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.

End of the line: David Ortiz

On the eve of the start of a new season, some players won't be back for 2018, hanging up their DMBL cleats for good.

In memoriam: Yordano Ventura, Andy Marte

The baseball world, and by extension the DMBL world, lost two players last month to tragic car accidents in the Dominican Republic: Yordano Ventura, who was just 25, and 33-year-old Andy Marte, who was drafted as a budding prospect in the mid-2000s but never made the DMBL.

End Of The Line: A.J. Burnett

End Of The Line is an occasional offseason series that will take a closer look at the career of DMBL players leaving the league after the 2016 season. Today, we look at Allan James "A..J." Burnett, who leaves his mark on the league in a number of ways.

Carpenter hits for cycle in playoff win

Having your leadoff hitter go 5-for-5 is great. Having him hit for the cycle is just icing on the cake.

In what's believed to be a DMBL playoff first, Matt Carpenter of Las Vegas hit for the cycle, shredding the Hoboken pitching Wednesday night for five hits, three runs and two RBIs. The second-seeded Rat Pack took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 series against the No. 4 Cutters after the 10-1 thrashing.

Playing first base, Carpenter singled to lead off the game, later scoring on a wild pitch. He was stranded after a one-out double in the second. Leading off the 5th, Carpenter tripled and promptly scored on Joe Mauer's double, collecting three hits off starter Kyle Lohse. He singled off lefty reliever Luis Avilan in the 6th but did not complete the cycle until mashing a two-run home run in the 8th, again off Avilan.

Carpenter was one of the Rat Pack's two first-round picks in the 2013 draft, primarily playing first base against right-handers and compiling a solid rookie campaign, hitting .280/.347/.428, with 37 doubles.

Second-half winners and losers

Powered by a 15-game win streak, and winning 20 of 21 games in the final quarter of the season, Blue Ridge had the biggest turnaround in the second half. The 13-game improvement pushed the Bombers to a 45-34 record but it wasn't enough to clinch a playoff berth. Despite an eight-game drop-off in the second half, it was Arkansas that held on to secure the sixth and final playoff spot. The Golden Falcons enjoyed a 43-39 first half but stumbled to a 35-45 mark in the second half.

The Fisk division had two of the top turnarounds in the second half. Livingston Lords of Swing finished 69-93 overall but nearly went .500 in the second half, going 40-41 -- 11 wins better than their 29-51 first half.

Had the playoffs been based on the second half standings, it would have been Blue Ridge that had the sixth-best record. The only other change to the final playoff setup -- had they been based on the second half standings -- was Hoboken and Vancouver changing places as the 3rd and 4th seeds, respectively, thanks to the Cutters' six-game improvement versus the Iron Fist's five-game decline.

Both the league's top two teams remained consistent, with Philly notching 58 wins in the second half, after a 59-win first half, staying one game better than Las Vegas, which went 57-23 in the second half after a 56-26 first half. Brick City had the worst record in the second half, going 26-54, four wins fewer than they had in the first half. The biggest drops in the second half were by Bridgewater, 14 fewer wins and Amityville, 11 fewer wins.

Kruk
Philly, 58-22 (+1)
Hopatcong, 47-34 (-3)
Bridgewater, 26-53 (-14)
Brick City, 26-54 (-4)

Drabek
Las Vegas, 57-23 (-1)
Arkansas, 35-45 (-8)
Hillsborough, 35-46 (-2)
Amityville, 32-46 (-11)

Van Slyke
Hoboken, 52-30 (+6)
Rowdy, 37-42 (-2)
Marietta, 33-47 (0)
Boston, 31-47 (+2)
Fisk
Vancouver, 50-32 (-5)
Blue Ridge, 45-34 (+13)
Livingston, 40-41 (+11)
Sardine City, 37-45 (+1)

Next up, we'll take a look at the best individual performances during the second half of the 2013 season.

Blue Ridge keeps heat on Arkansas

The final 10 games (give or take) of the 2013 season are upon us and still the playoff race has yet to be resolved. Four teams are within four games of each other for the sixth and final playoff spot. Meanwhile, a battle is still on for the number-one seed as Philly has opened a 2 1/2-game lead on Las Vegas for home-field throughout the playoffs.

There's at least been some continuity as Arkansas has held on to the sixth spot for the past week but the view from behind has shifted as Blue Ridge continues to pile up the W's, passing Rowdy and Sardine City to pull within 1 1/2 games of the Golden Falcons. A week ago, the Bombers were 3 1/2 back of the Wild Card but have continued one of the great runs this season.

Whoever grabs the sixth seed likely will face No. 3 Vancouver in the first round of postseason while the others go into the draft lottery, a.k.a., the Yasiel Puig/Jose Fernandez sweepstakes. Two of the teams still in the hunt are assured of finishing below. 500, having suffered their 82nd loss.

Let's take a look at where they stand and what's on the horizon in the season's final 10 games:

Arkansas, 74-78, ----
Remaining schedule: .519 win percentage
v. Sardine City
2 @ Boston
2 v. Las Vegas
2 @ Philly
3 @ Sardine City
Arkansas just sort of treaded water last week, going 3-4, which was good enough, for now. The good news is that the Golden Falcons get Matt Harvey back from injury and should be able to squeeze two more starts out of him, including a likely start against Las Vegas while also avoiding Kris Medlen, who could return from the DL after their series. The bad news is their opponents' winning percentage is .521 thanks to a gauntlet of two-game sets against Vegas and Philly before their three-game season finale with Sardine City. Arkansas could bury the Straphangers with a win tonight (A.J. Griffin v. Brandon McCarthy) but they may have to start worrying about other teams at this point. The Golden Falcons have little room for error if they want to finish better than .500; they'll need a run of no worse than 8-2; no worse  than 7-3 to finish an even .500.

Blue Ridge, 72-79, 1 1/2 GB
Remaining schedule: .463 win percentage
@ Hillsborough
2 v. Philly
3 v. Livingston
2 @ Boston
3 v. Hillsborough
Blue Ridge has put together one of the great runs of the 2013 season, and quite possibly one of the best ever, at least to finish a season. Their only loss in the past 2+ weeks was a 2-1 setback against Brick City, otherwise we're talking about a 21-game win streak. Still, they've won 20 of their last 21 games, which came after a three-game skid, including a new 5-game win streak after their 15-win streak ended. All this after selling at the trade deadline (dealing Gio Gonzalez and David Hernandez). Their toughest opponent will be Philly but it's only two games this week. While Arkansas is dealing with powerhouses Las Vegas and Philly later this week, the Bombers get to face off against Livingston and Boston. Of the remaining teams, only Arkansas and Blue Ridge have any shot (albeit long) of finishing better than .500; the Bombers can only loss two more if they have any hope of avoiding a losing record.

Rowdy, 72-81, 3 GB
Remaining schedule: .595 win percentage
@ Philly
2 v. Amityville
3 @ Hoboken
2 v. Sardine City
2 v. Philly
The Roddy Pipers are still hanging around after an up-and-down stretch, going 3-4 to gain no ground on Arkansas. They face the toughest schedule over the final 10 games, including six games against playoff-bound Hoboken and Philly, two more against possibly a third playoff team in Sardine City, as well as two versus Amityville, who's just barely hanging on to a flicker of hope.

Sardine City, 70-82, 4 GB
Remaining schedule: .497 win percentage
@ Arkansas
2 v. Brick City
2 @ Vancouver
2 @ Rowdy
3 v. Arkansas
As long as Sardine City can remain within 3 games or less of Arkansas, they'll be within striking distance, with that three-game season finale in their back pocket. But that's the problem, at present they stand 4 games back as they enter Monday night's critical matchup at Arkansas. The Straphangers have stumbled badly of late, with just one win sandwiched around three losses last week to go 1-6, on top of a six-game skid two weeks ago, making them just 3-12 over their last 15 games. They had won 8 of 9 before that ugly stretch.

Amityville, 69-82, 4 1/2 GB
Remaining schedule: .439 win percentage
v. Livingston
2 @ Rowdy
3 v. Hillsborough
2 @ Brick City
3 @ Livingston
Amityville continues to face the weakest competition, at least according to opponents' win percentage, but it hasn't helped. The Ant Slayers are running out of time but they do have an extra game to play and have won three straight after losing three in a row last week. Either way, they probably will need quite a bit of help from others to make a run of destiny.

Five teams jockeying for playoffs -- or draft lottery?

Does anyone want the final, sixth playoff seed? As many as five teams might still have a shot to make the 2013 playoffs but it's almost as if some teams are doing anything they can to avoid it. Three playoff hopefuls have lost anywhere from four to seven games in a row as we head into the season's final two weeks.

Much of the playoff hunt has been set for some time, with the top 5 teams pulling away from the rest of the league in recent weeks. As far as seeding, Las Vegas has caught Philly for the top seed to make things interesting in the final weeks but most of the rest of the playoff dance card seems all but filled out: Hopatcong is on the cusp of clinching the top wild card and Hoboken is just a few games from putting away the Van Slyke Division.

The #6 seed has changed hands about three times in the past week, held at some point by Rowdy and Sardine City, but heading into Sunday's doubleheader this how it looks:

#6 Arkansas, 69-74, --
#7 Rowdy, 68-76, 1 1/2 GB
#8 Sardine City, 67-76, 2 GB
#9 Blue Ridge, 66-78, 3 1/2 GB
#10 Amityville, 64-79, 5 GB

Should the Golden Falcons hold on, it would be their first trip to the postseason since 2006. Rowdy just missed the playoffs last year but participated in 2011 as the Carolina Mudcats, as did Sardine City. Amityville last year secured the 4th seed while Blue Ridge has never made the postseason since joining the league in 2008. The way things are shaking out, whoever makes the playoffs could be the first sub-.500 squad to make the postseason.

Let's take a look at the contenders (who may be hoping to get into the lottery rather than the playoffs):

Arkansas, 69-74
Games remaining: 19 -- 11 road/8 home
Strength of schedule: .541 winning percentage for opponents
- 9 games versus teams with better records, including 7 against top 2 seeds (4 v. Las Vegas, 3 v. Philly)
- 10 games versus teams with worse records (including 5 v. Sardine City).

The Golden Falcons boasted an impressive road record earlier in the season and though it's evened out a bit, they're still 37-33. Could that be a good sign? They're the only team with a losing record that's better than .500 on the road (32-41 at home). They wrap up the year with a five-game road trip: two at Philly and a three-game set at Sardine City which could be a showdown for the 6th seed as the Straphangers currently trail by 3 1/2 games. The teams also meet earlier for two games in Arkansas.

Rowdy, 68-76, 1 1/2 GB 
Games remaining: 18 -- 9 road/9 home
Strength of schedule: .601 winning percentage for remaining opponents
- 13 games v. teams with better records (5 v. Hoboken, 4 v. Philly, 2 each v. Las Vegas and Vancouver)
- 5 games v. teams with worse records (including 2 v. Sardine City)

Rowdy lost out on the playoffs in last season's final game and only has two games (v. Sardine City) against teams jockeying for the final spot. The Roddy Pipers are just 1 1/2 games back of the final spot but have lost four in a row and face the most daunting schedule of any playoff contender the rest of the way.

Sardine City, 67-76, 2 GB
Games remaining: 19 -- 9 road/10 home
Strength of schedule: .516 winning percentage for remaining opponents
- 12 games v. teams with better records (including 5 v. Arkansas, 4 v. Vancouver)
- 7 games v. teams with worse records

The five remaining games between Sardine City and Arkansas could have a big impact on who gets the last playoff spot and conversely, who goes into the draft lottery. The Straphangers have to turn it around though after losing six straight.

Blue Ridge, 66-78, 3 1/2 GB 
Games remaining: 18 -- 5 road/13 home
Strength of schedule: .441 winning percentage for remaining opponents
- 3 games v. teams with better records (including 2 v. Philly and 1 v. Rowdy, who's just 2 games better)
- 15 games v. teams with worse records

As if winning 14 straight wasn't enough good news, the Bombers have the most home games remaining of any of the playoff contenders. Plus, Blue Ridge faces just one powerhouse opponent (Philly) the rest of the way, and only Amityville faces a weaker remaining schedule. The Cinderalla story for Blue Ridge could very well continue the rest of the season. The Bombers also enjoy three off days this week before playing their final 14 games. 
 
Amityville, 64-79, 5 GB
Games remaining: 19 -- 11 road/8 home
Strength of schedule: .438 winning percentage for remaining opponents 
- 4 games v. teams with better records (2 v. Hopatcong and 2 v. Rowdy)
- 15 games v. teams with worse records (5-game trip to end season; 2 v. Brick City, 3 v. Livingston)

The Ant Slayers have been in a downward spiral this week but if any team in the playoff hunt has an opportunity to turn things around -- and quickly -- it's Amityville. They face just one team with a winning record in their final 19 games (Hopatcong) and the only other team with a better record is Rowdy, who's only 3 1/2 games better.

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.

2k hits for Pujols, 200 SBs for Ichiro

Albert Pujols became the 14th player in DMBL history with 2,000 career hits. Philly's main man reached the milestone during the week leading up to the all-star break. While he homered off Roy Oswalt later in the game, it was a first-inning single that turned out to be 2k for Pujols. The Endzone Animals eventually topped Las Vegas for an 11-8 win, thanks to 10 runs in the last two frames, capped by a walk-off David Wright grand slam.

The first overall pick of the 2002 draft is on track to pass Mike Piazza (2,025) and Jeff Bagwell (2,047) and if he can pick up his current pace slightly (now 88 hits in 88 games), Pujols could surpass current free agent Bobby Abreu (2,089) for 11th all-time by season's end. Catching Ken Griffey, Jr. -- 10th with 2,176 hits -- would have to wait until the 2013 campaign. The Dominican native is still a few seasons away from challenging all-time hits leader Derek Jeter, who took that crown earlier this year.

(Trivia question: Who was selected second overall in the 2002 draft, after Pujols? Answer at the end of this post.)

Pujols had a career-low 161 hits in 2011, a year after his career-high 208 (when he won his second straight Mitchell Award), and has averaged 192 hits per season. He has been remarkably steady, logging at least 600 at-bats in each of his 10 seasons and playing an average of 160 games per year.

Two other players could reach the 2,000-hit mark this year: Vancouver's Todd Helton started the second half of the season needing just 13 more hits while Pujols' teammate, Ichiro Suzuki, was 29 hits away.

Ichiro reached his own career milestone this week. The Japanese import stole his 200th career base on Monday night, in the first game after the all-star break. The theft broke a tie with Chuck Knoblauch for 8th all-time. Ichiro started the year tied with Otis Nixon and Alex Rodriguez, each with 197 stolen bases.

(Trivia answer: The now-defunct Honolulu Sharks selected Oswalt -- way!)

K-Rod cracks top 10 in all-time appearances

Francisco Rodriguez passed Jason Isringhausen to move into 9th all-time in appearances, with 542. K-Rod tossed two scoreless innings of relief in Sunday's game one, a 7-6 home win over Amityville.

With 31 appearances this year, Rodriguez is on pace to move into the top 5 in 2012. He passed Rick Aguilera (513) earlier this season to break into the top 10 and also is second among active pitchers, trailing only Mariano Rivera (1,156). Isringhausen is active, with 541 appearances, but hasn't signed on with a franchise this season. A busy year and K-Rod could very well reach Billy Wagner, who's 4th all-time with an even 700 games; he's averaged 64 appearances over his first eight seasons.

Though he hasn't yet recorded a save, K-Rod is enjoying a fine season in his return to Las Vegas, who selected him at the end of the 6th round this year. He's 1-2 with a 2.47 ERA and 1.02 WHIP, but even more impressively, only 4 of 24 inherited runners have scored (.167).

K-Rod also stands 8th all-time in saves with 128 but hasn't been a full-time closer since his days with Blue Ridge (2008-2010). He needs only two saves to match Roberto Hernandez for 7th all-time.

Now in his ninth season, Rodriguez broke in with Philly as a 2nd round pick (20th overall) in 2004. He notched a career-high 34 saves in back-to-back campaigns in 2006 and 2007 and then was shipped to Las Vegas with Erik Bedard in exchange for Mark Teixeira and a 3rd round pick. But it wasn't the last time he'd be traded; in fact, K-Rod has been shipped off to other teams five times in his career.

By July 2008, the Rat Pack exchanged him for Joe Nathan in a deal with then-D.C. (now Bridgewater) but he never threw a pitch for the Bushslappers. Mere weeks later, he was included in a seven-player deal to Blue Ridge. He spent a few good years with the Bombers, who then dealt him to Newark for an 11th-rounder before the start of last season. He didn't spend much with the Sugar Bears either, going to Marietta in a giant eight-player deal early in the 2011 campaign.

Granderson hits for the cycle

Curtis Granderson hit for the cycle Thursday night, starting with a home run in the 1st inning and completing it with a triple in the 9th. The Las Vegas centerfielder went 4-for-5 with 3 RBIs and 2 runs scored, leading the Rat Pack to a road win over the Hoboken Cutters, 8-7.

Granderson started it off in the first inning with a home run off Ricky Romero after the Hoboken starter walked the first two batters of the game. The Grandyman added a single in the 3rd and a double in the 5th before grounding to first to end the 6th. With one out in the 9th, Granderson tripled off another lefty, reliever Bill Bray, to complete the cycle.

Milestone night for Oswalt

Roy Oswalt, the longtime Honolulu Shark who has bounced around four different teams in the last five seasons, last night became the 16th pitcher in league history to make 300 starts, while becoming the 13th hurler to reach 2,000 innings pitched. It was quite the milestone game as Oswalt fell to 2-5 on the season, matching Tim Hudson for 10th all-time in losses, with 112. He also sits just 12 strikeouts from 1,500, a mark only 14 pitchers have reached.

Oswalt reached the milestone in the uniform of the Las Vegas Rat Pack, who selected him in the 4th round of this year's draft, after spending the last two seasons in Vancouver. He won a career-high 17 games last year for the Iron Fist but spent his first six seasons in Honolulu, where he was the workhorse of the staff, going 75-74 in 194 starts but averaging 32 starts and 221 innings per year. He also spent a season each with Tampa (2008) and Amityville (2009).

The Mississippi native is now tied with Kevin Appier, who sits at 15th all-time with an even 300 starts. Oswalt is likely to pass Al Leiter, up next at 308, and if he can stay healthy enough to make 26 starts this year, he'd pass David Wells at 315 and move into 13th all-time. Could Oswalt be putting together a potential Hall of Fame career?

Oswalt very nearly had a complete game, which would have been his 43rd, matching David Cone for 11th all-time. He was lifted after 8 2/3, plunking pinch-hitter Ian Desmond before making way for Fernando Rodney who promptly gave up the game-winning double to Justin Smoak in the 5-4 loss.

Hudson nearly no-hits Hitmen

Rookie Daniel Hudson on Sunday came within two outs of what would have been the third no-hitter in the DMBL this season. It would've been the second by a rookie, and the second for Las Vegas, this season. Hillsborough's Billy Butler singled down the left-field line with one out in the 9th, the second time he reached base in the 4-0 win for Last Vegas.

Hudson, acquired from New Jersey earlier this year, finished with five strikeouts and two walks. Butler led off the 7th reaching on an error before getting wiped out by a double play. Hudson walked Placido Polanco in the 3rd and Aubrey Huff leading off the 8th before plunking Polanco later in the 8th.

The top overall pick in this year's draft, Hudson was dealt to Las Vegas, along with Carlos Marmol, in exchange for five draft picks: a 3rd-rounder and a 5th-rounder in 2012, and 1st-, 5th- and 6th-round picks in 2013. Hudson improved to 13-9 on the season, 6-3 in 10 starts with a 1.93 ERA for the Rat Pack (he was 7-6 with a 4.17 ERA with New Jersey). It was his first shutout with Las Vegas; he had one with New Jersey as well.

Hudson's Rat Pack teammate, Brett Myers, no-hit New Jersey, 1-0, last month while fellow rookie Stephen Strasburg of Carolina no-hit Philly, 5-0, in May.

Rivera notches 400th save

Mariano Rivera continued to solidify his case for the DMBL Hall of Fame by recording his 400th save. He finished off a 3-0 win at home over the New Jersey Buddahs last week to preserve the victory for Francisco Liriano. He's all alone in first place on the all-time saves list, way ahead of his closest rival, Billy Wagner of Las Vegas, who entered the season sitting at 290 saves. No one else has even 200 saves. Rivera is the only DMBL pitcher to crack 1,000 appearances, entering this season with 1,047.
He's also closing in on 1,100 career strikeouts (he started the year with 1,091), inching closer to Trevor Hoffman, who tops all relievers with 1,119 K's.

Mallers get a little breathing room

Bridgewater gave themselves a little bit of a cushion in the Morris Division with an 8-5 win over Las Vegas. Chris Carpenter improved to 9-5 with a solid 7.2 inning effort giving up only 2 runs and striking out 6. Erick Aybar and Ben Molina each had 3 hits and Molina hit 2 homers and drove in 3 runs. Alex Rodriguez hit two home runs and drove in all 5 runs in defeat for the Rats. The Mallers opened up a 2-game lead on Vancouver, who lost 10-5 to Hoboken. Kosuke Fukudome was 5-5 and Miguel Cabrera and Adam Dunn each had 3 RBIs to lead the Cutters offense. The win broke Vancouver's 5-game winning streak.

Jorge Cantu also had a 5-for-5 day for Amityville in their 11-9 win over Arkansas. The Falcons dropped their 8th straight game. The Ant Slayers scored 6 runs in the 1st to take the early lead, but the Falcons clawed their way back and tied the game up in the 5th. A Miguel Tejada double gave the Slayers the lead back and Amityville extended their lead to 9-6. The Falcons kept trying to come back, but fell just short in the end.

And now for a game that featured almost zero offense...Hillsborough's Justin Verlander and New Jersey's Andy Pettitte were locked in a 0-0 game. The Hitmen finally broke through in the 9th, as Casey McGehee hit a walk-off single to give the Hitmen the victory. Verlander lasted 7 innings, giving up 5 hits and striking out 8, but didn't get a decision. Pettitte, who did get the loss, pitched 8.1 innings, giving up 6 hits and striking out 7.

Tuesday trade roundup

Two deals went through yesterday as Las Vegas and Vancouver both tried to upgrade their lineups for a playoff push.

After faltering and losing 6 straight and losing control of the Morris Division, Vancouver has actually turned things around and won 4 straight. Their anemic offense - ranked 13th in OPS (.723) - needed a punch. The Fist grabbed Jason Kubel from Amityville to help provide that punch. Kubel was only hitting .249/.312/.444 this season for the Ant Slayers, but Vancouver thinks he can help the team score some more runs. The Fist gave up pitcher Chad Billingsley, who has been lingering all year in the minors. Billingsley was 11-11 with a 5.12 ERA and 171 strikeouts last season for Vancouver. Billingsley is still young, however, and Amityville thinks that he will rebound. In addition to the players, the two teams exchanged draft picks - Amityville gets a second rounder, and Vancouver gets a 4th.

The bigger trade involved Las Vegas sending a boatload of draft picks to Hoboken in exchange for outfielder Brad Hawpe, reliever Nick Massett, and starter Edwin Jackson. Jackson may be best remembered for being dumped unceremoniously by Blue Ridge a few months back despite having solid numbers. But the Bombers were vindicated by Jackson's putrid record in Hoboken (2-5, 9.14 ERA in 8 starts). Massett was another player that was struggling (2-0, 5.27 in 40 appearances), but Vegas thinks both players could be assets. Outfielder Hawpe is a solid player who was hitting .274/.351/.510 for Hoboken with 12 homers and 32 RBIs. The Cutters received three picks in the 2011 draft (3rd,6th, and 10th) and 2 in 2012 (5th and 12th).

Not content to just make a trade, Las Vegas decided to clean house and parted with some interesting players. Rich Harden, a player that Vegas paid a lot to acquire several years ago from Vancouver, was jettisoned as owner Eric Wickstrom had grown increasingly frustrated by his lack of production. "It's the end of an error" said Wickstrom. Harden was joined on the way out by veterans Jose Contreras, Jeremy Guthrie, and Gary Sheffield. Another interesting castoff is young first baseman Chris Davis. Davis was a high draft selection in the 2009 draft (#2 overall), but his knack for striking out had put him in the Rat Pack's doghouse (or rathouse?). Also joining Davis on the curb is outfielder Scott Hairston. The purge left room for the Rat Pack to sign retreads Randy Wolf, Juan Pierre, and Gabe Kapler. "They may not sound spectacular" said Wickstrom, "but each one has a key role to play on this squad."

Greinke streak over, Vancouver bounced from first

Vancouver was knocked out of their first place tie with Bridgewater and Blue Ridge, but the bigger story was Zack Greinke's streak ending. Greinke, of course, started the season off 13-0, but couldn't hold back the Sardines yesterday. The Iron Fist had a 2-1 lead after their half of the 7th inning, but Marco Scutaro's bases-loaded double scored 3 runs for the Straphangers. Greinke's ERA ballooned to 1.87 on the season after giving up 4 runs in 7 innings.

Vancouver's loss was costly as Bridgewater defeated Amityville 8-6. Raul Ibanez was 3-4 with 2 RBIs and a double and homer as the Mallers collected 15 hits. Blue Ridge also took advantage with a 6-2 win over Team Buddah. Gavin Floyd improved to 7-3 with a strong effort, giving up 1 run in 7.2 innings and striking out 7. The Mallers hold a percentage point advantage for first place.

Las Vegas scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 9th to tie up their game against Hillsborough and send it to extra innings. Chris Davis hit a two-run single that tied up the game in the 9th. Unfortunately for the Rats, it wasn't meant to be. Ben Zobrist hit a solo homer in the top of the 11th and Ryan Madson held the fort down in the bottom half of the inning to preserve the 4-3 win.

Comeback kids

Vancouver blew an 8-0 lead against the Falcons yesterday and ended up losing in extra innings 9-8. The Fist jumped all over starter Johan Santana early, but he settled in nicely after the 2nd, pitching 6 scoreless innings before departing. The Falcons' 4-run 8th inning tied the game up, then in the 10th Chris Coghlan hit a walkoff double, winning the series for the Falcons. Skip Schumaker ended the game 5-6 with 3 doubles.

Hoboken also came back against the Rat Pack, though a 2-0 lead is much more forgiveable. The Rats held the lead until the 9th inning. Adam Kennedy started it off with a one-out single and an error by Gary Sheffield. The next batter struck out and it looked like the Rats would be able to shut the door on the Cutters, but Denard Span hit a triple to score Kennedy. Dallas Braden was called in to take over - the Rats bullpen was exhausted with Rich Harden leaving the game early due to injury. Braden walked his first batter, then gave up the game tying single to Miguel Cabrera. Finally, Mike Napoli hit a 3-run homer to win the game for Hoboken.

Sardine City's Ubaldo Jimenez continued his breakout season. Jimenez limited the Mighty Men to just 4 hits in a complete game victory. He struck out 5 and walked 3 while allowing only 1 earned run, improving his record to 8-4.

Amityville and Philadelphia made a curious trade yesterday, giving themselves back their own draft picks and exchanging two players. Amityville sent outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury to Philadelphia along with their 9th round pick back. Meanwhile Philly gave up young pitcher Clayton Richard and gave Amityville back their 2nd round pick. Philadelphia also took the opportunity to do a little housecleaning, getting rid of Tony Gwynn and Kris Medlen and taking on George Sherrill and Jhonny Peralta.

Streaks and swoons

The Mighty Men have reasserted themselves as the top dog in the DMBL with a 4-game winning streak. Yesterday, the Mighty Men shellacked the Ant Slayers 11-5 behind Ichiro Suzuki's 3-5, 7-RBI night. Ichiro hit a double and a home run - his 5th, to lead the Mighty Men offense. The win puts the Mighty Men up by 5 games over Newark in the Hanover Division race.

Bridgewater won their second straight game over Carolina in extra innings, this time winning 5-4 in 12 innings. Ryan Zimmerman roped a single in the 12th to drive in the winning run. Zimmerman ended the night 4-6. Bridgewater won the previous game 10-9 in 10 innings.

Blue Ridge has come down to earth, dropping their last 3, including yesterday's 10-3 drubbing at the hands of Hillsborough. Shin Soo Choo hit 2 homers in the game and his third in the series so far. Hillsborough is now only 1/2 game behind Bridgewater and 2 games behind Blue Ridge in the Morris Division.

Las Vegas, who pulled off a big trade for slugger Mark Teixeira, has yet to see the benefits of the swap. They lost their 4th straight, a 3-2 nailbiter against Vancouver. However, fans in Vegas are hopeful that Tex just needs an adjustment period to the hot desert climate, like fellow acquiree, Alex Rodriguez. As you may recall, A-Rod started his Vegas season struggling mightily, but now is one of the lineups most potent threats.