weekend certainly was good to Arkansas' Barry Bonds. Bonds smacked two homers in a 12-4 drubbing of South Boston and then hit two more in the second game, a 10-8 loss. Bonds now has 20 homers on the season.

Johan Santana became the first 10 game winner in the DMBL, improving to 10-1 on the season as Philly shut down D.C. 12-2 in the first game fo their doubleheader yesterday. Santana pitched seven innings, allowing only four hits and two runs, while striking out seven. Santana is the current leader for the coveted Pitcher's Triple Crown (10 wins, 2.57 ERA, and 128 Ks). Jimmy Rollins continues to be an asset for the Endzone Animals, 2 RBIs in game one, and 3-5 in game two. Rollins is now batting .438 in four games with Philly, with 4 doubles, one homer, 4 RBIs, 2 stolen bases, and 1.375 OPS.

Las Vegas' Chone Figgins had two stolen bases against Marietta in the second game of their doubleheader. The first was his 100th of his career.

Vancouver dropped their seventh straight yesterday, losing both ends of the doubleheader with Hillsborough. Their offense has been shut down by Hillsborough and Arkansas, while their pitching couldn't hold the powerful Newark offense in check in the games before. "If we score a lot, we give up a lot, if we hold them, we can't score" said manager Darren Daulton. Vancouver next faces Philadelphia Wednesday, then plays a three-game set with D.C. and another three with Honolulu. "We better get our act together" Daulton continued "or we're in a lot of trouble."

The Gang's all here

The Mudcat moves seem to have worked for one game anyway. The Cats edged the first-place Animals 4-3 yesterday behind a solid outing from Roy Halladay (though he didn't figure into the decision) and three-hit games from Rocco Baldelli and Aramis Ramirez.

Still waiting, Barry....

Cliff Lee is making a case to stick in the Sharks rotation with a solid outing yesterday against the Rat Pack. Lee is now 1-1 with a 2.77 ERA in two starts filling in for the injured Jered Weaver.

South Boston has been on a little bit of a run lately, winning their fifth straight against Marietta yesterday. Aaron Harang shut down the Mighty Men for 7 innings, allowing only an unearned run and striking out 10. Poor Jeff Suppan finally pitched an outing for Marietta without getting destroyed, but had to settle for the loss (and lowering...yes lowering... his ERA to 10.13). During the game Matt Diaz extended his hitting streak to a league-high 23 games, besting Miguel Cabrera's earlier streak of 22.

Hoboken certainly got their revenge on Tuesday's smackdown from Newark. Hoboken pounded on the Sugar Bears to a 13-5 tune. The Cutters had 21 hits in total. Geoff Jenkins was 5-6 with 3 RBIs and Miguel Cabrera was 4-5 with 4 RBIs and a homer.

Philly's obsession with Khalil Greene continues as the Animals re-signed the shortstop for the second time this season. His playing time should be limited though as the club activated David Eckstein from his month-long sting on the DL.

Thome Boy

A few items of note. Jim Thome hit his 400th DMBL homer yesterday in Marietta's loss to New Jersey Sunday. It was Thome's ninth of the season. Thome is just the fifth player to reach 400. Moving into number seven on the all-time list was Manny Ramirez, who took last week off. Ramirez returned Sunday and hit his 14th homer of the season to help defeat the Sharks.

The Falcons are still waiting on Bonds to hit his 600th. Bonds has been stuck on 599 since Tuesday's game with South Boston. In fact, Bonds is mired in a 2-22 (.091) slump since that game.

Newark's Kevin Millwood, who had come up one strikeout short in his last outing, finally got his 1000th career strikeout in the Game against the Sharks. Millwood improved to 4-1 on the season.

Don't look now but Marietta's Matt Diaz has an active 21-game hit streak, which is only one less than Miguel Cabrera's hit streak earlier in the season. Diaz streak began with a 5-5 night against Las Vegas and he is hitting .426 (40-94) during the course of the streak, raising his average from .233 to .341.

Beckett, Schmidt come up Aces

Well Miguel Cabrera's hit streak came to an end at 22 yesterday after the Cutters were shut down by Brad Penny and Team Buddah. Penny didn't give up an earned run, but the numbers show that he was more lucky than good. Penny walked four and gave up six hits in seven innings, while only striking out one. The Buddahs also had three errors, so that may have contributed to it. Penny improved to 4-2 on the season.

The highest hit streak now is Marietta's Todd Helton, at 16. Teammate Matt Diaz also has a 15 game hit streak, so I'm guessing there's a little sidebet going on in that clubhouse as to who stops hitting first.

Josh Beckett pitched a gem yesterday - a complete game, four-hit shutout of Arkansas, which means Barry Bonds will have to wait another day to hit his 600th homer. Beckett has not had a good DMBL career to date. He is 3-2 with a 4.70 ERA on the year, which if he continues on this pace would be a career year for him. Expectations are low for Beckett this year and being the number five starter should alleviate a lot of the pressure he might have felt in previous seasons.

Beckett's line was impressive, but Jason Schmidt had an equally impressive start against Sardine City. Schmidt and the Sharks blanked the Straphangers 2-0 as Schmidt went the distance and allowed a mere two hits and three walks while striking out eight. Schmidt is now 4-2 on the season. The Sharks begin their big series with Newark today.

Black Monday for Pitchers

Barry Bonds moved one closer to home run #600 yesterday in helping Arkansas slide by South Boston 7-5. The homer was Bonds' 11th of the season.

Monday was a bad day for pitchers. Hillsborough lost lefty C.C. Sabathia for the next month in their loss to Vancouver. Sabathia was 3-1 with a 3.98 ERA so far this season. Hillsborough has Ian Snell on the farm, but they may choose to go with a veteran off the waiver wire. Sabathia only lasted into the third inning before being pulled.

Rookie phenom Jered Weaver also got dinged yesterday. Weaver pitched 5.2 innings yesterday, but did not factor into the decision. Weaver, who had a mishap with some snack foods during the break between innings, may miss up to two weeks. Cliff Lee, who was with Hillsborough last year, will fill in until Weaver is healthy again.

Not all injuries were pitching-related though. Newark will lose slugger Manny Ramirez for the better part of this week. "It's not really an injury" said Newark manager Don Mattingly. "It's just Manny being Manny." Ramirez said he is taking his annual vacation and will relax on the beaches in St. Thomas. "This weather just plain sucks" said Ramirez. "I need to get away for a bit." Owner Butch Garretson grumbled "Damn... bad week for that to happen!"

Bonds closing in on milestone

Well the Sharks' streak is now over after losing a heartbreaker to Carolina 1-0 on Friday. Clay Hensley outdueled Kenny Rogers and Juan Rivera's solo home run in the fourth was the only run of the game.

Arkansas' Barry Bonds hit his 10th homer of the year in the 9-2 rout of Hoboken Saturday. It was Bonds' 598th homer of his career. Bonds will be the first player to hit 600 in his career. If you're wondering if anyone will catch him anytime soon...well that depends on your definition of "soon". Bonds has a more than 150 homer lead on second place Sammy Sosa - stuck at 436 and not even playing this year.

Newark's Jim Edmonds hit his 300th career homer Sunday. Honolulu's Jason Giambi is closing in on the mark as well, with 298. Bonds is not worried about either one.

Look for a new Zane Smith column later today.

Golden Falcon golden achievements

Arkansas' Barry Bonds became the all-time leader in career at-bats Sunday. Bonds passed Roberto Alomar on the all-time list and is now sitting comfortably in first. Since Alomar and Bagwell - the two closest behind him - are retired and Pudge Rodriguez is more than 400 ABs behind Bonds and also an oldster, he may be there for a while. If he wasn't the all-time walks leader, he might be at a 1000 by now (hmmm not to self, who are the top plate appearance leaders?). Bonds also holds the career records for home runs, hits, RBIs, and on base percentage.

Congratulations to Pedro Martinez on his 200th career win against South Boston Saturday. Martinez pitched eight innings surrendering three runs on eight hits and striking out 10 Gangsters.

Greg Maddux had a great pitching line in Sunday's game: eight innings, two hits, one unearned run allowed, no walks, seven strikeouts. Good enough for a win, right? wrong! Carolina's Clay Hensley outdueled the veteran, allowing only two hits and four walks in six innings. Two costly errors in the second inning did Vancouver in and the offense couldn't hit its way out of a wet paper bag.

Philadelphia has officially put Magglio Ordonez on the trading block. Ordonez has lost playing time to younger outfielders Reed Johnson, Vernon Wells, and Michael Cuddyer. The oft-injured star has only hit .163 in 43 at bats this season.