Future aces duke it out in New Jersey

A battle of two possible future DMBL pitching stars took place between Vancouver's Mat Latos and New Jersey's Rick Porcello yesterday. Porcello pitched well, giving up 2 runs in 7.1 innings, but it was Vancouver that escaped with a 2-1 win. Latos pitched 5 innings giving up 1 run on 4 hits, but he walked 4 and was removed without earning a decision. The Fist won the game in the 8th on a Michael Bourn single, extending their winning streak to 5 games.

Hillsborough kept pace, winning their 4th straight game, a 12-3 drubbing of Amityville. Carlos Lee was 3-4 with 2 homers and 5 RBIs and Kelly Shoppach was 2-5, also with 2 homers and 4 RBIs. Hillsborough remains tied with Carolina and Vancouver for 2nd place in the Morris Division.

Alex Rodriguez made his Rat Pack debut in a game that saw the Rats pummel the Bombers 8-1. And A-Rod's contribution? 0-5 with 3 strikeouts...but he did pitch in $10 towards pizza after the game, so that was nice of him. Meanwhile, Yunel Escobar, Matt Holliday, and Curtis Granderson each had 3 hits to lead the Rat Pack offense. Vegas moved to one game over .500 with the win.

Lee, Halladay take honors

One of the hottest teams in the league right now is the Hillsborough Hired Hitmen. Their pitching has been solid of late, but their offense is really their bread and butter. How many times we've already awarded Mitchell frontrunner Aubrey Huff, but this week it goes to his teammate Carlos Lee, our JR Cigars Smokin' Batter of the Week. Lee smoked the ball this week, hitting .583 (14-24) with 2 homers, 4 doubles, 8 runs, and 7 RBIs. He got on base to a .615 clip and had an OPS of 1.615 (you can figure out his slugging, go ahead). Another of his teammates was also in the running - Nick Markakis (.417/.517/.667, 8 R).

Close on Lee's heels this week was Las Vegas' Carlos Pena who hit .435/480/1.217 with 4 homers and 10 RBIs. Other notables: Arkansas' Lance Berkman (.462/.548/.654, 7 R), Newark's Manny Ramirez (.450/.478/.950, 3 HR, 10 RBI) and Ramon Vazquez (.471/.526/1.059, 7 RBI), Philly's Mark Teixeira (.400/.464/.840), New Jersey's Ian Stewart (.409/.458/.818), and Vancouver's Chase Utley (.462/.516/.731, 8 RBI).

Roy Halladay takes this week's ChannelATE Pitcher of the Week Award. In his two starts, Halladay only won one game, but he gave up only one run in 17 innings for an 0.53 ERA and 0.65 WHIP with 15 strikeouts. And once again, the award winner has a teammate that gave him a run for his money. In this case, Carolina's Carlos Zambrano was 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA, but his higher 1.06 WHIP did him in.

Other contenders: Hillsborough's Justin Verlander (2-0, 1.17, 0.91 WHIP) and Marietta's Ervin Santana (1-0, 1.32, 0.73 WHIP).