Lester comes within four outs of his second no-hitter

Jon Lester came within four outs of throwing the league's third no-hitter in as many weeks as Blue Ridge blanked Allentown, 4-0, on Wednesday night.

Scherzer shuts down Tucson in Game 7 win

There will be a new champion crowned in DMBL this season.

Cruz clubs two homers for Tucson

Reigning postseason MVP Nelson Cruz went 4-for-4 with two home runs to help Tucson beat Hoboken, 5-3, evening their semifinal series with Hoboken at 2-2.

Three-home run fever is catching

Three-homer fever has spread to Tuscon. Kingsnakes 3B Nolan Arenado launched a trio of home runs on Wednesday and Tucson was the victim of three home runs the very next night by Philly's Tommy Joseph.

2016 McDonald Award candidates

There are any number of ways to go on your ballot for this year's Ben McDonald Pitching Excellence Award, recognizing the DMBL's finest pitcher and named for the first winner of the award, Larry Benard McDonald (a.k.a., The LBM).

8th-inning rally caps Game 6, first title for Tucson

An 8th-inning rally secured Game 6 for Tucson over Arkansas, 6-5, and with it the 2016 DMBL World Series title.

Lester twirls 4-hitter to even series

It was another crisp, well-pitched matchup in Game 2 of the DMBL World Series but this time Tucson came out on top, thanks to some timely hitting and a brilliant 4-hit shutout by Jon Lester.

Tucson escapes Game 3 to push Allentown to the brink

Top-seeded Tucson held on for a 4-3 win in Game 3 against offensively-effiicient Allentown, to take a 3-0 lead in the Best-of-7 semifinal series.

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.

Showdown for the Kruk Division

Don't look now but there's another race to watch in the remaining days of the 2012 season.

After four straight wins -- including Tuesday night's no-hitter -- Hopatcong has tied Amityville for the third playoff seed. The Ant Slayers clinched the Drabek Division the other night. Coupled with Newark's loss on Wednesday, the Floating Fish go into tonight's season-ending series versus the Sugar Bears with a two-game lead in the Kruk Division.

After Wednesday's results, if the playoffs started today:
#1 Marietta*, 106-53
#2 Vancouver*, 92-68
#3 Amityville*, 88-71
#4 Hopatcong, 88-71
#5 Newark, 86-73
#6 Rowdy, 86-74
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Hoboken, 85-74 -- 1/2 game back of No. 6 seed
Bridgewater, 85-75 -- 1 1/2 back
Hillsborough, 83-76 -- 2 1/2 back

In an amazing coincidence, every team in the Kruk and Van Slyke divisions won Tuesday night as every team in the Drabek and Fisk divisions lost, leaving the playoff race essentially intact, other than the official elimination of Sardine City.

Should Hopatcong and Amityville remain tied for the No. 3 seed at the end of 162 games, the tiebreaker is head-to-heard record, which would go to -- no one! The two teams split 10 games this season! Both teams also are 21-18 within their respective divisions as they face off against division foes this weekend. If the tiebreaker gets that far, Hopatcong currently has a run differential of +114 while Amityville has a margin of +96.

Of course, those tiebreakers all get thrown out the window if Newark sneaks away with the Kruk Division, the only division still undecided. (FYI, Sugar Bears are 4-6 versus Amityville). With a two-game lead, Hopatcong needs just one win in their head-to-head matchup versus the Sugar Bears this weekend to clinch it. Head-to-head this season, Hopatcong holds a 7-4 advantage against Newark. Scheduled starters for both clubs look like this:

NWK @ HPG
Harrison (6-8, 3.91) v. Peavy (0-0, 0.00)
Baker (12-11, 3.47) v. Cain (13-8, 3.44)
Lohse (14-8, 3.37) v. Luebke (13-8, 3.70)

In a surprise move, Hopatcong opted to give Jake Peavy his first start of the season in Game No. 160 over Tim Stauffer, who's struggled much of the year, going 5-17 with a 6.41 ERA and 1.59 WHIP.

Whether Newark wins the Kruk or not, the Sugar Bears still have work to do. They hold just a 1/2-game lead on Rowdy for the 5th seed and other squads are hot on their heels. The Roddy Pippers, who are off today, are just 1/2 game up on Hoboken and 1 game ahead of Bridgewater for that final playoff seed.

Rowdy will finish the season with two games at St. Louis and Bridgewater is also off today before a two-game set at Philly tomorrow. Starting tonight, Hoboken hosts three games against Marietta, which already has clinched the No. 1 seed.

Still hanging on to a sliver of hope is Hillsborough, which sent ace Justin Verlander to the mound yesterday for his final start of the season, and sits 2 1/2 games back of Rowdy for the final seed. The Hit Men will be rooting for Philly, Marietta, St. Louis and Hopatcong to win this weekend while they aim for a sweep in Amityville, who they're 7-4 against this season. The probable starter matchups:

HIL @ AMI
Hernandez (15-9, 3.81) v. Lester (16-6, 4.66)
Haren (12-9, 3.49) v. Weaver (14-11, 4.65)
Scherzer (6-16, 6.36) v. Hamels (14-10, 4.16)

Dickey The First To 18 Wins

R.A. Dickey of Marietta became the first 18-game winner in the league, and with two potential starts on the schedule, is the only starter left still with a shot at a 20-win season. The 18 wins also matched a career high he achieved last year with Hillsborough.

Dickey went 8 innings Tuesday night in a 9-5 win over Sardine City at PETCO Park, his 19th quality start of the season. His next scheduled start looks like it'll be at home versus St. Louis in game one of Sunday's doubleheader. If he wins that one, Dickey would take the mound looking for win No. 20 in the second game of the season finale series at Hoboken.

In addition to leading the league in wins, Dickey is tops in winning percentage at .818 (18-4) and likely to hold on to that lead regardless. It helps that his Mighty Men teammates give him an average 6.2 runs per game, bested only by the 6.5 per game for Bridgewater's Brandon Beachy.

Dickey may not finish the year as the league leader in wins, as Newark's James Shields (17-10) and Hillsborough's Justin Verlander (17-8) are hot on his tail. With two more potential starts, Beachy (16-5) and Jon Lester of Amityville (16-6) could still match Dickey.

In 30 starts this year, Dickey sports a 3.29 ERA and 1.11 WHIP, with three complete games and shutout.

The 37-year-old knuckleballer was taken 8th in the 6th round (88th overall) of this year's draft, after being left unprotected by Hillsborough in the offseason. Dickey went 18-9 for the Hit Men last year, with a 3.42 ERA in 30 starts, including four complete games.

Notes from around the league

Vancouver and Hoboken battled it out with Vancouver edging the Cutters 11-10 in 10 innings. Both teams got on the board early and often, leading to a 9-7 Vancouver lead after 4 innings. The Cutters clawed back and eventually tied it up on a two-run home run by Adam Dunn. The Iron Fist scored what would be the winning run off a Michael Cuddyer single in the 10th. Ronald Belisario finished the game off for his 12th save. Cuddyer ended the game 4-6 with a triple and 4 RBIs and Brad Hawpe was 4-4 with 2 doubles for the Cutters.

Jon Lester held the Falcons in check, limiting them to 3 hits over 7.1 innings, while striking out 11. Matt Kemp was 3-4 with 2 homers and 5 RBIs for Amityville in the 9-1 win.

New Jersey extended their winning streak to 6 with a 6-5 win over Hillsborough. Everyone in the Buddah lineup got one hit except Seth Smith, who had 2 hits.

Bridgewater won an important victory against the Rat Pack, ending their 3-game losing skid. Rookie Tommy Hanson held the Rats to only 4 hits in 7 innings to earn his 5th win of the year. Hanson struck out 9.

Aramis Ramirez was 5-5 with 2 homers and 3 RBIs to lead the Mudcats to an 11-6 win over the Mighty Men. The Mighty Men lost ground to both Las Vegas and Newark, who won 6-5 over Philadelphia. The Mighty Men's lead shrunk to 4 games over second-place Newark. Vegas is one game behind the Sugar Bears.