Sale reaches 300 starts, 8th in strikeouts

Chris Sale became the 31st pitcher in DMBL history to make his 300th start but more impressively, he moved into 8th place on the all-time strikeouts list.

2018 pitching leaders

For the second straight season, only one pitcher was able to win 20 games, which could make Stephen Strasburg the man to beat in the race for the Ben McDonald Award.

Cueto notches 20th win

Vancouver's Johnny Cueto became the DMBL's first 20-game winner this season, solidifying his candidacy for the Ben McDonald Award. Coincidentally, the win also was the 100th of his career.

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.

2016 McDonald Award winner: Jake Arrieta

As they did virtually all season, Tucson's duo of Jake Arrieta and Zach Greinke proved to be a formidable 1-2 punch, even in the final balloting for the Ben McDonald Pitching Excellence Award.

2016 McDonald Award candidates

There are any number of ways to go on your ballot for this year's Ben McDonald Pitching Excellence Award, recognizing the DMBL's finest pitcher and named for the first winner of the award, Larry Benard McDonald (a.k.a., The LBM).

Tucson escapes Game 3 to push Allentown to the brink

Top-seeded Tucson held on for a 4-3 win in Game 3 against offensively-effiicient Allentown, to take a 3-0 lead in the Best-of-7 semifinal series.

Late home run lifts Allentown past Sardine City to first series win franchise history

Ian Kinsler came up with a big hit for Allentown, leading the Mules to a 2-1 win over Sardine City on the road to take the first round series, 3 games to 2. It's the first series win in franchise history.

Kluber K's 10 in complete-game win over Allentown in Game 1

Corey Kluber went the distance, striking out 10 and limiting the Allentown offense to seven hits and a run as Sardine City took Game 1 of their opening series, 5-1.

2016 pitching leaders

Clayton Kershaw made his final start of the season against Hopatcong on Saturday, needing 12 strikeouts to reach 300 for the second year in a row. He got 11.

Warren, Price reach 20 wins

Third-seeded San Francisco (88-74) will face sixth-seeded Vancouver (89-73) and fourth-seeded Sardine City (87-75) will take on fifth-seeded Allentown (91-71) in the first round of the 2015 playoffs, which open on Thursday.

Four teams, two seeds

Just three games remain in the 2016 DMBL season, and still not all has been decided about the playoffs - or even who's in.

Race for 20 wins down to the wire

Dallas Keuchel was denied in his bid to become DMBL's first 20-game winner this season. The left-hander had won six straight starts before Hopatcong's 4-2 win over Arkansas on Saturday.

ASG candidates: Micro starters

The Micro Conference doesn't seem to have the depth at starting pitcher that the Diamond Conference has, but that doesn't mean there's no all-star quality names to consider for the potential roster.

If no-hitters are a qualification for your all-star ballot, then Vancouver's Johnny Cueto is your man. His no-no in June helped his otherwise to-this-point mediocre stats and fueled an Iron First resurgence after a slow start. He's now 7-5 and lowered his ERA to 3.81 and his WHIP to 1.21. Teammate Matt Latos deserves a look, with a lower ERA (3.05), WHIP (1.18) and better winning percentage, 7-4.

Rookie Tanner Roark is probably the least-heralded name in the Allentown rotation but he leads the squad with a 2.88 ERA (good for 10th in the league) and stands at 7-5. Lefty David Price is the veteran of the rotation, and despite just an 8-7 mark, he's among the league leaders in WHIP (1.01), strikeouts (126), innings (127.1) and complete games (5) to go with 2 shutouts. A couple of other Mules might warrant consideration. Hishahi Iwakuma is 7-3 with a 3.12 ERA and 1.18 WHIP while John Lackey is 8-6 with a 3.81 ERA and 1.20 WHIP. Roark and Lackey also have a conference-leading 12 quality starts.

Collin McHugh is the strongest candidate for Poovey Farms. He is second in the conference with a 1.04 WHIP and stands at 9-4 with a 3.07 ERA.

Hoboken is led by an unlikely candidate. Hiroki Kuroda, in his final season, is tops in the conference with 10 wins, to go with 11 quality starts, 3.12  ERA and 1.17 WHIP. Two other Cutters are on opposite sides of the ballot. Despite a 4.59 ERA, Kyle Lohse has been lucky enough to go 9-4 while Clayton Kershaw is just 6-7 despite leading the league virtually all year in strikeouts (150) and among the most innnings pitched (121.7). He's also third in K/BB (6.5) and though his 3.77 ERA isn't all-star like he sports a 1.17 WHIP and 3 complete games.

Corey Kluber is Sardine City's best hope for an all-star starter. Another candidate with a weak record (6-5), the righty is carrying the rotation, with a league-high 5 complete games, in addition to 2 shutouts. He's also among the conferences elite in strikeouts (123) and WHIP (1.14) and innings (118.2).

Blue Ridge dealt its best pitcher, Jon Lester, earlier in the year. He was 6-3 with a 2.72 ERA in 12 starts. Now the Bombers are left with Matt Garza as their best hope. Though he's 5-6, the veteran righty has a 3.64 ERA and among the conference's best in WHIP (1.12) and quality starts (11).

Arkansas ripped off a huge winning streak toward the midway point of the season, thanks mostly to its offense, but Matt Shoemaker and Alex Cobb have been among the beneficiaries. Shoemaker has improved to 8-4 with a 1.14 WHIP though his 4.05 ERA could be a turn-off. Cobb has the better ERA (3.28) but weaker WHIP (1.26) yet he's 7-5 in 10 quality starts. Rookie Marcus Stroman also is 7-5 with a 1.17 WHIP and 3.82 ERA.

It's like discovering plutonium...by accident!

The first three-way deal in league history was executed over the weekend when Las Vegas, D.C., and Philadelphia exchanged commodities. And yes, you read that right, Marietta was NOT involved!

Here's a breakdown of who got what. Las Vegas acquired uber-prospect David Price formerly of Philly, D.C. got pitcher Chris Young, and Philadelphia got 2 2nd round draft picks for this year.

Price, drafted in round 7 of the 2008 draft, made headlines by pitching well in that "other league's" playoffs, but will likely spend the 2009 season in the minors. Young, who started with D.C. back in 2006, returns home after 2 1/2 years in Vegas. Young was probably the only decent pitcher in the '07 Rat Pack rotation and had a solid, unspectacular season in '08.

Meanwhile, the Endzone Animals, who looked like they could almost skip the draft coming into the offseason, get some valuable picks early on in the draft.