Vancouver clinches, Carolina one step away

Vancouver made it official with a 13-8 victory over Sardine City, becoming the final team to clinch a playoff spot. David Ortiz was 3-4 with 5 RBIs and Chase Utley was 2-3 with 4 runs in the contest. Vancouver jumped out early against starter Ubaldo Jimenez, chasing the righthander out of the game with one out in the 2nd after giving up 8 runs. The defending champions will take on Marietta in the first round no matter how everything else shakes out.

Meanwhile, Carolina clinched at least a tie for the division lead with a 9-7 victory over Newark. Dustin Pedroia was 3-4 with 4 RBIs and Xavier Nady was also 3-4 as the Mudcats dealt a big blow to Chien-Ming Wang's Ben McDonald Award hopes. Wang had pitched himself into the driver's seat before this game. Nevertheless, Wang still leads the league in wins (21) and is 3rd in ERA (3.32), so he still has a good shot at the prize. With another Carolina win or a Hillsborough loss, the Mudcats will clinch their first ever Morris Division title.

It'll be tough for the Hitmen to win both of their remaining games, considering they'll be taking on Las Vegas. If the Hitmen don't miraculously win the division, they'll be playing Vegas in the first round. Yesterday, the Hitmen lost 5-1 to Tim Lincecum and the Rats to put them 2 games out of first place. Lincecum, Wang's toughest competition for the McDonald, improved to 19-3 with 6.2 innings of 2-hit, shutout ball. Lincecum struck out 9, giving him a total of 246, top in the league. Lincecum is also second in ERA with 3.15, behind only Carolina's Roy Halladay (2.72).

Amityville horrifies Mighty Men

Amityville stifled Marietta once again, this time a 3-hitter by Armando Galarraga. Galarraga, who had been 3-17 entering the game, blanked the Mighty Men, striking out 6 and walking only one. Yesterday, the Mighty Men were three-hit by Dallas Braden. This, of course, coming on the heels of a 3 game set where they scored 7 runs in each game... Marietta will try to reverse their fortune against Blue Ridge today.

Carolina's 5-run outburst in the 6th inning yesterday led the team to a 5-3 win over D.C. The rally was capped by a 3-run Bengie Molina home run off starter Chris Young. Meanwhile, Hillsborough was shellacked by Blue Ridge 11-6 - and it would have been worse if not for a meaningless 5 runs in the 9th inning. Chris Ianetta was 2-5 with 2 homers and 5 RBIs for Blue Ridge. Vancouver meanwhile knocked off Las Vegas in a 12-inning marathon. Victor Martinez's bases loaded single scored the winning run in the 12th to give the Fist a 5-4 victory and 3-game sweep of the Rats. After the dust settles, that leaves the Hitmen with a shrinking 4 1/2 game lead on Carolina, with Vancouver 6 games off the mark.

Philadelphia's hopes for a playoff run took a hit yesterday after a 6-2 loss to the arch rival Falcons. Arkansas exploded for 6 runs in the 6th in which David Wright hit a 3-run home run. Rookie Jair Jurrjens improved to 11-6 in the victory. The Falcons are now only 1/2 a game behind the Animals as the top challenger to the wildcards.

The Maine Man in Carolina

Marietta won a 6-4 decision against Team Buddah and now holds a full one-game lead in the Hanover Division. Ryan Dempster held the Buddahs to 4 hits over 8 innings to collect his 4th win and Mariano Rivera clinched the 9th for his 11th save. Mike Jacobs was 2-4 with 4 RBIs in defeat.

John Maine has now pitched 5 quality starts in a row and has won his last 4 decision to improve to 4-2 on the season with a respectable 4.33 ERA (consider it was 12.27 before his streak). Yesterday Maine pitched 8 innings, allowing only one earned run on 6 hits and 2 walks, striking out 7. Dustin Pedroia was 3-3 in the contest for the Mudcats.

Omar Infante was 2-4 with 4 RBIs in Vancouver's 6-2 victory over D.C. Zack Greinke went the distance, allowing only 2 runs on 5 hits.

Things are tightening up in the Morris Division. First-place Hillsborough was off yesterday, but Carolina's win put them just 1/2 game out of first. Vancouver moved to 2 1/2 games out with their victory and idle Philadelphia remained 4 games out in 4th place.

Sugar Bears will defend their title...again

The Sugar Bears advanced to the championship round for the 8th straight season, getting a chance to extend their championship streak to five. The Sugar Bears disposed of the Endzone Animals in 5 games, ending it with a 7-4 victory at the Cereal Bowl. The Animals sent out Matt Cain, who was victorious in game 2, but it wasn't meant to be. The Sugar Bears took the lead first, scoring once in the 4th and then 2 more on Nick Swisher's homer in the 5th. But Jorge Posada hit a two-run homer and Adam Dunn followed up with a solo shot in the 6th to tie it up. The Animals took a 4-3 lead on a Jimmy Rollins single, but it was short-lived. With two outs in the 7th, Matt Stairs hit a grand slam, giving the Sugar Bears a 7-4 lead. The Sugar Bears got into some trouble the next inning, walking the leadoff hitter and then hitting another, but Mark Teixeira bounced into a double play to end the inning. Manny Delcarmen sent the Animals down in order in the 9th to earn his 3rd save of the series and closing the door on the Animals' 2008 season.

Tonight Vancouver and Las Vegas try to gain control of their series, tied at 2-2. It'll be a rematch of game one as Vancouver sends Jake Peavy and Vegas counters with Erik Bedard. The Rats hope that the result will be different as Vancouver took game one 4-3. Interestingly enough, 3 of the first 4 games have been decided by one run - a situation that the Rats excelled in for the most part of the 2008 season.

Hitmen get even

Hillsborough evened up their record with an 8-4 victory over the Cutters. Justin Verlander won his 10th on the season and Ryan Howard drove in 4 runs. The Hitmen have now won 4 in a row after breaking their 6-game losing streak and sit comfortably in the final playoff spot.

Meanwhile, Vancouver won their 8th straight, crushing Marietta 10-5. Victor Martinez and David Ortiz had 3 RBIs each. Ortiz has now homered in four straight games, including two games in which Ortiz hit two homers - a total of 6 home runs in 4 games. Ortiz now leads the DMBL with 37 home runs.

Team Buddah scored four runs in the eighth to defeat the Falcons 8-4. David DeJesus hit a triple and drove in 3 runs, and Josh Fields homered and also drove in 3 to lead the Buddah offense.

Newark shellacked Blue Ridge behind Jack Cust (2-3, 3 R, 4 RBI, HR) and Matt Stairs (2-4, 4 RBI). John Smoltz pitched a solid game after being recalled from his exile in AAA. Smoltz surrendered one run in 7 innings and struck out 6.

Ping Ponged Pineiro

Crazy game down in Vegas yesterday as the Plunkers pulled out to an 8-1 lead after two innings. But Vegas pounded out 8 runs in the 6th to take a one-run lead. In the top of the ninth, the Plunkers tied it up, but Placido Polanco hit a single with the bases loaded to give the Rats the 10-9 win. The win was the Rat Pack's 7th straight, keeping them in a first-place tie with Newark.

Felix Hernandez is now 2-0 since returning from the DL last week. King Felix pitched 7 strong innings against Arkansas en route to a 7-2 win. Hillsborough picked up yet another game over 7th place Tampa Bay and moved to one game back of 5th place D.C. Meanwhile Arkansas lost their 5th straight and is only 1/2 game out of 12th place.

D.C. is losing ground rapidly with another loss to Vancouver. Michael Young went 4-4 and Andre Ethier hit a key 2-run home run to propel the Fist to a 6-3 win. Vancouver widened their division lead to 4 1/2 games.

Hoboken meanwhile kept playing yo-yo with pitcher Joel Pineiro, releasing him after his latest start. At one point Pineiro got so fed up with owner Mark Hrywna that he began to choke him after a heated conversation. "He got all up in my face and pushed my buttons" said Pineiro. With Aaron Cook still expected to miss at least one more start, the Cutters may yet ask Pineiro to come back one more time. "Yeah, he choked me" said Hrywna, "but we'll still probably take him back."