Harang, Lester duel in 1-0 battle

Philly battled the Mighty Men to a 1-0 victory. Newly-acquired Aaron Harang turned in a gem (8.2 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 K) to win his first as a member of the Endzone Animals. Jon Lester ended up on the hardluck end of the decision despite pitching 7 innings of 1-run ball. Chris Young was the difference in the game with a solo home run in the 4th inning.

Arkansas put an end to Tampa Bay's 6-game winning streak with a 17-7 blowout. The Falcons busted out with 11 runs in the 7th inning. The Plunkers fell back to a full game behind Hillsborough. Arkansas, at 6 1/2 games, is still alive for the final playoff spot, though they are a longshot.

Vancouver held off the Sugar Bears and escaped with a 5-4 win over the Hanover Division leaders. The game was tied 1-1 until the Fist rallied for three runs in the 7th, but the Sugar Bears quickly tied up the game in the 8th when Bobby Abreu hit a 3-run homer. Newark got into trouble in the bottom of the inning and Vancouver took the lead on a fielder's choice. Billy Wagner, struggling for much of the season, got out of trouble in the ninth and recorded his 9th save.

The Rat Pack was upset by Blue Ridge in an unlikely 13-7 defeat. The Bombers scored 6 runs in the 8th inning to snatch victory away from the Rats. Jose Vidro was 4-5 with 3 RBIs, Jeremy Hermida was 3-3, and Hunter Pence was 3-4 to lead the Bomber offense.

Vegas take another close one

Vegas moved to 9-0 in one-run games with a 2-1 victory over the Sugar Bears yesterday. Rat Pack starter Erik Bedard held the Sugar Bears to just 3 hits and one unearned run over 6 innings, while striking out 8. Carlos Marmol nailed down his 10th save of the season with a scoreless 1.2 innings. Chien-Ming Wang, who had previously received incredible amounts of run support, took his first loss despite pitching seven solid innings. Replacement second baseman Mark Grudzielanek was 1-3 with an RBI.

Tampa Bay came back from a 6-2 deficit to squeak by the Hoboken Cutters 7-6. James Loney tied the game with an RBI single in the eighth and then the Plunkers took the lead for good when Pat Burrell walked with the bases loaded. Kevin Gregg pitched three scoreless innings for the win. The Plunkers have now won 8 of their last 11.

The Sardines rallied for two runs in the ninth inning to take a 7-5 victory over the Mighty Men, tying them for last place once again. Ken Griffey hit a 2-run pinch homer off Randy Wolf to give the Straphangers the lead.

Vancouver's Zack Greinke and Blue Ridge's Aaron Harang battled to a 1-0 Vancouver win. Greinke pitched 6.1 innings of 4-hit ball while striking out 8 Bombers. Harang pitched eight innings, giving up one run on 6 hits and 9 strikeouts. Todd Helton's solo homer in the sixth was all the offense the two teams could muster.

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.

Tanking Tankersley

The Sugar Bears swept the Rat Pack with a 16-2 pounding yesterday. The Sugar Bears outscored the Rats 35-8 in the three game series. This time it Taylor Tankersley getting his final season numbers ruined. Tank gave up 9 runs on two hits and 7 walks in only 1/3 or an inning. Mark Teahen, the only out recorded by Tankersley - a strikeout victim no less, should feel like the biggest loser. "I guess I should have taken a pitch or two" said Teahen after the game with tears in his eyes. "Even little girls and grandmas were making fun of me." Tankersley also threw a wild pitch and hit a batter in the inning. It was the Sugar Bears sixth straight win and the Rat Pack's seventh straight loss.

Jason Schmidt was on top of his game yesterday as he mowed down the Hoboken Cutters to the tune of 12 strikeouts in 7 innings. The Sharks won the game 9-2 and are sitting alone in third place overall, 1/2 a game up on Vancouver. Schmidt becomes the first pitcher to reach eight victories this season.

Schmidt wasn't the only pitcher mowing down batters yesterday. South Boston's Aaron Harang also K'ed 12 Vancouver players en route to a 9-1 victory.

Oswalt back on track

There was a bit of a pitchers' duel in Vegas yesterday. South Boston's Aaron Harang and Las Vegas' Chris Young battled it out. Young gave way to the bullpen in the sixth, but Harang took a 1-0 shutout into the eighth before surrendering two runs in the bottom half of the inning. There were only 11 hits between the two teams in the game.

Honolulu's Roy Oswalt finally straightened out his season. After getting clobbered in his first two starts, Oswalt turned in a complete game two-hit performance against Arkansas, surrendering only one run. Oswalt struck out 6.

Hoboken's Scott Kazmir probably had the best game yesterday, holding D.C. to one run on four hits in eight innings, while striking out nine and walking only one.

The injuries are starting to pile up. Hoboken and Philadelphia both placed team members on the DL. Hoboken lost outfielder Geoff Jenkins for two weeks and signed Damian Miller. The Cutters plan to replace Jenkins with Pat Burrell. Scrappy Philly shortstop David Eckstein may be lost for a month. Philly signed infielder Marco Scutaro who was released before the season by Team Buddah and last played a regular season game for Carolina back in 2005.