Garza blanks Carolina for first loss

Well the streak is over and the Mudcats have lost their first game. Matt Garza pitched a masterful 6-hit shutout for Hoboken to end the streak. The Cutters jumped all over Matt Pelfrey in the first inning, scoring 4 runs, including a 3-run homer by Mike Napoli. But Pelfrey eventually settled in and held them scoreless for the next 5+ innings. Of course the Mudcats couldn't do a thing against Garza.

There was a wild game in Vancouver, where Team Buddah earned a victory in extra innings 14-11. The Buddahs jumped out to a huge 8-1 lead after 5 innings, but Vancouver climbed back and eventually took a 10-8 lead. With a 2-run lead in the ninth, Billy Wagner served up a 2-run homer to Ian Stewart to tie the game up. Team Buddah took an 11-10 lead in the top of the 12th on a sac fly, but Vancouver tied it right back up on an Omar Infante single. Then in the next inning, Vancouver got into trouble quickly and Alfonso Soriano made them pay for it with a 3-run blast. After a leadoff single, the rest of Vancouver's lineup went down without a fight in the bottom of the inning.

Sardine City and Philadelphia also had a bit of a battle, though this one ended in 9 innings. The Sardines got on the board quickly here too, building an 8-0 lead over 6 innings. But then Philly woke up and scored five runs in the bottom of the 7th to make it 9-6. In the bottom of the ninth, Philly loaded the bases on three straight singles. Taylor Buchholz then hit Mark Teixeira, scoring John Baker. Jimmy Rollins grounded out in the next at bat, but another run scored and suddenly the 8-0 lead was 9-8. Buchholz struck out Alex Rios for the second out. With runners at 2nd and 3rd, Magglio Ordonez stepped up to the plate. Buchholz got in trouble, throwing two balls to start to Ordonez, but Ordonez swung at a bad 2-0 pitch and popped out to center field, ending the game.

Division leads shrink as top cats fall

Hoboken stunned the Rat Pack yesterday 5-1 behind Matt Garza's 7 inning effort. Aaron Rowand was 3-5 and Hunter Pence had 2 RBIs to help the Cutters pull off the upset. The Rat Pack saw their lead drop to 1/2 a game as the Sugar Bears bested Tampa Bay 7-1. Jack Cust had a homer and 3 RBIs and James Shields pitched 8 innings for the W. The loss knocks the Plunkers back down to .500.

Meanwhile, Vancouver's lead in the Morris Division shrank to 1 1/2 games as the Fist dropped a 5-3 decision to the Sardine City Straphangers. Fausto Carmona pitched a complete game and improved to 5-3 on the season. Kurt Suzuki hit two homers in the win. The Sardines have now won 9 of their last 12. The slumping Endzone Animals were able to capitalize on the loss by taking a 6-3 win over the Falcons. Yovani Gallardo won his 8th of the season by holding the Falcons to 3 hits and 3 runs over 6 innings. Albert Pujols was 3-4 with 3 RBIs in the contest.