Greinke keeps undefeated streak alive

Philadelphia executed their second deal of the season today, trading reliever Rafael Perez, second baseman Aaron Hill, and two picks to the Hoboken Cutters for Jason Isringhausen, second baseman Kelly Johnson, and a late draft pick. Isringhausen, who had been with the Cutters since their inception in 2001, will likely move into a setup role on the Endzone Animals, as J.J. Putz has the closer role locked down.

Zack Greinke improved to 9-0 on the season with a 3-2 win over Philadelphia yesterday. Greinke pitched 8 innings of 2-hit ball, surrendering 2 runs and striking out 7. Vancouver's first round pick in this year's draft is now second in the league in ERA (2.93) and is now the sole undefeated pitcher in the league (Tampa Bay's Andy Pettitte lost his first game last week).

D.C. and Hillsborough took turns shutting each other out. In the first game, Kelvim Escobar had an incredible game, shutting out the Hitmen on 7 hits in 7.1 innings and striking out 14. The Hitmen pitchers also pitched well, despite John Lackey being ejected for throwing at Jeff Kent and triggering a benches-clearing brawl. "I probably wouldn't have minded so much" said Kent after the game "if the ball wasn't laced with explosives." Kent will miss the next three weeks recuperating and reliever Mike Timlin, who tried to dive over the combustible device, will miss two weeks. Hillsborough came back and shut out D.C. 7-0 in the second game. Justin Verlander pitched 7.2 innings of 3-hit ball to improve to 9-7. D.C. got some vengeance by taking out third baseman Mark Reynolds. Catcher Brian McCann snuck up behind Reynolds as he was taking practice swings and hit his knees with a lead pipe. Why would the Slappers intentionally target one of the worst producers in the lineup? "I thought it was [Ryan] Howard" said McCann. "They look so alike."

Cutters, Buddah battle for 13

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Hoboken finally broke their 8-game losing streak, but it took some work. Starter Jon Garland battled Buddah's Joe Blanton through 8 shutout innings. The game was knotted at 0-0 until in the 13th inning, Travis Buck hit a solo home run to give the Cutters the lead. Jason Isringhausen pitched 5 innings of relief to earn the win.

Vancouver came right back from being shutdown yesterday, to post a shutout of their own. Jake Peavy held the Hired Hitmen to 2 hits, while striking out 11 to improve to 11-2 on the season. It's the third shutout for Peavy this year.

Vancouver picked up a game on Philadelphia, as their 9-game winning streak came to an end at the hands of D.C., 6-4. Adrian Beltre was 4-4 with 2 RBIs and Carl Crawford was 3-4 to lead the D.C. offense.

Newark took revenge on the Mudcats yesterday as the series shifted to Carolina. Javier Vazquez improved to 10-1 with a complete game effort, striking out 11 and surrendering only five hits and one run. Hideki Matsui was 2-4 with 3 RBI and 2 doubles.

Pack win ends slide

Well the Rat Pack finally ended their losing streak, winning in true Vegas fashion with a 7-6 trimming of the Mudcats. It was the Rats 10th win by a one-run margin (they are now a league best 10-1). The Pack was actually losing 5-4 going into the ninth, but Matt Holliday hit a three-run homer to give the Rats the lead. The Cats narrowed the lead with a Grady Sizemore solo shot, but that was all.

Arkansas' Curt Schilling pitched a 3-hit shutout of Team Buddah yesterday to improve to 4-3 on the season. Schilling's shutout snapped a tie with Brad Radke (17) for all-time shutouts and is now alone in the fourth overall spot.

The Sardine City Straphangers upset the Endzone Animals yesterday 9-7. Mike Jacobs, subbing in for the injured Kevin Youkilis, was 4-6 and Ryan Braun had 3 RBIs to lead the Sardine offense. B.J. Upton also had 2 doubles and 2 stolen bases, while hitting 3-5 on the night.

Vancouver extended their winning streak to six games with a 4-2 win over Marietta. Jake Peavy (8 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 3K) became the league's first 7-game winner.

Jason Isringhausen made his 500th DMBL appearance yesterday, saving a 3-2 Cutter win over Hillsborough. The save puts Izzy one behind Trevor Hoffman for fourth all-time.

Thomas, Soriano set marks

Brandon Webb pitched a complete game against the Falcons, surrendering two runs on seven hits and striking out five. Webb improves to 9-5 on the season. The Endzone Animals were trailing 2-1 after five, but they scored nine runs between the sixth and eighth innings to seal a 10-2 victory.

Frank Thomas led D.C. to an 8-5 victory over South Boston yesteday. Thomas was 3-5 with 4 RBIs and two homers on the night. His two homers moved him past Larry Walker into a 10th place tie on the all-time home run list and tied for sixth on the all-time RBI list. Alfonso Soriano quietly extended his hitting streak to a season-high 24 games, moving ahead of Matt Diaz who had the previous longest streak.

The Cutters won on a night when starter Vicente Padilla was a bit wild. Padilla pitched seven innings and allowed four runs, while walking three and striking out one. That doesn't sound too bad, until you see that Padilla also hit three batters in the game. Two of the hit batters came in the second inning when Padilla hit Kaz Matsui and Chone Figgins consecutively to load the bases. Luckily the next batter flew out to end the inning. "I just can't stand those Rat bastards" said Padilla in a post-game interview. "They deserved to get hit six times!" Closer Jason Isringhausen recorded his seventh save of the season and the 150th of his career (the fifth DMBLer to achieve the feat).