Sugar Bears win 11 straight again

Andy Pettitte made his season debut for Carolina, earning the win despite a mediocre performance. Pettitte, starting for the injured Carlos Zambrano, allowed five runs in six innings in a 9-5 win over South Boston. Paul Konerko was 4-5 with 3 RBIs and Travis Hafner also contributed 3 RBIs.

D.C. has finally cooled off, losing four straight after yesterday's 6-5 loss to Hillsborough. The slump coincides with the recent injury to second baseman Luis Castillo. "Luis is the heart and soul of this squad" said teammate Carl Crawford. "Sure he only has 9 extra base hits in 77 games but he has intangibles....intangibles!" The Hired Hitmen scored all six runs in the last three innings, including a 4-run eighth that featured a 3-run Ryan Howard shot.

Newark won their 11th straight game with a 9-6, 18-hit slugfest victory over Marietta. Newark batters are now hitting .323 on the season with a .408 on base percentage and .592 slugging. Newark also became the first team to win 80 this season (Philadelphia is the next highest with 62 wins!).

Chris Carpenter pitched a solid game to help Vancouver stymie Philly 3-1 yesterday. Carpenter improved to 6-3 for Vancouver (9-7 overall) with an 8-inning performance, holding the Animals to five hits and one earned run. Moises Alou drove in all three runs in the game.

The trading deadline is approaching. Sunday July 15th will be the last day to make any deals or to claim any free agents that will be elligible as keepers for next season.

Hoboken rolls along

Hoboken continued their roll, smashing Marietta 14-6. Mighty Men starter Gil Meche was mercilessly pounded for 11 runs in five innings, earning the starter a spot on the bench. "He's lucky we didn't go to Paul Byrd" said owner David Landsman after the game. Meche's ERA ballooned to 6.96. Hoboken's Vicente Padilla improved to 10-3 on the season, despite giving up five runs. Josh Bard and Ian Kinsler each had four RBIs and a homer in the game. Hoboken has now won six straight and is only 1/2 a game behind Marietta, who lost four in a row.

David Ortiz continues to mash the ball, hitting two homers in a 5-4 loss to Carolina yesterday. Ortiz now has 32 homers on the year. Chris Carpenter rebounded well after his 11-run performance last week - pitching seven shut out innings, but the Vancouver pen blew it with a 5-run eighth inning which included a bases-loaded walk.

Carlos Beltran's 5 RBI led D.C. to a 12-4 rout of the Falcons. John Maine pitched six shutout innings despite surrendering six walks and five hits.

New Jersey's Tom Gorzelanny held the Rat Pack to only three hits and two runs over eight innings. The rookie has had some trouble with run support this year, but managed to get his fourth win of the season. Gorzelanny is only 4-8 despite a decent 4.17 ERA this year.

Newark barely survived their game against Sardine City yesterday. After a close 4-4 tie led the game to extra innings, the Straphangers played "small-ball" in the top of the 10th and manufactured the go-ahead run. Usually reliable B.J. Ryan was brought in to close the game in the bottom of the inning, but it wasn't meant to be. Nick Johnson scored to tie it on a Nick Swisher single and then later Manny Ramirez singled in Mark DeRosa to win it for the Sugar Bears.

Brandon Webb and Aaron Harang both pitched complete games in yesterday's South Boston-Philadelphia game, but it was Harang who came out on top. Harang limited the Animals to only one run on three hits, while striking out 10.

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.

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".

Gang trades Carpenter

In case you missed it last night, the South Boston Gang traded star pitcher Chris Carpenter to Vancouver for Prince Fielder. South Boston had been in negotiations with Marietta as well, but decided to fill the gaping hole at first base instead. The Gang, who had tried out Ty Wigginton and Dan Johnson at first base the past two years, needed a fixture at the position vacated when the club did not protect Mike Sweeney a few years back. Fielder who was drafted twice by Vancouver and is finally playing in his first year in the DMBL lost his starting job to fellow rookie Conor Jackson. "Although we think Prince will be a tremendous player in the future, we felt like we needed to go for it all" said Vancouver owner Yaro Zajac. South Boston has announced that more changes are possible. The Gang has a lot of depth at the middle infield positions and could deal some of those players. Meanwhile, Vancouver has sent Jake Peavy off to AAA Tacoma to work out his kinks and to make room for Carpenter. Carpenter will start tonight's game against - who else? - South Boston.

The Golden Falcons broke their losing streak yesterday by edging Carolina 7-6. The Falcons won despite only 7 hits thanks to 8 walks issued by the Cats' pitching staff and a 5-run eighth inning...oh, and no Brad Lidge in the game.

Sardine City won a close pitchers' duel last night in Marietta. Rookie phenom Francisco Liriano took his first loss off the year despite only allowing 2 runs in 8 innings. Chris Capuano pitched a gem for the Straphangers - 6 IP, 4 H, 8 K, 0 runs - and the bullpen shut the door on the Mighty Men.

Newark's Randy Johnson closed in on two giant milestones last night. Johnson pitched six innings allowing only three hits and an unearned run. With the win, he now has 6 wins on the season and 192 in his career. With Newark's powerhouse offense behind him, Johnson should hit the 200-mark some time over the summer. His two strikeouts also move him closer to 3000 for his career. Johnson is now only 52 Ks away from the mark. It's possible that the Unit will hit both milestones in the same start, so stay tuned...

Pujols powers Philly

Hoboken's Scott Kazmir pitched a six-hit shutout of Las Vegas yesterday. Kazmir struck out 9 to improve to 3-4 on the year. Not only was it the first shutout of Kazmir's young career, but also his first complete game. Probably unnoticed in this game was a fine effort from Vegas' Anthony Reyes (6 IP, 2 ER, 6 K) whose last five starts have been lousy. Reyes has not had a quality start since his first two starts of the year.

Chris Carpenter returned to action for South Boston on Monday and picked up the win despite looking a bit rusty. Carpenter pitched 7.1 innings and allowed four runs and six walks. South Boston won for the fourth straight time.

Philadelphia solidified their hold on the Morris Division lead and knocked Arkansas into third place with a come-from-behind effort last night. The Animals scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth, including an Albert Pujols walk-off grand salami off reliever Justin Duchscherer. It was Pujols' second homer of the night. Pujols ended up driving in six of Philly's seven runs in the game.

The top pitching line of the day goes to Hillsborough's Jeremy Bonderman who held the Mudcats to three hits and no runs, while striking out nine in a complete game, 4-0 victory.

Look for a new Rookie Watch article later today. Phil Plantier will look at the rookies in the Morris Division.

Sugar Bears stymied (finally!)

Well, it finally happened, the Sugar Bears lost their first game and were held in check by Hillsborough rookie Justin Verlander. Verlander only surrendered two earned runs (3 total) in six innings and struck out five. This was Newark's first game against a formidable right-handed foe - yesterday Josh Beckett matchup didn't count).

Philly's Johan Santana had the best pitching line of the season so far. Santana pitched a complete game shutout of Las Vegas, surrendering only four hits, no walks and striking out 14 Rats. Santana improved to 2-0 on the season and lowered his ERA to 1.13. Philly extended their undefeated record to 6-0.

Joining Philly in the ranks of the undefeated, Arkansas also got a good performance from veteran ace Roger Clemens. Clemens pitched eight innings against Sardine City, striking out eight and surrendering only two runs on four hits.

South Boston broke out of the winless column and edged the Sharks 5-4 behind Chris Carpenter's strong outing. The Gang got a big lift from struggling Vladimir Guerrero, who went 2-4 with a homer and four RBIs.

The first part of Marietta's Great Pitching Platoon Experiment was a dud yesterday as starter Mark Hendrickson was pounded by the Bushslappers. "It's only one game" said Hendrickson after he was pulled in the sixth inning. "Stupid Tomko is already talking shit." Brett Tomko is the other member of the home/away platoon.