Sardine City evens up series at 2-2

Sardine City throttled the Hoboken bullpen, erupting for 6 runs in the 6th inning, on its way to a 8-5 win in Game 4, to tie the DMBL World Series at 2 games a piece.

Scherzer shuts down Tucson in Game 7 win

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

Tucson hitting heats up for Game 5 win

Rich Hill limited Hoboken to 4 hits over 7 innings and Tucson used a 5-run 7th inning to turn a pitchers' duel into a 7-1 rout in Game 5 on Wednesday night. The 2nd-seeded Kingsnakes now lead the Best-of-7 series as Game 6 shifts to Hoboken.

Kershaw shuts down Tucson

Clayton Kershaw limited Tucson to 2 hits over 7 innings and the bullpen held on for 4-1 win at Hoboken in Game 3, to take a 2-1 lead in the Best-of-7 semifinal series.

Bailey twirls Bridgewater's first no-hitter

Another trophy for the mantle

Homer Bailey was one batter away from the first perfect game in DMBL history but had to settle for tossing the 12th no-hitter in league history and the first ever for the Bridgewater franchise. Bailey struck out 10 in blanking Sardine City 3-0 on Sunday at The Cannery.

It's the first no-hitter in the DMBL since August 2012 when Hopatcong's Josh Tomlin no-hit Hillsborough.

Bailey's only blemish was the sixth inning. The Mallers right-hander retired the first 17 batters before walking the No. 9 hitter, Marco Scutaro, and followed that up with a wild pitch before retiring Christian Yelich. Of Bailey's 120 pitches, 76 were strikes.

Bridgewater got their offense from a second-inning solo home run by catcher Brian McCann, an RBI single that Carlos Beltran tried to stretch into a double that ended the third, and a solo shot from Jose Reyes in the seventh. Dillon Gee went 7 innings, allowing 8 hits and 3 runs to take the loss for the Straphangers.

The almost-28-year-old (he turns 28 on May 3) has struggled in the first month of the season, twice going 4+ innings, leaving in the 3rd with an injury, and lasting just 1 inning in another start. Despite that, Bailey even his record to 1-1, lowering his ERA to 5.70, with a 1.18 WHIP. He's now fourth in the league with 11.0 strikeouts per 9 innings. The no-no is a bright spot in what's been a tough start for the Mallers, who suffered through a 10-game skid earlier and stand at 6-16 through Sunday's doubleheader.

At least the last three no-hitters in the league have been firsts for their franchises. Tomlin's was the first for Hopatcong and earlier that year, Ubaldo Jimenez and Jason Motte combined to toss Sardine City's first-ever no-no.

A Duel For Batting Title Heading Into Final Weekend

It's been almost a foregone conclusion for some time that a Bridgewater Maller or a Rowdy Roddy Piper will go home with the 2012 batting title. For the last few weeks, the top three batters in the league hail from those two squads, as well as four of the top five and six of the top 10.

Bridgewater DH/catcher Victor Martinez holds the edge at the moment, batting .333 (160-480, .333333) followed by veteran Michael Young of Rowdy, hitting .331 (220-664, .331325). Each have two games to play after yesterday's off day. Martinez has started 49 games at catcher and 67 at DH while Young has started 159 (of Rowdy's 160 games) at third base.

Assuming Young gets 8 at-bats in the final two games versus St. Louis, 4 hits would push him into an even tie with Martinez at .333333 -- if Martinez were to not get any at-bats, that is. A sizzling 5 hits over two games (assuming the 8 ABs) would mean a .334821 batting average for Young and time for Martinez to start looking over his shoulder. Anything less than three hits in 8 ABs (which would lift his average to .331845) and Young will have to hope for Martinez to swing and miss regularly.

Martinez tends to sit against lefties, though he's hit them well in only 78 at-bats (.372/.424/.500). Tonight's scheduled starter for Philly is Travis Wood, potentially leaving just one start for Martinez, or 4 at-bats out of the cleanup spot. Should he go hitless, he would finish at .331 (.330578), a 1-for-4 night would leave him at .333 (.332644), while 3-for-4 would essentially put the crown out of reach for Young at .336776. Of course, if V-Mart comes off the bench, there's always the pinch-hit opportunity, which would mean an additional at-bat, maybe two.

It's Young who's likely to finish as the league leader in overall hits, now sitting on 220, leading Bridgewater's Jose Reyes and Robinson Cano of Hopatcong, both at 206.

Young broke in with Vancouver in 2003 as a part-time player, secured a full-time gig in 2005 and went on to play three consecutive 162-game seasons. He hit a career-high .331 with 237 hits in 2006. Though he's never hit above .300 or gotten 200 hits otherwise (198 in '05), Young has been a model of consistency, entering this season with a career .286 average. He joined Carolina (now Rowdy) last year where he started 162 games. He's started no fewer than 140 (2010 with Hoboken) since those early days in Vancouver.

Another longtime Iron Fister, Martinez spent his first five seasons in Vancouver (2005-2009). He hit for a career-high .306 in 2006, eclipsed .300 again in 2009 (.301), and like Young also entered 2012 with a .286 average.

As for other batting categories, Kevin Mitchell Award contender Prince Fielder of Rowdy has overtaken the league lead in the RBI race in the past two weeks, with 131, ahead of Hopatcong's Joey Votto (138), who enjoyed an 8-RBI night last week. Fielder also passed Jose Bautista of Hoboken in the home run race, holding a 51-49 advantage.

Reyes first to 100 triples

Jose Reyes became the first player in DMBL history to reach 100 triples for his career when he collected his fourth three-bagger of the season in a 9-8 win on Sunday. Reyes tripled in the 6th off Livingston's Jake Arrieta to drive in Ruben Tejada and later scored on a Victor Martinez single.

Reyes has reached double-digits in four of his six DMBL seasons, including a career-high 24 triples in 2007 -- and in 2006, splitting time between Westwood and D.C. -- and another 20 last year. He missed 2010 due to injury. But Reyes doesn't hold the season record for triples; that's Curtis Granderson, now with Las Vegas, who hit 33 in 2008 (and MicroLeague record holder Deion Sanders, who hit 62 of his 75 career triples in 1993).

The Bridgewater shortstop is off to a blistering start in 2012, leading the league in batting much of the year, thanks in part to a league-high 19-game hitting streak.

Right behind Reyes is Amityville's Carl Crawford who, with three triples this season, now has 93 for his career. After that, it's a bit of a drop-off with three retired players (Kenny Lofton, Sanders and Roberto Alomar) in the 70s, and even further for active players, with Livingston's Jimmy Rollins and Bridgewater's Carlos Beltran in the high 60s.

Vancouver implodes in spectacular fashion

Vancouver seemed to be cruising, entering the 8th inning with a 6-1 lead over Arkansas, but manager Darren Daulton thought starter Greg Maddux had one more inning in him... Things looked good at first - Maddux retired the first two batters, but then it all fell apart. The next two batters singled, then Lance Berkman drove them in with a double. David Wright singled next, then Rick Ankiel hit another to drive in Berkman. That was enough for Maddux, and closer Billy Wagner was brought in to preserve the 6-4 lead. Wagner gave up a single to his first batter that made it a one-run game, then served up a 3-run homer to J. J. Hardy, losing the lead. The Falcons scored 7 runs in the inning and won the game 8-6 as the demoralized Iron Fist were sent down in order in the 9th.

Carolina got revenge on Hillsborough and evened their series with a 5-4 victory. Magglio Ordonez and Xavier Nady each had 2 RBIs and Dustin Pedroia was 3-5. John Maine improved to 9-3 on the season with a solid 6.1 inning effort. The Cats are now 1/2 game out of first.

Marietta's 10-game winning streak came to an end, smashed to bits in a 12-5 Sardine City victory. The Straphangers scored 7 runs in the 4th inning, then 4 more in the 5th to seal the deal. Starter Jon Danks gave up 8 runs, though only one was earned. Orlando Hudson's error in the 4th opened the floodgates and allowed Sardine City to extend the inning. The Sardines only managed 11 hits and one walk, but were extremely efficient, leaving only 2 men stranded in the game.

D.C. won their 7th game 13-6 against Blue Ridge. Jose Reyes was 4-5 with 3 RBIs, and almost hit for the cycle, but decided to get an extra triple instead. Reyes leads the league with 14 triples. Brian McCann also was 3-5 with a homer and 5 RBIs and Matt Kemp was 2-5 with a homer and 4 RBIs.

Endzone Animals begin fire sale

We're almost at the halfway mark and it looks like Philadelphia seens to be packing it in for the season. The Endzone Animals announced this morning that several of their players were up on the auction block. It didn't take long for the moves to start being made. The Animals shipped off catcher John Baker and reliever Huston Street to the Las Vegas Rat Pack for their 4th round pick next year. Shortly after that, the Animals sent starter Shawn Marcum to Marietta for their 5th round pick. It doesn't seem that they're quite done either, as several other players have been rumored to be available, including star third baseman Alex Rodriguez. The Animals are 40-42 and sit in 8th place overall.

We forgot to mention that Sunday, in a 5-3 win over Las Vegas, D.C.'s Jose Reyes tied the record for career triples with 77, held by Kenny Lofton. The next active players on the triples chart are Carl Crawford (58) and Carlos Beltran (57), so Reyes has a bit of a cushion.

The All-Star voting results should be up some time tonight. We had an extremely good turnout this year in terms of votes!

Carolina-Sardine City double shutout ends in OT

Carolina and Sardine City were scoreless for 13 innings in yesterday's standoff. Tim Hudson left the game early with undisclosed pains, but the Carolina pen had held the opposition to only 5 hits. Meanwhile, Dustin McGowan was doing the same thing on the other side, pitching 8 innings and holding Carolina to 5 hits as well. Because of Hudson's early departure though, the team had burned through their relievers early and had to call on starter Daisuke Matsuzaka in the 13th. In the top of the 14th, the shutout was broken as Carlos Delgado popped a homer over the centerfield wall. Dice-K seemed to be cruising, striking out the first two batters, but appeared fatigued when he walked Stephen Drew. Manager Mark Carreon elected to go to Roy Halladay. On his second pitch, Conor Jackson deposited the ball into the left field bleachers, ending the game by a 2-1 count.

Las Vegas edged Newark yesterday 3-2, taking their 5th straight victory. Tim Lincecum improved to 8-1 with 7 innings of shutout ball. Lincecum held the Sugar Bears to 5 hits and 2 walks and struck out 7. The Rats scored all three runs in the 6th inning, then held off the Sugar Bears who tried to claw back in the later innings. Richie Sexson was 3-4 with 2 RBIs in the game.

D.C.'s Jose Reyes hit two triples in yesterday's 11-6 loss to Vancouver, giving him 76 in his career and 10 on the season. Not only did that break a tie with Roberto Alomar (74) for 4th all-time, but it also passed Deion Sanders (75) and put Reyes within one of the all-time mark, held by Kenny Lofton (77). The 25-year old Reyes should easily obliterate the old mark.

New Jersey and Amityville agreed to a swap for disgruntled outfielder Alfonso Soriano. Soriano had been limited to a platoon role this season, but excelled in the limited time, hitting .353 with a 1.193 OPS in 51 at bats. With Amityville, Soriano should get more playing time. New Jersey receives Philadelphia's 2nd pick next year as well as Amityville's 6th round pick.

Crawford leads Bombers to 5 straight

Blue Ridge continued their hot streak, taking their fifth straight and sweeping Arkansas with an 8-6 win. The Falcons scored 6 runs in the first inning but the Bombers would not be deterred. The Bombers took the lead with a 5-run 4th inning that featured a 2-run Mark DeRosa home run. Neither starting pitcher lasted long. Gavin Floyd was chased in the first inning and the Falcons' Ricky Nolasco was ousted in the 4th, but the bullpens did the job. The two bullpens only gave up one run in their 12.2 innings combined - and that one earned run was given up by Jose Valverde, who left the game with an injury. Carl Crawford was 4-5 with 3 RBIs, missing the cycle for the second straight day by one home run.

Jose Reyes was 5-5, leading his team to a 7-2 win over Vancouver. Reyes had a double and a triple, plus a stolen base in the contest. Oliver Perez held the Fist to only 2 hits over 6.2 innings, but he was wild, giving up 4 walks and 2 runs. In the game, Ryan Spilborghs' hitting streak came to an end - yes we got the death threats about jinxing him yesterday, thank you Chester M. in Tacoma.

Amityville knocked off Hoboken 8-6 yesterday, perhaps basking in the positive glow of picking up outfielder Lastings Milledge off waivers from D.C. Milledge was 1-2 in the game, but the team said he brought something more to the game. "It's the intangibles that Milledge brings and a general positive outlook" said teammate Pat Burrell. Burrell was so inspired by Milledge's optimism that he hit a 3-run game winning home run yesterday.

Newark took the rubber match of their series with Vegas yesterday, but it wasn't easy. The two teams battled it out for 14 innings, until Newark broke the 2-2 tie with a 4-run inning. Vegas tried to rally but could only score one more run - OK, the Sugar Bears practically gave it to them when Joey Devine walked two batters and then Scott Downs tossed a pitch in the dirt to score the lone run, but I digress.

Pre-Season Opening Day Notes

The mighty Newark Sugar Bears opened spring with a whimper yesterday. Roy Halladay and the Carolina Mudcats held the defending champs to only six hits in an 8-0 blanking. Halladay went the distance and Aramis Ramirez went 3-3 with a homer and 4 RBIs. Number one pick overall Dustin Pedroia also had three hits and scored three runs.

Alex Rodriguez had four RBIs and a homer in his Arkansas Falcon debut. The Falcons pounded away on Blue Ridge 11-4. Josh Beckett continues his DMBL-related struggles after giving up six runs (four earned) on nine hits in 3 2/3 innings.

Chris Young opened strong for the Rat Pack by pitching a 2-hit, one-run, complete game agaisnt the Mighty Men. Matt Holliday hit two homers and drove in four runs and Frank Thomas also had a homer in the contest.

Jose Reyes led the D.C. Bushslappers to an 11-2 rout of the Philly Endzone Animals. Reyes was 4-5 with a homer and five RBIs. Johan Santana was roughed up in his spring debut (3 IP, 5 ER). Santana claimed that he was tinkering with some new pitches in the game and was off on his location. "Don't worry, I'll be ready on Opening Day" said Santana in a postgame pres conference. D.C.'s top pick Matt Kemp went 2-4 with an RBI in the game.

Sardine City and Tampa Bay battled it out to a 1-0 final in the Straphangers favor. Fausto Carmona pitched all nine innings, surrendering only three hits, though he walked five. Mark Buerhle (8 IP, 7 H, ER) was the hard-luck loser for the Plunkers.

Reyes races toward record

Only four games in the DMBL yesterday, so let's get to it.

Arkansas finally got a win against Newark yesterday, scraping out a 6-5 win as the series shifted to the Natural State. Newark held the lead until Lance Berkman hit a three-run homer to tie things up. Berkman was brought in to pinch-hit for catcher Henry Blanco. The game ended as Cla Meredith hit Chris Coste with the bases loaded in the ninth to end the game. A walkoff hit by pitch? "He was crowding the inside of the plate and I own the plate" said Meredith after the game. "I don't care if we lost as long as he got the message."

Derek Jeter and Matt Diaz each had three hits and Wily Mo Pena drove in 3 RBIs as Marietta breezed by the Mudcats 7-3. Woody Williams earned his second straight win after a dismal start. "My first three starts are really a test" said Williams. "If the team sticks with me after three bad games, then I start to pitch well." Vancouver benched Williams after three dreadful starts and later traded him to Marietta. Williams' ERA now stands at 7.43 for the season. Marietta has now won seven straight.

Kelvim Escobar and the Bushslappers had no problems with the Rat Pack yesterday, easily winning 7-1. Escobar contributed 8 innings en route to his 12th win of the season. Jose Reyes hit his 20th triple of the season and continues to ascend the all-time mark. In only his third season, Reyes is already eighth on the all-time chart with 51, only 24 shy of the all-time mark of 75 set by Deion Sanders. "I must erase the stain of Deion from the record books" said Reyes.

South Boston pounded out a 12-2 win over the Straphangers yesterday. Garrett Atkins, Prince Fielder, and Vladimir Guerrero each had three RBIs in the victory.

Sunday wrapup

Vancouver has now won five straight after a two-month long slump and are now tied for sixth overall. The Fist have taken the first two from Hoboken over the weekend behind solid pitching efforts from Greg Maddux and Jake Peavy. Vancouver took game one after Juan Rincon couldn't hold the 2-1 lead in the ninth. Moises Alou hit a two-run single to take the lead from the Cutters. Game two also required some late inning heroics from Vancouver. John Garland was cruising behind a 2-0 lead in the seventh when Mike Lowell hit a three-run homer to give Vancouver the lead. Jake Peavy limited the Cutters to five hits and two runs over seven innings for the win, striking out 11.

The Honolulu Sharks dropped their last two games to Philly and now have fallen into a sixth-place tie with Vancouver. Philly's Johan Santana struck out 11 in 8.1 innings en route to his 14th win of the year. Jose Lopez was 3-3 with a homer run in the first game and 2-4 with 2 RBIs in the second. Brandon Webb pitched 8 solid innings to give the Animals a 4-2 win. David Ross added two solo home runs in the victory.

Marietta is now sitting comfortably atop the wild card standings after winning five straight. Trevor Hoffman held off a late Mudcat rally in the ninth to preserve an 8-7 win for the Mighty Men. Derek Jeter moved into 10th on the all-time hits list. Newly-acquired B.J. Ryan was a key part to the game two victory, pitching three perfect innings, striking out five and earning his first victory as a Mighty Man. Ryan has now pitched seven innings for Marietta and has not allowed a single baserunner. He has also struck out 11.

D.C. pounded away on Las Vegas in game one, then were lucky to escape with a victory in the second game. Jose Reyes went 4-4, leading the way for the Bushslappers 20-hit, 13-3 win over Vegas in game one. Pinch-hitter Mike Lamb was the only Slapper to not get a hit. Game two took 10 innings, but D.C. pulled off the victory anyway, 3-2. The game was tied in the early innings and the two bullpens were taking turns shutting each other down. Jose Reyes finally broke the tie in the 10th with a triple that scored Carlos Beltran. Joe Nathan pitched a perfect 10th to earn the save.

Blog bits... Mike Piazza hit his 2000th career DMBL hit in New Jersey's 7-5 win over Hillsborough. He's the seventh player to do so in the history of the league. In the same series, Alex Rodriguez passed Barry Larkin for #14 on the hits list...Newark's Chipper Jones tied Sammy Sosa for number 9 on the RBI list with 1237.

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.

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.

Grief too much to bear for Reyes

Perhaps no one was affected by the news of Josh Hancock's demise more than teammate Jose Reyes. Reyes tried to play through the pain yesterday, but after legging out a double in the top of the 10th, Reyes asked to be taken out of the game. "I just couldn't go on pretending nothing was wrong" said Reyes after the game. Despite the fact that Hancock pitched in the game, and pitched well (2.1 IP, 0 runs), Reyes still opted out. "Maybe it was seeing him out there, a lifeless shell of what he was, that pushed him over the edge" said manager Kevin Elster. Reyes will take the rest of the week off to grieve. When asked to comment on the situation, the Josh Hancock zombie could only respond "brains....".

Meanwhile in Vancouver, Granderson-mania is running wild. The recently recalled rookie was 2-2 last night with a triple, raising his average to .800! Granderson has been subbing for the injured J.D. Drew. Granderson was so excited that he had to leave the game last night and will probably be rested tonight against lefty Johan Santana.

Hoboken's Vicente Padilla improved to 5-0 yesterday after an impressive 7 inning start in which he limited the Straphangers to two runs on eight hits and three walks. Padilla struck out seven.

Jered Weaver made his return from injury yesterday and looked good despite not factoring into the decision. Weaver pitched 8 innings, allowing 9 hits and 4 runs (2 earned), one walk and eight strikeouts. Reliever Tom Gordon blew the save for Weaver after the Sharks went up by one on a three-run ninth inning, but Gordon couldn't hold on to the lead and Team Buddah scored two to win the game on a Jacques Jones RBI-single in the ninth.

All good things must come to an end

Matt Diaz's hitting streak ended last night at 23 with an 0-4 against South Boston. Despite getting a hit during all five straight losses prior to yesterday, the streak came to an end in a victory for the Mighty Men. Apparently Diaz was just satisfied in passing Miguel Cabrera for the season-high hitting streak. "No way Cabrera should have that recognition...he doesn't deserve it" said Diaz after the game. "Anyone but a damned Cutter." It is unknown why Diaz is so livid with the Hoboken organization at this time. Meanwhile South Boston's five-game winning streak also came to a halt after the 8-6 Marietta victory.

The Mudcats shocked the Animals again yesterday, besting them and ace starter Johan Santana 4-1 yesterday. Santana was not involved in the decision as he and Mudcat starter Carlos Zambrano had dueled to a 1-1 tie through seven innings only to watch J.J. Putz give up RBI doubles to Travis Hafner and Grady Sizemore in the eighth. The Cats have a ways to go to climb back into the playoff picture, but at least they're on the right track again.

D.C.'s hardluck pitcher Anibal Sanchez finally got his first win yesterday against Vancouver. Despite a 2.55 ERA and five quality starts, Sanchez was 0-5 in his first eight games this year. Sanchez was not at his best yesterday (8 IP, 5 ER, 1 K) but the Bushslappers finally scored some runs for him, giving Sanchez his first career DMBL victory. Jose Reyes was 5-6 in the game with three stolen bases. "Sanchez begged me before the game to do what I could to win the game for him" said Reyes after the game. "I told him to stop crying and act like a man."