McNeil hitting streak reaches 30 games

Erie's Jeff McNeil matched the 5th-longest hitting streak in league history, reaching 30 games, and took over the lead in the DMBL batting race in process.

Lester tosses 2014's record 3rd no-no

Jon Lester spun the third no-hitter of the season Monday night, shutting down the Livingston Lords of Swing, 4-0, at home in Rooster Coliseum. It's the first no-hitter in franchise history for the Blue Ridge Bombers.

Lester walked one and hit a batter while the Bombers committed one error. He was supported by two-run home runs in the third, by Ben Zobrist, and in the eighth, by Nelson Cruz.

The 30-year-old left-hander breezed through 3 1/3 innings before Prince Fielder's error allowed Carlos Gomez to reach base (he was promptly caught stealing second). Lester's only walk came in the 5th against Jedd Gyorko and he also plunked pinch hitter Alex Avila in the 6th before setting down the final 11 batters, all but three on ground balls. Lester threw 105 pitches, 69 of which went for strikes. He improved to 4-9 on the season and lowered his ERA to 5.19.

Shelby Miller went the distance for Livingston, scattering nine hits and four runs while striking out five against three walks.

It's the first time three no-hitters have occurred in one season (two no-hitters were thrown in 2002, 2011 and 2012). Earlier this season, Homer Bailey threw Bridgewater's first-ever no-hitter, beating Sardine City, and the following Sunday, Brick City's Scott Feldman no-hit Allentown. Bailey has since been traded to Vancouver for an 8th round pick next year.

The no-no came one night after Allentown's Cliff Lee twirled a one-hit, 98-pitch masterpiece against Marietta. The lone hit was a 3rd inning double by Ichiro Suzuki. Lee walked one and struck out 9 in dominating, 8-0.

2k hits for Pujols, 200 SBs for Ichiro

Albert Pujols became the 14th player in DMBL history with 2,000 career hits. Philly's main man reached the milestone during the week leading up to the all-star break. While he homered off Roy Oswalt later in the game, it was a first-inning single that turned out to be 2k for Pujols. The Endzone Animals eventually topped Las Vegas for an 11-8 win, thanks to 10 runs in the last two frames, capped by a walk-off David Wright grand slam.

The first overall pick of the 2002 draft is on track to pass Mike Piazza (2,025) and Jeff Bagwell (2,047) and if he can pick up his current pace slightly (now 88 hits in 88 games), Pujols could surpass current free agent Bobby Abreu (2,089) for 11th all-time by season's end. Catching Ken Griffey, Jr. -- 10th with 2,176 hits -- would have to wait until the 2013 campaign. The Dominican native is still a few seasons away from challenging all-time hits leader Derek Jeter, who took that crown earlier this year.

(Trivia question: Who was selected second overall in the 2002 draft, after Pujols? Answer at the end of this post.)

Pujols had a career-low 161 hits in 2011, a year after his career-high 208 (when he won his second straight Mitchell Award), and has averaged 192 hits per season. He has been remarkably steady, logging at least 600 at-bats in each of his 10 seasons and playing an average of 160 games per year.

Two other players could reach the 2,000-hit mark this year: Vancouver's Todd Helton started the second half of the season needing just 13 more hits while Pujols' teammate, Ichiro Suzuki, was 29 hits away.

Ichiro reached his own career milestone this week. The Japanese import stole his 200th career base on Monday night, in the first game after the all-star break. The theft broke a tie with Chuck Knoblauch for 8th all-time. Ichiro started the year tied with Otis Nixon and Alex Rodriguez, each with 197 stolen bases.

(Trivia answer: The now-defunct Honolulu Sharks selected Oswalt -- way!)

Hillsborough, Arkansas duke it out

Hillsborough dealt Falcon starter Jonathan Sanchez 12 earned runs in his 6.1 innings of work, but it wasn't enough to seal the deal. The Hitmen and Falcons had to go to extra innings where Dexter Fowler hit a bases-loaded triple to give the Hitmen a 3-run lead. The Falcons went down in order in the bottom of the 11th to end the game. Casey McGehee and Justin Upton each had 4 RBIs for the Hitmen and Kelly Shoppach had 4 hits. Lance Berkman was 3-6 with 2 homers and 4 RBIs for the Falcons.

Vancouver's lead in the Morris Division fell to just a 1/2 game as Blue Ridge defeated Philadelphia 8-5 and Vancouver dropped a 6-2 decision to Carolina. Johnny Cueto pitched perhaps the best game of his young career, holding the Fist to 2 runs on 5 hits in 7 innings, while striking out 9. Meanwhile, Blue Ridge's bullpen and offense bailed out Gavin Floyd from a lousy start. The Bombers walked 7 batters in total, but escaped with the victory anyway.

How about that Ichiro? The redhot outfielder was 3-4 in Marietta's 10-6 win over Hoboken. Since returning from the injury last week, Ichiro is hitting .458 (22-48) with 14 runs and 16 RBIs.

Slowey, Lester duel to 1-0 finish

Don't forget to get those votes in for the All-Star game! Less than two weeks away!

New Jersey and Amityville battled it out in a 1-0 pitchers duel. Seth Smith broke the tie in the 6th with a solo home run. Kevin Slowey went 8.1 innings for Team Buddah, holding the Ant Slayers to only 4 hits and striking out 5. John Lester was the hard luck loser for Amityville, pitching 7.1 innings and striking out 8.

Ichiro Suzuki kept up his hot hitting, going 4-6 with 3 RBIs and leading Marietta to a 15-9 victory over Hoboken. The "other Suzuki", Kurt, also contributed a 3-6, 3 RBI game including a home run. The Mighty Men scored in every inning except the 9th, when they just sent up random fans from the bleachers to bat in their place.

Hillsborough thoroughly dominated Arkansas in a 13-2 win yesterday. Not only did the Hitmen score 13 runs on 18 hits and saddle Falcons starter Ricky Nolasco with 10 earned runs, but they also held the Falcons to only 5 hits. Ryan Howard fell one double short of hitting for the cycle.

4-hitters all around

The Endzone Animals came back from a 6-1 deficit to beat the Falcons 7-6 yesterday. After only 2 innings, the Falcons had the aforementioned 6-1 lead, but the Animals clawed back, scoring 3 runs in the 6th to bring them to within one run. In the 8th Torii Hunter hit a two-run homer (his third of the day) to give the Animals the lead. Trevor Hoffman nailed down the 9th for his 10th save.

Randy Wells continued his fine season with a complete game, 7-1 victory over the Rat Pack yesterday, in which he held the Rats to only 4 hits. Wells improved to 7-2 on the season. Garrett Jones and Chase Utley each had 3 RBIs for Vancouver.

Not to be outdone, Marietta's Joel Pineiro pitched a 4-hitter as well in the Mighty Men's 12-1 pounding of Amityville. Marietta totaled 17 hits in the contest, including 4 from red hot Ichiro Suzuki. Ichiro is 9-14 with 10 RBIs since returning to the lineup from injury. Marietta has scored 45 runs during their current 5-game winning streak.

And to top the previous 4-hitters, Newark's Javier Vazquez pitched a 4-hit shutout of Sardine City. Vazquez struck out 10 in his victory and seems to have gotten his season back on track after a series of rough outings.

Streaks and swoons

The Mighty Men have reasserted themselves as the top dog in the DMBL with a 4-game winning streak. Yesterday, the Mighty Men shellacked the Ant Slayers 11-5 behind Ichiro Suzuki's 3-5, 7-RBI night. Ichiro hit a double and a home run - his 5th, to lead the Mighty Men offense. The win puts the Mighty Men up by 5 games over Newark in the Hanover Division race.

Bridgewater won their second straight game over Carolina in extra innings, this time winning 5-4 in 12 innings. Ryan Zimmerman roped a single in the 12th to drive in the winning run. Zimmerman ended the night 4-6. Bridgewater won the previous game 10-9 in 10 innings.

Blue Ridge has come down to earth, dropping their last 3, including yesterday's 10-3 drubbing at the hands of Hillsborough. Shin Soo Choo hit 2 homers in the game and his third in the series so far. Hillsborough is now only 1/2 game behind Bridgewater and 2 games behind Blue Ridge in the Morris Division.

Las Vegas, who pulled off a big trade for slugger Mark Teixeira, has yet to see the benefits of the swap. They lost their 4th straight, a 3-2 nailbiter against Vancouver. However, fans in Vegas are hopeful that Tex just needs an adjustment period to the hot desert climate, like fellow acquiree, Alex Rodriguez. As you may recall, A-Rod started his Vegas season struggling mightily, but now is one of the lineups most potent threats.

Buddah streak ends at 6

New Jersey's winning streak finally came to an end at 6 games. Hillsborough defeated Team Buddah 7-3 behind the pitching of Dan Haren, who improved to 8-2 with an 8-inning effort in which he struck out 8 and gave up 2 runs. Justin Upton hit a 3-run homer in the 7th to give the Hitmen the offense they needed to end Buddah's run.

Meanwhile, Vancouver keeps winning and Hoboken keeps losing. The Cutters dropped their 7th straight, a 9-4 decision to the Fist. Ryan Ludwick was 4-5 with 2 homers and 6 RBIs to lead Vancouver to their 10th win in their last 12 games.

Ricky Nolasco and Hiroki Kuroda dueled in a 0-0 game for 6 innings, but Nolasco was pulled after hitting the 100-pitch mark. Unfortunately for the Falcons, Jeremy Affeldt allowed 2 runs to score on a Jacoby Ellsbury single and Jorge Cantu sac fly respectively. The Falcons couldn't get any runs across and the Ant Slayers won the game 2-0.

Jason Bartlett (4-4) and Andrew McCutchen (3-6, 4 RBI) led the Bombers to an 11-2 thrashing of Sardine City. McCutchen was a double away from hitting for the cycle. Rookie hurler J.A. Happ improved to 7-2 with a solid 7-inning effort. Blue Ridge currently sits in second place in the Morris Division, 3 1/2 games out of first.

Ichiro Suzuki was 5-6 with 4 RBIs as the Mighty Men unleased their firepower against the Mudcats to the tune of a 15-7 victory. Chone Figgins was 3-5 with 2 triples and Kurt Suzuki was 3-4 with 2 RBIs as Marietta avoids the sweep.

Mighty Michael Young

The Mudcats ended Newark's 11 game winning streak yesterday behind the power of Rocco Baldelli. Baldelli hit two homers and drove in four to help the Cats stop the Sugar Bears 7-4. Starter Carlos Zambrano was shaky despite the 6-2 lead handed him. Zambrano walked nine in 4.2 innings, though he only allowed two hits. The bullpen, which had been so awful just one night earlier, proceeded to shut down the Sugar Bears. Almost all of the culprits from Tuesday's debacle contributed to the victory - David Weathers got the W and Scott Linebrink got the save, while Fuentes had to settle for a hold.

Vancouver's Michael Young decided to put his team on his back and carry them to victory singlehandedly. Young was 2-4 with 2 homers and drove in all 6 runs for the Fist, including a grand slam in the bottom of the eighth to give the team the lead. "I'm sick and tired of these chumps not hitting" said Young after the game. Vancouver only managed five hits in the game. Starter Greg Maddux, who pitched seven solid innings but got a no-decision, now stands at 2991 innings in his career.

Things got wild in Hoboken yesterday as the Cutters eked out a 12-11 victory over New Jersey. The Cutters got off to a quick 8-0 lead after three, but the Buddahs were not done. Team Buddah scratched and clawed to bring the lead down to 8-7, but the Cutters scored three more in the bottom of the seventh to open up an 11-7 lead. The Buddahs then rallied in the top of the eighth to tie the game at 11. After holding the Buddahs in the top of the ninth, the Cutters looked to be in position to win the game after two straight singles to lead off the ninth. But Mike Cameron hit into a double play, clouding the chances for the Cutters. Omar Vizquel came through, however, and singled in the winning run. Ichiro had his second straight 4-hit game and Mike Piazza also had four hits and moved into ninth place all-time with his 1942nd career hit.

Spring Opener Notes

Wednesday was a big day for the DMBL's newest franchises. Although they both dropped their opener, the two teams rebounded with a win in their second games.

Team Buddah was spanked by Hoboken in their first game, but shut down Marietta in game 2. Rookie pitcher Tom Gorzelanny pitched eight strong innings, surrendering two unearned runs and 5 hits. Ichiro Suzuki (2-4, 3RBI) and Preston Wilson (2-3, 2 RBI) were the hitting stars in game 2.

Meanwhile the Sardine City Straphangers were pounded by Honolulu 11-2 in their first game, but rebounded nicely in a 5-3 victory over Vancouver. Veteran Tom Glavine, a former Ironfister, pitched eight innings, while two more former Vancouver players, Andruw Jones and Ken Griffey each collected two hits.

All eyes were on Honolulu pitcher Jered Weaver in Sharks camp. The first overall pick gave up five runs in eight innings, but otherwise pitched well. "We're pretty happy with him" said Sharks pitching coach Randy Myers. "He had some jitters that he needed to work out. We expect more from him next time out."

Hillsborough's C.C. Sabathia and Carolina's Roy Halladay each pitched complete game shutouts on opening day. "I think Roy's ready" said Carolina manager Lenny Dykstra.

Arkansas first baseman Justin Morneau collected six RBIs in his game against Philly and now has nine in two games. "I'm looking forward to collecting some steaks this year" said Morneau in reference to Zane Smith's hitter of the week award sponsor.