Helton joins Pujols in 2,000-hit club

Todd Helton's big four-hit day in the second game of Sunday's doubleheader included a double, home run, and the final hit -- a 9th-inning single off Charlie Furbush of Las Vegas in the 8-7 road win -- was the 2,000th of his career. Helton becomes the second player to reach 2,000 career hits during this season, some two weeks after Philly's Albert Pujols achieved the mark.

Helton hasn't hit for much power since he was with Vancouver in 2008, where he belted 18 homers. He hit a career-high 44 home runs with Marietta in 2002, and eclipsed 30 home runs twice in his career (31 in 2003 and 36 in 2000). It remains to be seen whether he has enough power left to reach 300 career homers this season, however, it would appear he has his sights set on playing in the DMBL in 2013.

The Tennessee native turns 39 next month and currently ranks 25th all-time with 282 homers (including just 6 this year) but is surrounded by five other active players from 21st to 26th. Helton stands 6th all-time in doubles, with 483 (including 14 this year), approaching Barry Bonds at No. 5 (487). Chipper Jones is the only active player with more two-baggers (519).

Helton spent the prime of his career with Stanhope/Marietta after being the first overall pick of the Brooklyn Bean Counters in the 2001 dispersal draft (followed by Brian Giles and Mike Piazza). The first-year franchise shipped off the first baseman (along with reliever Rich Garces) in exchange for six players: catcher Mike Lieberthal, first baseman Tino Martinez, pitchers Steve Parris and Turk Wendell and outfielders Steve Finley and Bobby Higginson. In seven seasons with the Mighty Men, Helton hit more than 40 doubles in all but two, including a career-best 63 in 2001, but never reached 200 hits. During that span with the Mighty Men, he averaged 44 doubles and 27 homers per year.

The Iron First acquired Helton from Marietta before the 2008 season for outfielder Jason Bay, first baseman Conor Jackson and a 4th-round pick in 2009. Left unprotected the following season, he was snapped up by Bridgewater in the 8th round of the 2009 draft by D.C./Bridgewater, where he played until getting shipped back to Vancouver this past offseason. The Iron First also got third baseman Ryan Zimmerman and two 8th-round picks in exchange for starter Zack Greinke and a 4th-rounder.

Marietta stays alive

The Mighty Men stayed a live by edging past the Sugar Bears 3-2 yesterday. John Danks has now won the only two games for the Mighty Men with an 8-inning, 5-hit effort yesterday in which he gave up 2 runs and struck out 9. Javier Vazquez pitched a complete game in defeat, striking out 8 and giving up 6 hits. Jason Bay gave the Mighty Men a 2-0 lead in the 2nd with a 2-run homer, then Ichiro Suzuki singled in Chone Figgins in the 3rd to extend the lead to 3-0. The Sugar Bears finally got on the board in the 7th with back to back home runs from Jorge Posada and Kendry Morales. Mariano Rivera pitched a perfect 9th to earn his first playoff save this year.

Bridgewater will try to close out their series with Vancouver at the Irondome tonight. Randy Wells will face Chris Carpenter. Carpenter pitched 4 scoreless inning in game 1 against Vancouver but was removed after a rain delay. Randy Wells pitched a solid game to earn the win in game 3 against the Mallers.

Gutierrez, Bay bash their way to victory

Carolina, who's been in a bit of a freefall since being in first earlier this season, scored an important win over first place Vancouver. Barry Zito held the Iron Fist to 6 hits and no runs in 7 innings and struck out 9 en route to a 2-0 victory. Mat Latos pitched an impressive game for the losing end, giving up only 1 earned run on 3 hits in 7 innings, but it wasn't enough. The win was just the 3rd in the last 10 for Carolina.

Jason Bay's 2 home runs propelled the Mighty Men to a 7-5 win over Hoboken. Alberto Callaspo was also 3-4 in the game for the Mighty Men, who preserved their 5 game lead in the Hanover Division. The Mighty Men have dealt with injuries to their outfield, but have continued to play top shelf ball, currently riding a 3 game winning streak.

The Mallers slump continued as they were mercilessly shelled by the Sugar Bears 13-3. Jorge Posada was 4-5 with 3 RBIs and Mike Cameron had 5 RBIs for Newark. Brad Bergesen held the Mallers to just 5 hits. The Mallers have now fallen into 4th place in the Morris Division. Last week the Mallers lost 7 in a row to fall out of first place and hope that these last two games aren't an indication of a new streak.

Franklin Gutierrez hit 3 home runs - but drove in only 4 - to lead Team Buddah to a 7-5 win over Amityville. The Buddahs' offense has apparently awoken in the last few games, as the 7 runs was the lowest total in their last 5 games. The Buddahs have won the last 4 games, scoring 8 runs twice and 16 once. Buddah also score 8 runs in their last loss to Hoboken. They've got a long way to go, however, sitting 16 1/2 games out of first and 11 1/2 out of a playoff spot.

Remember when Alex Rodriguez was struggling for the Rat Pack shortly after being acquired from Amityville? Well that seems like a long time ago now with A-Rod tearing the cover off the ball. A-Rod is now hitting .284/.357/.670 since joining the Rat Pack with 11 homers and 22 RBIs. Yesterday, A-Rod again led the offense with 2 homers and 5 RBIs, but the Rats dropped a 9-7 decision to Sardine City.