Verlander becomes 3rd SP to 500 starts, matches Clemens in wins

Philly's Justin Verlander of blew past a number of milestones in recent weeks, starting his 500th career game and notching his 211th career win.

Kershaw becomes 8th to 200 wins

In his debut for Merrill Creek, Clayton Kershaw earned his first win as a Mud Skipper and the 200th for his career, becoming just the 8th pitcher to reach 200 wins.

Schwellenbach becomes 1st 20-game winner since 2022

Green Lake rookie Spencer Schwellenbach became the DMBL's first 20-game winner in three years after a 7-4 win over Blue Ridge on Friday night.

Verlander finally notches 200th win

It took the first half of the DMBL season but Justin Verlander finally gained entry into the vaunted 200-win club.

Verlander the 4th to 3,000 strikeouts

Justin Verlander became the 4th DMBL pitcher to reach 3,000 career strikeouts, 

Greinke tops Maddux for most starts all-time

Despite a subpar season, Zack Greinke continued to move up the all-time DMBL pitching charts in 2022, toppling Greg Maddux for most career starts all-time and stands on the cusp of 500 heading into next season.

Halladay -- it would be so fine!

Roy Halladay, the DMBL's active leader in most every pitching category, entered rare territory after a masterful 2-0 shutout of Arkansas on Thursday night. He limited the Golden Falcons to three hits while striking out five and walking just one.

The game featured a number of career milestones for the Philly ace. It was his 19th career shutout, breaking a tie with Curt Schilling for 4th all-time, and moving into a tie with Pedro Martinez for 3rd place. The only pitchers with more DMBL shutouts are Kevin Brown (24) and Greg Maddux (32). It also was the 65th complete game of his career, breaking a tie with Randy Johnson and moving into 5th place all-time.

Halladay passed Andy Pettitte into 9th place all-time in innings pitched, and is just a trio of outs from John Smoltz for 8th place. He now stands within 1,000 innings of Maddux, the all-time leader, with 3,415 1/3 innings pitched.

Halladay set career highs last season in wins (21), innings (250 1/3), complete games (12) and shutouts (4). He originally was selected by Philly in the 9th round of the 1999 draft, pitching for the Endzone Animals in 2000. He was the 11th overall pick of the 2002 draft by Carolina, where he spent the next eight seasons, before being shipped to Philly in a blockbuster trade in January 2010. Incredibly, Halladay has made no fewer than 30 starts in any of his 11 seasons, including 10 straight, every year since 2002.

Maddux finding the fountain of youth

Greg Maddux's good-bye tour continued yesterday as the legend pitched a 5-hit shutout against Arkansas. It was Maddux's 101st career complete game and 32nd shutout, as well as his 230th victory. The win brought Vancouver to within 1/2 a game of the Morris Division.

Carolina won the rubber match against Hillsborough, eking out a 7-6 victory against the current Morris Division leaders. Dustin Pedroia was 3-4 with 3 runs scored and Grady Sizemore had a 3-run triple in the first that gave the Cats the lead.

Erik Bedard outdueled Adam Wainwright in a 2-0 win for D.C. Both runs scored in the 2nd inning and neither team could come up with any more offense. Bedard pitched 6 innings and allowed only 2 hits, while Wainwright went all 8 innings for Blue Ridge, giving up the two runs on 4 hits. The win was Bedard's 10th of the season.

Hoboken crushed Las Vegas 10-3 as Mike Napoli and Miguel Cabrera each tallied 4 RBIs in the game. Jorge Campillo, making a start in the place of injured Rich Harden, was roughed up for 5 runs in 5 innings. Of course, the Rat bullpen, Taylor Buchholz in particular, did not help put out the fire. Buchholz was responsible for 4 of the remaining 5 runs (3 earned) in only one inning as he served up the 3-run homer to Napoli.

First half, pitching review

Though he didn’t start the all-star game, it’s tough not to call Tim Lincecum of Las Vegas the first half’s Ben McDonald Award winner, especially after closing out the first half with a near-perfect game. Lincecum is the league’s leader in ERA (2.96), wins (11), winning percentage (.917), quality starts (13) and strikeouts (136). In fact, Rat Pack pitchers ranked 1-2-3 in strikeouts at the break: Lincecum, Haren (125) and Burnett (118). But teammate Josh Beckett had a worthy first-half as well, earning the starting nod in the all-star game. Just 6-4 at the break, Beckett was right behind Lincecum in most every pitching category. Even if Lincecum slows down in the second half, it could be a Rat Packer going home with the McDonald this year.

But if this year’s winner doesn’t come from Las Vegas, a safe bet could be placed on the Carolina Mudcats, whose rotation boasts three pitchers in the top 10 in the league in ERA: Roy Halladay (3.31), Daisuke Matsuzaka (3.31) and Carlos Zambrano (3.50). Halladay ended the first half as the league’s leader in complete games (7) and innings pitched (127 2/3) while Matsuzaka had the lowest batting average against (.170). It’s no surprise that Carolina (3.66) and Las Vegas (3.87) finished the first half ranked 1-2 in team ERA.

Newark’s Chien Ming-Wang could make a case for the trophy, matching Lincecum for the league lead in wins (11-2), and right behind Halladay in innings pitched (125). Hoboken’s Jeremy Guthrie finished second to Dustin Pedroia in Pat Listach Award voting last year and also has followed it up with a solid sophomore, ranking 3^rd in ERA (3.28). His 7-6 record could look better if not for a shaky Cutters bullpen.

It’s unclear whether the Mighty Men get their name from their fearsome batting lineup or their impressive starters, three of whom have nine wins at the break: Mike Mussina (9-4), John Danks (9-2) and Ervin Santana (9-6). Or perhaps it’s the bullpen that makes Marietta so mighty, led by future Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera’s league-leading 18 saves and rookie Brad Ziegler’s league-high 11 holds at the break.

Cliff Lee of Arkanas hit the all-star break on the DL, but a strong second half might put the lefty hurler into the mix for the McDonald. Only 7-6 at the break, Lee still had an ERA of 3.70 with 101 strikeouts.

Youngster John Lester has been a workhorse, logging 118 innings in the first half with a 3.51 ERA but just a 6-5 record to make a forimidable lefty-right, 1-2 punch in Amityville. Teammate Roy Oswalt finished the first half strong after a slow start, going 9-4 with two shutouts.

Greg Maddux has experienced a resurgence in Vancouver, coming off the bench for the Iron First and starting 10 games in the first half, including three complete games. The all-time league leader in starts, wins, and innings pitched, Maddux may only be 3-3 at the break but he sports a 3.36 ERA with eight quality starts. It must be rubbing off, as Zach Greinke is 8-5 with four complete games and a 4.09 ERA.

Chipper passes Thomas, Gonzo

The Sugar Bears routed Blue Ridge 10-1 yesterday. In the game, Chipper Jones hit his 14th and 15th homers of the season, passing Frank Thomas and tying him with Juan Gonzalez for 8th all time with 385 in his career. Sunday, his teammate, Manny Ramirez passed Sammy Sosa and is 4th all-time with 447.

The Rat Pack evened their series with Carolina with an 8-2 drubbing of the Mudcats. Ichiro Suzuki was 3-4 and Rich Harden pitched 8 innings of 1-run ball, to improve to 9-6 on the season. Vegas is now 3 games behind Marietta for first place, while Carolina maintains a 1/2 game lead on second-place Hillsborough.

Sardine City picked up a 5-4 win in 13 innings over D.C. as Brandon Morrow pitched 4 hitless innings to earn the win. Miguel Montero and Alex Ramirez each had 3 hits for the Sardines.

The Endzone Animals rallied in the bottom of the 9th to take a 5-3 decision against Amityville. The Ant Slayers led 3-1 as late as the 8th inning, but the Animals were poised to come back. Alex Rios hit an RBI single in the 8th to narrow the lead to one-run, then Albert Pujols smacked a 3-run walkoff homer in the 9th to win the game. The win puts Philly one game over the .500 mark.

Finally, Greg Maddux continues his finale tour with a strong 8-inning effort in a 4-2 Vancouver win over Marietta yesterday. Maddux pitched 8 innings and held the Mighty Men to 1 run on 5 hits and 1 walk to improve to 4-3.

Vancouver implodes in spectacular fashion

Vancouver seemed to be cruising, entering the 8th inning with a 6-1 lead over Arkansas, but manager Darren Daulton thought starter Greg Maddux had one more inning in him... Things looked good at first - Maddux retired the first two batters, but then it all fell apart. The next two batters singled, then Lance Berkman drove them in with a double. David Wright singled next, then Rick Ankiel hit another to drive in Berkman. That was enough for Maddux, and closer Billy Wagner was brought in to preserve the 6-4 lead. Wagner gave up a single to his first batter that made it a one-run game, then served up a 3-run homer to J. J. Hardy, losing the lead. The Falcons scored 7 runs in the inning and won the game 8-6 as the demoralized Iron Fist were sent down in order in the 9th.

Carolina got revenge on Hillsborough and evened their series with a 5-4 victory. Magglio Ordonez and Xavier Nady each had 2 RBIs and Dustin Pedroia was 3-5. John Maine improved to 9-3 on the season with a solid 6.1 inning effort. The Cats are now 1/2 game out of first.

Marietta's 10-game winning streak came to an end, smashed to bits in a 12-5 Sardine City victory. The Straphangers scored 7 runs in the 4th inning, then 4 more in the 5th to seal the deal. Starter Jon Danks gave up 8 runs, though only one was earned. Orlando Hudson's error in the 4th opened the floodgates and allowed Sardine City to extend the inning. The Sardines only managed 11 hits and one walk, but were extremely efficient, leaving only 2 men stranded in the game.

D.C. won their 7th game 13-6 against Blue Ridge. Jose Reyes was 4-5 with 3 RBIs, and almost hit for the cycle, but decided to get an extra triple instead. Reyes leads the league with 14 triples. Brian McCann also was 3-5 with a homer and 5 RBIs and Matt Kemp was 2-5 with a homer and 4 RBIs.