Cruz clubs HR No. 400

Nelson Cruz clubbed his 400th career home run, becoming just the 13th player in DMBL history to reach that mark.

Papelbon becomes 14th to notch 100th saves

The 100-save club is no longer a baker's dozen. In the final game before the all-star break, Jonathan Papelbon earned his 18th save of the season, which was the 100th of his career. Only 13 other pitchers in league history have reached 100 saves.

Papelbon's century save came in the final game before the all-star break, preserving a 3-1 win for Hopatcong over Hillsborough at The Mud Hole. He has since compiled his 20th save and 102nd overall, passing inaugural Hall of Famer John Wettleland and Brian Fuentes, who are tied for 13th place with 101 saves.

Selected in the fourth round of the 2006 draft as an ineligible prospect by D.C. (between Rickie Weeks and David Bell - and two spots after Justin Verlander), Papelbon has averaged 16 saves per year, notching career highs of 31 in 2008 and 24 in 2009 for the then-Bushslappers (who have since moved to Bridgewater).

Papelbon passed seven retired closers this year in career saves, including Keith Foulke, John Smoltz, Jose Mesa, Rod Beck, Armando Benitez, Rick Aguilera and Rob Nen. He could crack the top 10 before the season's out, trailing Joe Nathan with 107 saves and No. 10 Bob Wickman at 109. Jeff Shaw holds down ninth place with 123 saves.

Spring training superstars

Spring training is complete and the regular season awaits. Let's take a look at the stars of spring training, 30 games over two weeks to determine who makes your squad.

PITCHING

Five starting pitchers earned five victories but only Alexi Ogando of Bridgewater and Sardine City's Ubaldo Jimenez were unbeaten. Among five-win starters with just one loss were Marietta's Colby Lewis and the Blue Ridge odd couple of 38-year-old Bartolo Colon (thanks to 9.3/game in run support) and heralded rookie Jeremy Hellickson.

Lewis, a 7th-round pick by Marietta, was tops in ERA at 1.79, followed by Hopatcong's Josh Tomlin (2.11), Carolina's C.C. Sabathia (2.33) and Doug Fister of Bridgewater (2.42). Lewis and Fister also led the league in quality starts (5) along with Hellickson and Newark's Justin Masterson and Hellickson. Behind four complete games, Fister logged a league-high 48.1 innings, followed by Homer Bailey of Sardine City (47.1), Sabathia (46.1) and Lewis (45.1). Carolina's Tim Hudson tied Fister for the league lead in complete games.

Ogando tied for the league lead in strikeouts at 31, with Tommy Hanson of Las Vegas who had a league-best 8.1 K/9.
 
Philly's Joakim Soria, acquired in a mid-season deal from Arkansas last year, had the most saves, with 11, just better than Jonathan Papelbon of Hopatcong, who finished with 10. Both blew just one save. Daniel Bard of Sardine City was the only perfect closer, going 8-for-8.

BATTING

Blue Ridge's Hunter Pence overtook Nyjer Morgan of Marietta and Carolina's Prince Fielder in the final days to take the spring training batting crown with a .395 clip. Fielder also was second in the league in RBIs, with 31 (with Sardine City's Evan Longoria), behind only teammate Troy Tulowitzki, with 32. Fielder also led the league in OPS, at 1.038, ahead of Tulowitzki (1.003) and Philly's David Wright (.995).

Livingston's Mark Reynolds mashed 11 home runs in the spring to lead the league, ahead of Adrian Beltre of Marietta (9), and five others with 8. Beltre led the league in total bases, with 73, thanks to a league-high 12 doubles (tied with Guzman).

Pence also led the league in hits, with 51, a healthy lead over Bridgewater rookie Jesus Guzman (43). Emilio Bonifacio of Hillsborough's first-round pick, tied Matt Kemp of Bridgewater for the league lead in steals with 8, but was caught 5 times while Kemp was perfect in the spring.

Reigning Mitchell Award winner Joey Votto of Hopatcong showed no signs of slowing down, boasting the longest hitting streak (18 games) to end the spring.

Marietta and Philadelphia finished with the best spring training record, at 19-11 (.633), just slightly better than Amityville at 18-12 (.600) and Newark at 17-13 (.567). All but four squads finished with a record of .500 or better.

Sugar Bears streak hits 9

The Sugar Bears extended their win streak to 9 games, but this time it was a nailbiter. D.C. took a 3-2 lead in the 9th when Carlos Beltran singled in the go-ahead run. But Jonathan Papelbon couldn't hold it down for the O-Bombers, giving up an RBI single to Melky Cabrera in the bottom half of the inning. Reminiscent of his long All-Star Game performance, Papelbon remained in the game for almost 4 innings before giving up a single in the 12th to Miguel Olivo. Kevin Gregg then replaced him and promptly gave up back to back singles, including the game winner to Manny Ramirez. The loss was D.C.'s 5th straight. Newark's magic number for clinching the Hanover is now 5.

Arkansas defeated the Hitmen for the second straight time, taking a 6-4 contest yesterday. Ricky Nolasco pitched 6.2 innings and allowed only 1 run, while striking out 6 to claim his 10th victory of the year. The Falcons held off a late 8th inning rally by Hillsborough, then tacked on an insurance run to preserve the lead. Joakim Soria nailed down the 9th for his 25th save.

Edwin Encarnacion, in his first game back from a lengthy injury, went 5-6 with 2 RBIs and led the Bombers to a 6-5, 12th inning upset of the Endzone Animals. Encarnacion's double in the 12th was a key in moving the eventual game winning run over to third base (the slothlike Jason Kendall could not leg it out and score on the play). The loss dealt a blow to the Animals' playoff hopes, as they fell out to 3 1/2 games back of the final playoff spot. The Bombers had suffered through one of the worst injury stretches in the DMBL this year, at one time having 4 players on the shelf, so Encarnacion's return is just in time.

Amityville recently signed the 86-year old Jamie Moyer to fill in for several injuries in their rotation. Fresh from being cut by Team Buddah, the Ancient One held his former team to 1 run on 5 hits in 8 innings in picking up his 2nd win of the season (against 8 losses).