April Players of the Month

The first month of the DMBL season has passed and there are a few surprises and some disappointments. At the top of the surprise chart has to be Poovey Farms, currently sporting the best record in the league at 18-8. The former Brick City Batmen are off to a blazing start, leading the Van Slyke Division by 5 1/2 games and currently riding a 6-game winning streak. Last year's champion San Francisco Experience sputtered a bit out of the gate, but have taken control of the Drabek Division. Meanwhile, in the Kruk Division, Tucson holds a 1-game edge over Marietta. It looks like this one will be a dogfight this season. Finally, Allentown holds a tenuous lead over Arkansas in the Fisk Division. The Golden Falcons led the division much of the month, but have now dropped five straight and have a mediocre 13-13 record.

Livingston leads the list of disappointing teams so far, sitting in last place in one of the tougher divisions. Livingston was among the league's elite last year, but it struggling this year. Last year's World Series runner up, Hoboken, is the other disappointer. Despite sitting in second place, the Cutters are one game under .500 and sit 5 1/2 games behind Poovey Farms. Vancouver seemed like they were going to be a contender this year, but have lost a string of heartbreakers that keeps them in 3rd place in the Fisk Division. The Iron Fist are 0-8 this year in 1-run games, so maybe their luck can still turn around.

April's JR Cigar Smokin' Batter of the Month is Delmon Young of El Paso. Drafted almost as an afterthought in the 10th round of the 2015 Draft, Young leads the league in batting average (.443), on base percentage (.450), hits (43), and runs created (28). Debuting in 2008 with Carolina, Young has only been a full time starter twice in his career, and one of those seasons he was traded midseason. Other notable batters this month: Allentown's Jose Abreu (.368/.395/.697, 6 HR, 21 RBI) and Mike Trout (.310/.395/.670, 9 HR, 20 RBI), Arkansas's Steven Pearce (.326/.387/.695, 9 HR, 20 RBI), Vancouver's Anthony Rendon (.347/.383/.622, 7 HR, 25 RBI), Poovey Farms' Yasel Puig (.333/.402/.635, 6 HR), and Livingston's Paul Goldschmidt (.333/.383/.562, 5 HR).

April's Omaha Steaks Pitcher of the Month is Mike Fiers of Hopatcong. You've probably read about his recent flirtation with the DMBL's first perfect game, but Fiers has been an ace all month for the Floating Fish. Despite a mediocre 3-3 record, Fiers has a 2.86 ERA and allowed 8.0 runners per 9 innings. He also has 2 shutouts this month. Fiers was the third overall pick in this year's draft. Other considerations: Fiers' teammate, Kyle Hendricks (4-1, 1.54, 8.6 R/9), San Francisco's Henderson Alvarez (6-0, 2.39), Tucson's Greg Holland (3-0, 8 saves, 0.00 ERA, 4.7 R/9), Hillsborough's Garret Richards (3-1, 2.00, 8.0), Livingston's Chris Archer (4-2, 2.63), Marietta's Michael Pineda (2.89, 8.0, 2 CGs), and Arkansas' Matt Shoemaker (3-1, 2.48, 8.9).

April Showers bring... injuries, it seems. The month brought long term injuries to several teams. San Francisco's Chris Sale was lost for a month when he decided to start watching the new Daredevil series on Netflix. Reportedly, he was so into it, that he tried to recreate the character's origin story and got hit by a truck carrying radioactive waste. It didn't turn out too well for him. Sale's teammate Hanley Ramirez was also a casualty of Sale's binge-watching. After leaving out too many crumbs from snacks and refusing to clean, a mouse infestation overcame the San Francisco locker room. Ramirez was singled out by the rodents and bitten repeatedly. He also did not gain any notable super powers. Other injuries of note: Tucson's Troy Tulowitzki (37 days), Arkansas' Justin Morneau (27) and Anthony Rizzo (21), Hillsborough's Zach Putnam (24) and Edwin Encarnacion (33), and Marietta's Justin Turner (30). Blue Ridge rookie hurler Yordano Ventura broke his funny bone, an injury that has baffled the team's doctors.

The Down Low on the D.L.

Carlos Quentin out for 20 games! Reed Johnson lost for 17! Matt Garza down for 15!

What's going on this year? Are there more injuries than last year, or does it just seem that way?

The short answer: Yes! There definitely are more injuries so far this season than there were at this point last season.

Through the first 73 games of last season, there were 516 games lost to injury. Through the first 73 games of this season, there have been... 826! Wow! That's a 60 percent increase!

Looking at it another way, there have been 80 injuries of 1 day or more so far this season. Through this point last year, there were only 52. Measured that way, injuries are up 54 percent this year.

One difference you can see is that this year really started out with a bang, with Livingston's Jake Arrieta and Hillsborough's Brandon Boesch going out for a combined 32 days on the second day of the season. In 2011, on the other hand, it took a combination of injuries to 12 players -- and three weeks into the season -- to reach 32 injury days.

While there have been many more injuries this year, the injuries aren't longer. Last year, there were two players out for 40 or more days by this time; this year, there's only one. That dubious honor goes to St. Louis's Nick Hundley, who went down on May 15 for 41 days after getting hit by a pitch by Hillsborough's John Axford. It's no surprise Axford threw at Hundley -- he'd gone 3-for-3 with two home runs and a triple!

The second-longest injury this year goes to Newark's Brandon McCarthy, who exited on May 18 after completing the 8th inning of a game against Arkansas. Remarkably, McCarthy had needed just 67 pitches to get through 8 innings, but went on the shelf for 30 days after getting that final out in the 8th.

Third-longest goes to Arkansas's Pablo Sandoval (29 days), followed by Hillsborough's Aroldis Chapman and Ernesto Frieri tied at 28 days.

In all, 11 players have injuries of at least 20 days or more so far this season, compared to just seven at this time last year.

So which team has been the unluckiest this season? By far, that's the Newark Sugar Bears. The Crunch With Punch have lost a combined 111 days due to injuries, led by the above-mentioned McCarthy. The Sugar Bears have had nine players injured for at least one game -- including Jim Thome, who missed 11 games in April and 9 in June! The Sugar Bears are followed by the St. Louis Farrakhans (82 days) and Hopatcong Floating Fish (78).

This year's luckiest team have been the Blue Ridge Bombers, who remarkably haven't lost a single day due to injury so far this season! The next luckiest team is Rowdy Roddy Pippers, with just 6 days lost so far this season, then Hillsborough Hired Hitmen at 19.

What's behind all these injuries, and why are there so many more than last year? Here's a few theories.

• Luck: Luck plays a huge role in Diamond Mind Baseball. We could play the season 100 times and have 100 different outcomes. While the DMB engine is said to be the most realistic baseball simulation available, there's still a random element involved. (Otherwise, every season would play out exactly the same, and who would want that?) Injuries are a big factor in that randomness. Imagine if we were playing old-fashioned Strat-O-Matic with dice, and every time you rolled snake eyes there was a chance that a player got hurt on the play. Well, the Sugar Bears have had a lot of unlucky rolls, and the Bombers haven't. We'll see if that evens out over the second half of the season.
• Injury Rating: But it's not all luck. Each player has an Injury Rating, from Iron (the best) to Very prone (the worst). Iron players don't get hurt as often, and when they do, it's not for as long. The most injured team, Newark, has seven Prone and three Very prone players; conversely, the least injured team, Blue Ridge, has just five Prone and no Very prone players.
• Real-life: This isn't just a bad year for DMB. The 2011 MLB season saw 503 trips to the Disabled List; 2010 saw just 446. More players got hurt in real life last year, so it would stand to reason that we would see more injuries in our replay.

So, what can you do to keep your players healthy? Obviously, if I knew, my team wouldn't be leading the league in injuries! But the obvious answer would be to avoid players with Prone or Very prone injury ratings. If you've already got a roster full of them, you can try resting them occasionally, or giving them a "half day off" by starting them at DH.

But sometimes a player can be hurt even if he's not playing, as happened to Newark pitcher Scott Downs on April 10 -- he didn't even pitch in the game, but he got hurt in a bench-clearing brawl!

Hurting at the Hot Corner

If you're a third baseman, watch out! It's been a tough week so far for players at the hot corner.

First, on Sunday, Amityville's Aramis Ramirez was placed on the 15-day Disabled List after accidentally ingesting three gallons of vanilla ice cream -- even though he's severely lactose intolerant. "I thought it was mayonnaise," Ramirez said. Why he thought it was OK to eat three gallons of mayonnaise remains to be determined. The Ant Slayers replaced him with Jack Hannahan.

The next day, Philadelphia's David Wright also went on the 15-day D.L. after suffering from a severe case of turf toe while playing Madden NFL. The Endzone Animals signed Chris Johnson.

Just two days later, Newark captain Chipper Jones tweaked something or other. I mean, it's Chipper Jones. The dude has hurt every part of his body over the last 16 years. He's one big ache at this point. Jones didn't go on the D.L. as he's expected to be back by the weekend, but Jason Kubel also got hurt after claiming he could eat 100 pounds of jelly beans in an hour. Kubel won the bet, but will spend the next two weeks in a diabetic coma. But while the Sugar Bears have backup outfielders, they don't have another third baseman on the roster, so they had to sign one too -- Justin Turner.

But don't worry. Even with those three third basemen signed, there's still 15 available in free agency -- including three-time DMBL All-Star Scott Rolen.

"What the fuck, man?" a distraught Rolen asked after hearing the Endzone Animals -- who had taken him #2 overall in the 1998 draft, and where he played for 10 of his 13 seasons -- had signed Johnson instead of him.

"I need five goddamn RBIs to get to 1,000. Five!" Rolen said. "Six home runs to get to 250. One lousy double to get to 400!"

When last seen, Rolen was frantically sticking pins in his Ryan Zimmerman voodoo doll.

Kershaw leaves with no-no, but Ni says "no"

Clayton Kershaw had a no-hitter going in the 8th inning when he was pulled out of the game amidst many boos in the stadium. Manager Wally Backman tried to let him go, but Kershaw had walked 5 batters and was showing signs of fatigue. After throwing his 123rd pitch and hitting pinch hitter Carlos Quentin, Backman decided it was enough and handed the ball over to reliever Fu-Te Ni. Two batters later and with the crowd chanting NI, even with old ladies in attendance, the no hitter was broken up. It was the only hit the Mudcats would get. Kershaw struck out 10.

Vancouver has reeled off 5 straight wins after yesterday's 5-4 squeaker against Team Buddah. Kevin Millwood held New Jersey to 3 earned runs on 3 hits in 7.2 innings, while striking out 7. New addition Jason Kubel was 3-4 with a homer and 2 RBIs.

Bridgewater continues their hot streak, taking out Hanover Division leaders Marietta 3-1. Marietta has been suffering from a rash of injuries, including shortstop Derek Jeter, starter Jarrod Washburn, and, in an ironic twist, outfielder Brett Gardner, who's been covering for other injured starters in the outfield.

Wang stymies Hitmen, aims for McDonald

Chien-Ming Wang won his 21st game as Newark rolled to their 11th straight victory. Wang shut out the Hired Hitmen on 3 hits and lowered his ERA to 3.00, good enough for second in the league. Meanwhile, Hillsborough lost their 5th straight and stand only one game up on Carolina atop the Morris Division.

Jason Bartlett drove in 5 runs in leading Hoboken to a 9-2 win over D.C. Bartlett was 2-4 with 3 runs in the game. Miguel Cabrera who also was 2-4, added another 3 RBIs. Jeremy Guthrie went the distance, allowing 7 hits and improving to 11-12 on the season.

Rookie Chris Volstad held the Iron Fist in check and preserved a 4-2 victory for Amityville. Volstad improved to 15-10 and lowered his ERA to 3.92.

Las Vegas pounded Philadelphia 12-2, preventing the Animals from gaining any ground on Vancouver. Vlad Guerrero was 2-4 with a homer and 5 RBIs and Alex Gordon had a 3-run homer to lead the Vegas offense.

Marietta edged Blue Ridge yesterday 3-2 in 12 innings when Adrian Gonzalez came through with a walkoff single that scored Milton Bradley. However, Marietta lost future Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera for the rest of the regular season when he was mauled by vampires in the team's locker room. Rivera, now wearing a necklace of garlic cloves, plans to make it back by the playoffs.

Welcome Back!

Yesterday was a day filled with welcome back parties. After many injuries, several players returned to their respective lineups.

D.C. welcomed back Ryan Zimmerman, who had been out almost two months with a rare disease he suffered while in the jungles of Borneo. Zimmerman responded by getting two hits, including his first home run of the season in D.C.'s 2-0 blanking of Hillsborough. But Zim wasn't the only O-Bomber to return. First baseman Todd Helton also returned to the lineup after being out 3 weeks and contributed a double and an RBI. That's all well and good for the O-Bombers, but Hillsborough also had a return. Ron Belliard had missed several weeks as well, but came right back into the leadoff spot. Unfortunately for Belliard, he was 0-2 with a walk and was lifted for a pinch hitter late in the game. By the way, despite the 2-0 final result, this was far from a pretty game from the two hurlers. Both teams had trouble locating the strike zone, and issued a combined 13 walks. Felix Hernandez went the distance for the Hitmen and accounted for 7 of the walks himself, while his opponent, Todd Wellemeyer, issued 5 and a wild pitch in his 6.2 innings of work.

Sardine City activated Evan Longoria, but the Sardines were idle Wednesday. Amityville also activated starter Jered Weaver, but after giving Manny Parra one more good-bye start. Parra gave up only 2 earned runs in 5.2 innings in the 2-1 loss, but walked 5 and struck out 9. Parra was sent back down to the team's farm team to work on his control. Weaver will take Parra's next start in the rotation.

I guess this whole pitching decently while walking a ton of batters was a recurring theme of the day. John Maine improved to 7-3 on the season in a 10-2 blowout of the Falcons. Maine only allowed 2 runs but walked 5 in 6 innings. Meanwhile, Vancouver's Jake Peavy limited the Endzone Animals to only 3 hits and 2 runs in 7.2 innings, but also walked 5 in the Fist's 7-2 victory. Maybe those 10 strikeouts helped a bit?

D.C. loses game, third bagger

C.C. Sabathia improved to 4-1 on the season with a victory over Blue Ridge yesterday. The Hitmen won their third straight to stay atop the Morris Division. Sabathia lasted 8 innings, striking out 9, and holding the Bombers to 3 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks. Carolina kept pace, taking out the O-Bombers 5-1. Vernon Wells was 3-4 and Ben Molina had a 2-run homer to lead the Mudcat offense, while Daisuke Matsuzaka held D.C. to only 2 hits in his 5.2 innings of work, striking out 9 in the process. The news got worse for D.C. as third baseman Ryan Zimmerman was lost for almost two months due to injury.

Team Buddah added insult to injury to the Cutters with a 6-3 victory. Mike Jacobs was 2-4 with 3 RBIs and Casey Blake hit a two-run homer that gave the Buddahs a 3-0 lead in the 4th. Hanley Ramirez was 3-3 in the team's defeat.

Manny Ramirez hit a 3-run bomb to propel the Sugar Bears to a 6-3 victory over Sardine City. Ramirez singled in another run to give him 4 RBIs on the night. The Sugar Bears only had 7 hits in the contest, but they also walked 7 times. Newark starter Joe Saunders pitched 6 solid innings, giving up only one run. The Sugar Bears have now won 4 in a row.

Philly edged Arkansas 6-5 yesterday behind Chris Young (2-3, 3 runs) and Jimmy Rollins (3-4, 2 RBIs). The Endzone Animals kept their transaction streak alive by cutting Aaron Miles and signing Kyle Davies.

Breaking a catch(er)

Another backstop went down yesterday, as New Jersey's Jason Varitek will miss most of the next week to recover from a rabid squirrel attack. Teammate J.C. Romero thought it would make a great April Fool's prank if he released the rodent in the locker room, but the prank turned into a nightmare when the squirrel started foaming at the mouth and went after Varitek. Varitek becomes the fourth catcher to hit the injury list. We all remember Chris Ianetta's incident from a week or so ago. He's been joined by Las Vegas' Chris Coste - also out around a month - and Sardine City's Miguel Montero. All these ailments have been a boon for the league's castoffs - the much-traveled Jason Kendall and Yorvit Torrealba have now found jobs with Blue Ridge and Sardine City, respectively, while Las Vegas proudly welcomed John Buck back aboard. Will New Jersey turn to the likes of Kenji Johjima or Gregg Zaun? Or will the Buddah just try to tough out the loss until Varitek can return?

Newark escaped a close one in Blue Ridge yesterday, outlasting the Bombers in extra innings. With the game tied up at 5 in the late innings, Carl Crawford hit an RBI single to give Blue Ridge a one-run lead. But the Bombers gave up a 9th inning leadoff home run to Jack Cust to send the game to extra innings. The teams' bullpens battled it out for four innings but Blue Ridge finally fell in the 14th when Asdrubal Cabrera lined a single up the middle to score J.D. Drew.

The Mighty Men manhandled Jake Peavy and the Iron Fist yesterday, scoring 6 runs against the defending Ben McDonald winner and chasing him in the second inning. The Mighty Men would tack on two more runs to take an 8-3 decision. Brian Giles and Kevin Youkilis each had 3 RBIs and Giles and Derek Jeter had 3 hits apiece.

Vegas, Newark, lose aces

Erik Bedard pitched a gem for the Rat Pack (7.1 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 11 K, 1 BB), but felt some discomfort in his arm after the game. Pitching coach Sam "Mayday" Malone said that Bedard had probably injured it the previous night when he was playing Guitar Hero til 3:00 AM. Bedard will be lost for about a month, or until he beats the game at "expert" level.

Meanwhile, the Rats' rivals lost pitcher James Shields again, shortly after returning from the disabled list. Shields only managed to get through four painful innings before giving way to the bullpen and will probably miss 2-3 starts. In a postgame interview, Shields admits that he may retire. "If Garretson goes, I don't wanna play either" said Shields. "He's my inspiration. I named my son after him." The team psychiatrist is trying to work Shields through the problem, though a restraining order has been filed with Newark's courts.

Marietta shocked Vancouver with a 6-3 victory, despite the Fist's ace Jake Peavy starting the game. Peavy was roughed up for 5 runs in 7 innings as Josh Hamilton smacked 2 homers in the game. The loss snapped Vancouver's 5-game winning streak.

Tampa Bay celebrated the return of their owner with a 5-1 victory over D.C. Andy Pettitte won his 10th of the season and James Loney was 2-3 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Plunker owner Bill Levesque, who had been M.I.A. for the better part of the month and assumed dead, made a triumphant return after being held captive. Levesque, half of his face mysteriously burned off, had a mad look in his eye as he stepped into the team's dugout prior to the game to give a motivational speech.

More injuries hit several teams

Another bad day for injuries as several players tried to shake off the rust from the week layoff.

Hillsborough beat D.C. 7-6 but lost 1b/DH Dmitri Young. With starting first baseman Ryan Howard already on the shelf, this will leave the Hitmen very thin at the position. Billy Butler is expected to take over full time until Howard returns later this week.

The most injury-plagued team in the league this year is Las Vegas, who can't seem to keep their squad healthy. The latest casualty is third baseman Chone Figgins. The Rats picked up journeyman Scott Spiezio who will split duties with rookie Alex Gordon at the hot corner. The Rats have a league-high four players on the DL now (David Eckstein, Jeff Keppinger, and Orlando Hernandez are the others).

Philly took a 12-9 victory over first-place Vancouver to move to within two games of the Fist, but the Animals lost outfielder J.D. Drew for a week.

Finally the Blue Ridge Bombers lost shortstop Edgar Renteria, also for a week. Rafael Furcal will assume full-time duties.

Brian Giles hit his first homer in a Cutters uniform since the summer of 2004, prompting a standing ovation for the Hoboken icon. Giles pinch hit for third baseman Brandon Inge in the eighth inning and delivered a three-run blast. The Cutters ended up losing the game to Sardine City 9-5.

Send in the medics

The Sugar Bears took over first place as Team Buddah pulled off a miraculous sweep of the Rat Pack. The Buddahs capped off the series with a 3-0 3-hit shutout by Oliver Perez. Perez, as you may remember, struggled in the Rat Pack rotation all last season before being shipped off to the Buddahs in the offseason, where he's currently struggling. Perez struck out 8 Rats and walked 4. Newark only played one game, an 8-7 extra inning victory over Sardine City. The Sardines held a 7-5 lead until the Sugar Bears' Bobby Abreu tied it up with a 2-run homer in the ninth. Jack Cust won the game with a walk-off solo shot in the 11th.

Yesterday was an ugly day for many DMBL squads, but a good day for their medical staffs. Four players were lost with various injuries. Blue Ridge lost second bagger Jose Vidro for around 2 weeks. Dan Uggla, who had platooned with Vidro this season, will take over full time. Uggla took full advantage of the extra playing time by swatting a 3-run home run in yesterday's loss to Philly. Uggla then hit another home run and drove in 3 runs in game two yesterday, an 8-3 win.

D.C. lost Carl Crawford for six days in yesterday's 9-2 win over Arkansas. Replacing Crawford will be Coco Crisp. New Jersey lost a third outfielder, Shane Victorino, for 12 days. Team Buddah picked up the recently released Juan Pierre to fill in.

The Hoboken Cutters lost outfielder Travis Buck a week or so ago, but his replacement will now hit the DL. Ryan Freel left yesterday's game (and will probably leave the Cutters roster as well). The Cutters picked up hometown favorite Brian Giles, who was a mainstay with the team from 2001-2004. Giles had been playing with the independent New Jersey Jackals to stay in shape and Hoboken scouts liked what they had seen. "It's good to be back in Cutters brown" said Giles at a team press conference.

See you again in a week!

Deja vu for Vegas, Buddah

Don't forget that tomorrow there will be a morning doubleheader and then we're off for about a week, resuming games, hopefully, on June 1. Take advantage of the time off to vote for the All-Star Game!

New Jersey and Las Vegas experienced a weird case of deja vu yesterday as both lost two key players to injuries, just as the two have recently returned from DL trips.

Team Buddah lost outfielder Alfonso Soriano in his third game back from injury. Soriano only had 9 at bats before succumbing to another injury. Hey, at least Team Buddah won the game 9-2 as his replacement at DH, Yuniesky Betancourt, went 2-3 with 2 RBIs.

Meanwhile Las Vegas just activated shortstop Jeff Keppinger on May 18th, but he only lasted three games as well. Keppinger went 3-4 in his final game and was replaced by outfielder Ryan Church at shortstop. "I never played shortstop, man!" said a terrified Church "Whose idea was this???" Church's anguish only lasted two innings, but he was still seen shaking in the clubhouse after the game.

Sardine City's Phil Hughes outdueled Vancouver's Chad Billingsley in a 1-0 match. Hughes struck out 11 in seven innings of work, while only giving up three hits. Billingsley, who struck out 9 in 6 innings, lost his first decision of the year. Billingsley got in trouble in the sixth when he gave up a leadoff single to B.J. Upton. After striking out the next batter, Billingsley loaded the bases on two walks. Billingsley struck out the next batter, but Willy Taveras lined a base hit up the middle that scored the games only run. Billingsley then struck out his third batter of the inning, but the damage was done.

Justin Verlander was impressive in a complete game 6-3 victory over the Mudcats yesterday (7 H, 10 K, 1 ER). Nevertheless, the Hired Hitmen have announced that they will be offering many of their players up for trade, including Robinson Cano, Ryan Howrd, Brad Hawpe, C.C. Sabathia, and Verlander. "Some people say it might be a little early to write off this season" said Hitmen owner Brent Campbell, "but the we want to get a head start on next season. The early bird gets the worm."

Injuries pile up

It's been a rough weekend for the DMBL, but a good weekend for the team doctors. Five players went down with injuries that will keep them out for the better of two weeks. Carolina lost first baseman Ryan Garko, but they figure Paul Konerko sounds almost the same and fans will never tell the difference.

Meanwhile Joe Mauer and Yadier Molina collided in the field in a strange play. Molina appeared to bobble a throw home to get Mauer. When Molina went down to pick up the ball, he lunged into a sliding Mauer, causing all sorts of carnage on the field. Vegas manager and owner Eric Wickstrom protested, calling it a cheap shot by Newark's "goon", accusing Molina of purposely taking out Mauer. "It's just more cheating by Garretson's Goons" said Chone Figgins, who was running the bases during the play. "Of course it was a scrub that took out Mauer, not one of the stars! How convenient!" While Molina objected to being called a "scrub", it was pointed out to him that in fact, yes, he was a scrub. "I stand corrected" Molina apologized on the way to the ER.

D.C.'s Shawn Hill will miss at least two starts after leaving in the first inning of Saturday's game against Blue Ridge. Hill will be replaced by Sean Marshall, who was released by the Bushslappers prior to opening day. "We have to keep up our quota of Seans in the rotation" said team owner Jamie Landsman.

Finally, Hillsborough lost first baseman Dmitri Young for two weeks after Young slid awkwardly trying to score. "I saw what [Plunker catcher Kenji Johjima] was doing..." said an irate Young after the game. "He tried to Yadier me." When asked about the play, Johjima said that he definitely did not try to Yadier the first baseman. "I couldn't possibly Yadier him. I'm not a scrub" he stated via translator.

Falcons injuries pile up

Arkansas' Curt Schilling pitched a brilliant 2-hit complete game against D.C. yesterday as the Falcons won 7-1. One of the two hits was a Carlos Beltran solo homer. Meanwhile Arkansas' injury plague continues as the Falcons lost Orlando Cabrera for at least a week. He joins Roger Clemens, Chris Coste, Bob Wickman, and Eric Hinske in the infirmary. Clemens might actually be able to still make his start Friday thanks to an off day Wednesday.

Chad Billingsley pitched another solid game, but the Vancouver pen couldn't hold the lead for him and ended up losing 5-3 to the Mudcats. Billingsley had pitched six innings and allowed only two runs but Chad Gaudin gave up two solo homers to start off the eighth inning. Joel Peralta gave up another solo shot in the ninth to Grady Sizemore to add insult to injury.

The first wave of callups has begun.

Newark recalled Matt Stairs, Dave Bush, Kevin Millwood and James Shields. Stairs may see some pinch hitting action, but the pitchers will most likely only be used in extreme situations where the rest of the pen is tired. It is possible that one of them will get a spot start to rest the regular starters for the playoffs toward the end of the month. Newark is close to clinching so they may not have much left to play for anyway.

Vancouver has recalled Jose Guillen and Manny Corpas. Corpas will see some time in the bullpen, likely at the expense of Chad Gaudin, who has been horrible. Guillen will serve as an emergency bat off the bench.

Hillsborough added reliever Matt Guerrier to their roster. Guerrier spent some time earlier with New Jersey and will give the Hitmen some more bullpen depth.

Reyes = triple threat

D.C. pounded on the Sugar Bears and suddenly the defending champions seem almost mortal. The Bushslappers won by a 13-4 score. Jose Reyes was 4-5 with another triple and 3 RBIs. Reyes now has a Deion Sanders-esque six triples in his last seven games and is now second in the league with 11 triples. Marietta's Wes Helms still leads the league with 13 three-baggers.

Honolulu and Vancouver slugged it out and the Sharks came out victorious with a 13-11 victory. Former Iron Fist Torii Hunter was 4-4 with 3 home runs and 6 RBIs. Both starters were chased early and Vancouver lost reliever Brian Sweeney for two weeks to injury. Kenny Rogers recorded his first career save after the Honolulu pen was spent. While the Sharks were scoring aplenty, the top of the order went a combined 0-17.

Carolina edged Sardine City 5-3 yesterday, but they lost starting second baseman Jose Vidro for two weeks. Mark Grudzielanek will take over. Rocco Baldelli hit his 18th homer of the season - easily a career best. In fact, Baldelli had 19 career homers in two years in the DMBL entering this season. Brian Fuentes picked up his 16th save.

Today are the last games before the All-Star Break. Rosters will be announced later today.

Underrated Overbay

D.C.'s Lyle Overbay has been red-hot lately. After hitting a walk-off grand slam yesterday, Overbay continued his hot hitting with a 4-5 night against Hoboken yesterday, including two more homers. Overbay is now 7-9 with 3 HRs and 6 RBIs in his last two games.

Nomar Garciaparra barely got his glove dusted off before he was forced to leave last night's game with another injury. The first injury kept Garciaparra out for a month and this one may be close to that long. Once again, Shea Hillenbrand and Troy Glaus will fill in for Nomar.

Another more harmful loss was Honolulu's Roy Oswalt, who will miss a month with his injury. Kenny Rogers, who was recently demoted, will fill in for Oswalt. Oswalt was struggling a bit this season (5-5, 5.31) and the time off may help him.

Brett Myers was looking to take another loss yesterday despite an excellent performance, but his offense bailed him out. Myers had limited South Boston to five hits over 8.2 innings, surrendering only two runs and striking out five. However, he was locked in a duel with the Gang's Nate Robertson, who had not given up any runs at that point. Robertson was going for the complete game shutout, but the Rat Pack had something else in mind. Robertson allowed singles to the first two batters he faced and then newly-signed Endy Chavez came through with a double that scored one. Huston Street was brought in to close the game. After an intentional walk to create a force situation, Street gave up a sac fly to tie the game, then, with two outs, Chone Figgins roped a single into right to score the winning run.

Newark and Vancouver slugged it out last night through eleven innings. The game went back and forth until Nick Johnson won it with a two-run homer in the eleventh. Manny Ramirez also hit two homers (one of which tied the game at 11) and was 4-6 with 3 RBIs. Billy Wagner blew his eighth save for Vancouver.

Note tonight there will be a double header followed by an early morning game tomorrow. There will be no games on Saturday and Sunday.

Welcome back!

This is a good week for the doctors as a lot of players will make their returns from injuries.

Jose Contreras returns for Team Buddah who has been suffering with Matt Morris in the rotation. Morris has given up 13 runs in his two starts and is 0-2 with a 13.50 ERA on the season. New Jersey also gets Nomar Garciaparra back at the end of the week after almost a month. The Buddahs have somehow stayed on the brink of contention and this ought to help a bit, if they can avoid any further injuries.

Jose Reyes returns for D.C. just in time to ride their recent hot streak. D.C. has won three in a row and eight of their last ten to move up to ninth place overall. Reyes was replaced in the lineup by Alex Gonzalez who batted a solid, though empty .286 with 5 runs and 5 RBIs in seven games.

Hillsborough will get Alex Rodriguez back and it couldn't come any sooner. The Hired Hitmen have been in a slump, losing two in a row after a three-game winning streak ended a seven game losing streak. Nick Punto had taken over for Rodriguez at third base and was also adequate, batting .429 (9-21) over the seven games with 4 runs scored and an RBI, but again, it was pretty empty - all nine hits were singles.

Catcher Mike Napoli should rejoin the Cutters later in the week. Josh Bard has been taken out of his DH role and backup Yorvit Torrealba (0-7) was signed to give Bard a rest.

Finally Sardine City will be happy to welcome Josh Barfield back after enduring Julio Lugo's miserable offense (.214 AVG, .464 OPS). If you take out Lugo's 4-5 game against Hillsborough, he's hist an even more atrocious .135 (5-37)! Sardine City has already gotten a red carpet out in preparation for Barfields return. Lugo is likely to be released for the fourth time this season.

Black Monday for Pitchers

Barry Bonds moved one closer to home run #600 yesterday in helping Arkansas slide by South Boston 7-5. The homer was Bonds' 11th of the season.

Monday was a bad day for pitchers. Hillsborough lost lefty C.C. Sabathia for the next month in their loss to Vancouver. Sabathia was 3-1 with a 3.98 ERA so far this season. Hillsborough has Ian Snell on the farm, but they may choose to go with a veteran off the waiver wire. Sabathia only lasted into the third inning before being pulled.

Rookie phenom Jered Weaver also got dinged yesterday. Weaver pitched 5.2 innings yesterday, but did not factor into the decision. Weaver, who had a mishap with some snack foods during the break between innings, may miss up to two weeks. Cliff Lee, who was with Hillsborough last year, will fill in until Weaver is healthy again.

Not all injuries were pitching-related though. Newark will lose slugger Manny Ramirez for the better part of this week. "It's not really an injury" said Newark manager Don Mattingly. "It's just Manny being Manny." Ramirez said he is taking his annual vacation and will relax on the beaches in St. Thomas. "This weather just plain sucks" said Ramirez. "I need to get away for a bit." Owner Butch Garretson grumbled "Damn... bad week for that to happen!"

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.