Five things to remember from 2007

As the last post of the year (I'm going to take the day off on Monday), we'll take a look at some of the memories from the 2007 season.

1. Liriano vs. Santana
All year long these two were contending for top pitcher honors. Both had amazing seasons and indeed faced off in the All-Star game. Neither was all that impressive in that game, but Liriano fared slightly better. Oddly enough the two would never face each other in a regular season game, but in round 2 of the playoffs, we finally saw the matchup we were waiting for -- twice! In game one, Liriano clearly outduelled Santana in an 8-2 victory, but game two was more even as both earned non-decisions. Liriano got to pitch in the World Series while Santana watched at home on TV. Liriano and Santana would once again contend, this time for the coveted Ben McDonald Award. Santana won by the skin of his teeth and Liriano was forced to settle for the Pat Listach Award.

2. New Blood
The Sardine City Straphangers and the New Jersey Team Buddah kicked off their inaugural seasons in 2007. Both teams started off with a loss - ok make that seven straight losses! After their eighth try, the Straphangers finally earned their first win and it took Team Buddah one extra game to win in their ninth try. Both teams will look to improve in 2008.

3. Newark's Steamrolling
The Sugar Bears were a powerhouse all season long, setting several offensive records along the way en route to a dominating final record. The Sugar Bears won their unprecedented fourth straight DMBL World Series. Chipper Jones took the Mitchell Award. Five Sugar Bears batters were in the top seven in OPS. Jim Edmonds and Marlon Anderson will forever be remembered for their gaudy and unexpected numbers.

4. Hall of Fame Opens its Doors
The DMBL finally took off in 2007 after much planning. The voters inducted four members: Tony Gwynn, Mark McGwire, Albert Belle, and John Wetteland. Although there weren't many votes, the Hall experienced a great opening year crowd in its Parsippany, New Jersey, location.

5. Brett Myers' Losing streak
Not since the days of Kevin Appier have we seen such a bad start to the season. Well at least as far as I can remember anyway. Either way, Myers faced a brutal start to his '07 campaign, going 0-12 early on. Myers finally broke the hex in May against the Honolulu Sharks. Myers looked like a sure bet to lose 20 games. His ERA stood at 10.62 at one point, but he worked hard with pitching coach Sam "Mayday" Malone and actually finished the season at 10-18 (meaning he was 10-6 following his disastrous 0-12 start). Considering where he stood earlier, his 6.27 ERA was somewhat respectable.

Santana takes this round

After the young rookie Francisco Liriano won in the head-to-head playoff matchup, Johan Santana will have to console himself with the Ben McDonald Pitcher of the Year trophy. And it was a mighty close vote. The closest, in fact since Santana himself won it back in 2005. Is it the closest vote in DMBL history? Nope, a quick scan of the past winners will clearly show that's not true. In 1999, voters were torn between Arkansas' two aces and Kevin Brown and Pedro Martinez split the prize. It doesn't get any closer than a tie, folks.

A lone second place vote for Philly's Erik Bedard probably cost Liriano at least a tie for the award, but it's far from the most egregious award-voting sin. Way, way back in 1991 when the award still didn't have it's catchy moniker, there were three top candidates for the award - Ben McDonald of Arkansas, Dennis Martinez of Newark (that would be the Newark Crimewave, not the Sugar Bears of today), and Dennis Eckersley of Vancouver. While history shows that Eck probably had the best season of all three, being a reliever, he wasn't going to win this thing. One voter, who shall remain nameless, wanted to ensure that Ben Mac would secure the award (and unbeknownst to him grace the name of the trophy that would be awarded in the future). So the voter jotted down McDonald's name first and Martinez's name sixth, which sealed the fate of El Presidente. The two Denni were denied and McDonald won what some considered a tainted victory. McDonald didn't enjoy much of a career in the DMBL, despite being much younger than Martinez - in fact he only had one other winning season in 1997, while Martinez had a stellar run from 1991-1994. But if not for that single ballot, perhaps we'd have been awarding the Dennis Martinez Pitcher of the Year trophy?

Listach Award Announced

Francisco Liriano of Marietta won the coveted Pat Listach Rookie of the Year Award yesterday. It was the first time a member of the Mighty Men franchise has won the award. The Listach was first awarded back in 1998 when the Mighty Mites were still the Jerusalem Rabbis. Liriano was a key member of the team's 2008 World Series push, and despite losing in a tough six-game series to the Sugar Bears, Marietta's ownership is happy with the results. "Frankie pitched his heart out for us this year," said owner David Landsman in a press conference. The good news, however, was tempered by the announcement made earlier today in Marietta. Landsman announced that he was so happy with Liriano's performance that he has awarded him a year-long cruise around the world. "We think this is the best way to put Frankie in a position to be successful with our franchise for many years to come" said Landsman. Skeptics think that the "cruise" idea is a cover for some injury sustained after Liriano was forced to pitch on three days' rest in the Series. "It's awfully convenient that Marietta is willing to let their ace pitcher off for a whole year to hang out on a cruise ship instead of leading their team to another possible Series appearance" said Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Terence Moore.

Marietta to go with Liriano on short rest

Although Marietta broke the Sugar Bears' unbeaten streak over the weekend, they're still feeling a bit of panic after Sunday's loss. Maybe it's because Jeremy Sowers has gotten spanked by D.C. and Philadelphia and they don't want to make what they've imagined the Sugar Bears would do to him into reality. So with that in mind, the Mighty Men have decided to throw out Francisco Liriano on 3-days rest against the Sugar Bears.

It's odd that the Mighty Men would toss Liriano out there when this isn't an elimination game. Consider that Liriano was roughed up by the Sugar Bears in game one, so maybe he's not Marietta's best bet anyway. It's not like they had many alternatives though. Other than Sowers, the Mighty Men could have tossed in Woody Williams or Gil Meche, but it's doubtful that any of those would have done any better than Sowers. So it looks like the Mighty Men will trot out Liriano in game four, hoping for the best and then cross their fingers and pray that Mike Mussina repeats his game two magic against the Bears.

Well, that's why they play the games...

Looking at a likely game one matchup

Francisco Liriano is the likely starter for Marietta in game one against Newark. Newark started Randy Johnson in game one against Honolulu, so chances are we'll see the Unit once again Friday.

Liriano has had two starts against the Sugar Bears this year. The first outing, at Newark, he held the Sugar Bears to three hits in seven innings, surrendering two runs and two walks, while striking out six. The second outing, in Marietta, Liriano got injured in the second inning, but not before striking out three Sugar Bears in 1.2 innings. It's a small sample size, but it's got to give hope to the scores of Mighty Men fans.

Johnson has only faced the Mighty Men once, in Newark as well. He got the win, but the start was mediocre. Johnson gave up four runs, three earned in six innings, while allowing seven hits and four walks. Johnson only struck out three Mighty Men. Then again, with their offense, the Sugar Bears don't need much better from their starters.

According to the early polls so far, most believe that the Sugar Bears will win in five games, though a few hopefuls are still holding out for a Mighty Men victory. But that's why they play the games!

Dream matchup becomes reality

That's right, game one of the Philadelphia-Marietta series features a head to head matchup of the two Ben McDonald Award candidates - Francisco Liriano and Johan Santana. The two have not faced each other this season yet. In fact, Santana has not faced the Mighty Men all year. Liriano has gone against the Endzone Animals four times in 2007. In all four starts Liriano has pitched exceptionally. Liriano won three times and had one no-decision in which he tossed seven shut out innings only to have the bullpen blow it for him. Liriano has compiled a 1.67 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP in 27 innings, with 38 strikeouts against the Endzone Animals. But Santana is the wild card here. Will he shut down the Mighty Men like Liriano has done to the Animals? Is it a plus or minus that they haven't met this year? Time will tell.

Liriano-Santana battle heats up

Hillsborough has been steadily sliding down the standings and now sits a mere 1/2 game ahead of Honolulu in sixth place. The Sharks are holding a half a game lead on the Cutters, while Vancouver lingers just two games back of the Hitmen. Even D.C. could be bumped out of a playoff spot if they hit an extended slump. The Bushslappers are only 2 1/2 games up on the seventh-place Cutters and have been pretty shaky lately. So while the top three are pretty comfortable in their respective positions, the bottom three could change a number of times in the next few weeks.

Johan Santana won his 16th game last year, becoming the second in the DMBL to reach the mark. His teammate, Erik Bedard recorded his 16th win Thursday. Bedard will pitch today and try for win #17. Santana meanwhile has the best winning percentage in the DMBL at 16-2 (.889) and leads the league in strikeouts (222).

Santana's biggest competition for the Ben McDonald award, and arguably the favorite is Marietta's rookie Francisco Liriano. Liriano pitched a complete game one-hit shutout of D.C. yesterday to improve to 14-2 while striking out 14 and walking just one. Liriano currently leads the league with a 2.28 ERA (a full run lower than second-place Santana). Esteban German's double in the sixth was the only hit for D.C.

Mudcats mull over Zito fate

Barry Zito pitched six shutout innings as Carolina shut out the Buddahs 4-0. Zito, a longtime star for the Mudcats and former Listach award winner, has struggled for the Cats this year with a 7-15 record and 6.41 ERA. Zito's struggles have so alarmed the Mudcat ownership that they are thinking of not protecting the left hander next season, or at the least having him spend the season in AAA to regain his form. Zito has rebounded in the past after a horrible 2005 season in which he went 4-13 with a 7.10 ERA, but Mudcats pitching coach Sid Fernandez thinks a year off might do him some good.

Hoboken has gotten hot just when they needed to, winning three straight including yesterday's 7-4 win over D.C. John Garland pitched eight strong innings to improve to 11-12 and Chris Duncan had 3 RBIs and a homer to lead the Cutters offense. The Cutters have now moved into a 7th place tie with the idle Honolulu Sharks, just 1/2 a game out of the final playoff spot.

Philly's six-run eighth inning gave the Endzone Animals all they needed to defeat the Mighty Men 6-2. Francisco Liriano pitched a brilliant seven innings, limiting the Animals to only three hits and no runs but gave way to relievers Trevor Hoffman and Mariano Rivera. The usually reliable Rivera ended up giving up six straight hits and a walk before retiring the final out. Marietta has now lost three straight, but has not lost any ground, since D.C. has also lost three straight.

Falcons turn to trash heap for help

Arkansas went dumpster diving Tuesday, salvaging three players from the scrap heap of Sunday's deadline castoffs. First, Arkansas signed up Pat Burrell who was cut by Hoboken after posting a .160 average with 53 strikeouts in 156 at bats. True to form, Burrell went 0-3 in his Falcons debut with three strikeouts. Next, Arkansas grabbed Juan Cruz who had made a spot start in Philly for injured Brandon Webb. Cruz also spent some time pitching in relief with Las Vegas. Cruz made more of a positive impact than Burrell, pitching 6 innings and surrendering two runs and earning a victory in the Falcons 3-2 win over Sardine City. The third cast-off was Marietta's Chad Qualls who was released when the Mighty Men acquired B.J. Ryan over the weekend. Qualls had been 4-4 with a 5.03 ERA in 50 appearances for the Mighty Men.

The Falcons have actually had a bit of success picking up players off the junk pile this year. Bob Wickman, who was a disaster for the Buddahs, has emerged as a solid closer for the Falcons, picking up 12 saves in 13 tries and compiling a 2.77 ERA. Bernie Williams, released to make room for Burrell, was doing very well as part of a platoon - .847 OPS, .360 average in 25 ABs. Another platoon role player, Craig Biggio is batting .286 and recently hit his 1500th career DMBL hit.

Marietta's Francisco Liriano lost for only the second time yesterday. Liriano was pounded for seven runs (six earned) in 2.1 innings, to fall all the way to 12-2 on the season. It was by far Liriano's worst performance of the season as D.C. jumped all over Liriano early and often. Brad Hennessey relieved Liriano in the third and poured a jug of kerosene onto the fire, giving up six more runs in his 3.1 innings.

Liriano's loss gave Philly's Johan Santana a chance to jump back into competition for the McDonald Award against the Rat Pack. The Endzone Animals gave Santana enough run support for an 8-4 victory and Santana improved to 13-2 on the season.

Cutters deal Wainwright to Gang

South Boston and Hoboken finalized a deal yesterday. Hoboken sent young starter Adam Wainwright to South Boston in exchange for role player Greg Norton and reliever Brandon League. Both players were not in the Gang's future for next year. South Boston has plans to convert Wainwright into a starter next season, though he'll continue to work out of the pen this year.

Hillsborough's winning streak ends at 11 games after a 6-1 loss to Jake Westbrook and the Buddahs yesterday. Westbrook pitched eight innings and surrendered only four hits and one run. Meanwhile, Hillsborough starter Justin Verlander also broke the streak of quality starts by surrendering five runs in 5.1 innings.

Francisco Liriano improved to 12-1 with an impressive performance against Carolina yesterday. Liriano shut down the Cats for seven innings, holding them to three hits and zero runs while striking out 8. The Mighty Men won the game 4-1.

D.C. scored six runs on five homers in a 6-1 victory over Las Vegas yesterday. All five home runs were solo shots. Anibal Sanchez pitched a brilliant eight innings, holding the Rats to only three hits and one unearned run over eight innings.

Hoboken held on to win a tight 3-2 win over Vancouver. Once again the Iron Fist came up just shy of tying the game up in the ninth. Hoboken had led the game 3-0, but Vancouver scored two on a David Ortiz homer in the ninth. Former Vancouver reliever David Riske, who was recently recalled from AAA Weehawken, retired the final batters for his first save of the season.

Final reminder! This weekend is the last chance to make any trades this year or to claim any players off waivers who will be elligible as keepers next year.

D.C., Hillsborough head in opposite directions

The Sugar Bears' streak is over at twelve after a doubleheader sweep at the hands of South Boston. The Gang took the first game thanks to a 2-homer, 5-RBI outburst from Ramon Hernandez and a solid outing from Dontrelle Willis. Randy Johnson did notch his 2000th career strikeout in the match, but he did not provide much help outside of that. The second game was much closer, but the Gang scored two runs in the eighth (seems to be a popular inning for comebacks) to take the lead 4-3. Brandon League won the game in relief and improved to 8-2.

Francisco Liriano shut out Vancouver 6-0 yesterday to improve to 11-1 on the season. Liriano held Vancouver to 6 hits in 6 innings and the Marietta pen finished the game off. The win spoiled the DMBL debut of Chad Billingsley who only gave up one run over seven innings of work, while striking out six. Billingsley took the place of the struggling Ben Sheets. Sheets was sent down to AAA to work on his mechanics. Vancouver got them back, however, in the second game as Moises Alou blasted three home runs (all solo shots) to help squeak by 8-7. Vancouver actually hit six homers in the contest, though they only managed 8 runs. Gerald Laird was the only one to hit a homer with a runner on base.

D.C. has hit a wall lately, losing their eighth straight game after a marathon 17 inning loss to Honolulu yesterday. D.C. has now dropped into a fourth place tie with Honolulu and is only one game ahead of Hoboken and Hillsborough for sixth place. It's a very tight race lately - 1 1/2 games separates third place Marietta from seventh place, so it'll be very interesting to see what happens in the next few weeks.

The anti-Bushslappers have been the Hillsborough Hired Hitmen who have won eight straight and are now tied for the sixth playoff spot with Hoboken. Hillsborough shut down the Cutters yesterday with back-to-back solid performances from Justin Verlander and Felix Hernandez. Verlander held the Cutters to only three hits and one run over seven innings in game one and Felix struck out nine in seven innings, while giving up only five hits and one run.

Remember Brett Myers' struggles earlier this season? Well those struggles are ancient history. Since starting the season at 0-12 with an 8.40 ERA, Myers has gone on a bit of a hot streak. He's 5-1 since that low point and has brought his ERA down to 6.34, including seven quality starts in his last eight outings and a recent Pitcher of the Week award.

Take note that the DMBL trading deadline will be this Sunday. After this point, any players that are signed off the waiver wire are not elligible to be kept after the season is over.

Mighty Men dominate Sharks

Marietta continued their dominance over Honolulu with their fourth straight win over the Sharks, 10-2. Jim Thome was 5-5 with 3 doubles, 2 homers and 4 RBIs. Francisco Liriano improved to 10-1 with a brilliant 6-inning, 2-hit performance. Liriano didn't allow any runs and struck out 10. The Sharks could only muster 3 hits the entire game. Unfortunately for the Sharks, they play the Mighty Men two more times today.

Ryan Howard had a huge day for Hillsborough yesterday. Howard was 3-4 with six RBIs and his 42nd home run of the year. The Hitmen won the game 8-2 over the Gang. Starter Dontrelle Willis could not get any outs in the first inning, surrendering six runs and walking four. The South Boston bullpen only surrendered two runs over the rest of the game, but the damage was done.

The Cutters edged the Endzone Animals 6-3 yesterday. The Animals led 3-2 but Francisco Rodriguez could not hold onto the lead. The Cutters scored four runs in the eighth on back to back doubles by Mike Cameron and Hanley Ramirez. Juan Rincon nailed down the ninth for his 15th save.
Randy Johnson failed to get his 2000th strikeout after being chased in the second inning by Team Buddah. Johnson gave up six runs in the inning, though only two were earned. The Sugar Bears got him off the hook with a 7-run fourth, however, winning the game 12-7.

Today is a special Fourth of July doubleheader.

Liriano-no? Almost

Yesterday was a light day - there were only four games.
Brett Myers was solid again yesterday, only allowing one earned run in 6.2 innings, but still lost, dropping to 0-12 on the season. That sort of thing tends to happen when your opponent almost throws a no-hitter against you! Francisco Liriano held the Rat Pack hitless over eight but, after walking the leadoff batter in the ninth, manager Graig Nettles pulled Liriano for specialist Chad Qualls, who promptly gave up the first hit of the game to Marcus Giles. Mariano Rivera came in to shut the door, but gave up a three-run homer to Ryan Zimmerman. Suddenly the lead was very shaky, but Rivera retired the next three batters in order. Liriano was upset that he didn't get to go for the no-no, but after 118 pitches and a DL stint recently in his past, Nettles wasn't going to take any chances. Liriano finished the night 8 IP, 1 ER, 0 hits, 3 walks, and 11 Ks.

Randy Johnson mowed down the Mudcats, limiting them to two runs over six innings and striking out nine. Johnson improved to 7-2 on the season and is now only 27 strikeouts away from 3000 and seven wins from 200 for his career.

D.C. edged Philadelphia after dropping the first two games against the Animals. Alfonso Soriano was 3-4 with two homers and three RBIs. Adam LaRoche had four RBIs in a losing cause.

The Sharks pounded away on Cole Hamels and the Straphangers. Hamels was not pitching badly, but left with an undisclosed injury in the fifth. Hamels picked up the loss and is now 2-10 on the season, but will miss at least two weeks. No word on who his replacement will be. Meanwhile, Kenny Rogers had a solid outing after returning from AAA to replace the injured Roy Oswalt. Rogers pitched 8.2 innings while surrendering only one earned run.

Blog Bits: In case you missed it, Greg Maddux's last start put him over 3000 innings for his career... Mike Piazza passed Edgar Martinez (1949) for eighth all-time on the hits list. Piazza now has 1950. Tony Gwynn is next with 1960.

Gang trades Carpenter

In case you missed it last night, the South Boston Gang traded star pitcher Chris Carpenter to Vancouver for Prince Fielder. South Boston had been in negotiations with Marietta as well, but decided to fill the gaping hole at first base instead. The Gang, who had tried out Ty Wigginton and Dan Johnson at first base the past two years, needed a fixture at the position vacated when the club did not protect Mike Sweeney a few years back. Fielder who was drafted twice by Vancouver and is finally playing in his first year in the DMBL lost his starting job to fellow rookie Conor Jackson. "Although we think Prince will be a tremendous player in the future, we felt like we needed to go for it all" said Vancouver owner Yaro Zajac. South Boston has announced that more changes are possible. The Gang has a lot of depth at the middle infield positions and could deal some of those players. Meanwhile, Vancouver has sent Jake Peavy off to AAA Tacoma to work out his kinks and to make room for Carpenter. Carpenter will start tonight's game against - who else? - South Boston.

The Golden Falcons broke their losing streak yesterday by edging Carolina 7-6. The Falcons won despite only 7 hits thanks to 8 walks issued by the Cats' pitching staff and a 5-run eighth inning...oh, and no Brad Lidge in the game.

Sardine City won a close pitchers' duel last night in Marietta. Rookie phenom Francisco Liriano took his first loss off the year despite only allowing 2 runs in 8 innings. Chris Capuano pitched a gem for the Straphangers - 6 IP, 4 H, 8 K, 0 runs - and the bullpen shut the door on the Mighty Men.

Newark's Randy Johnson closed in on two giant milestones last night. Johnson pitched six innings allowing only three hits and an unearned run. With the win, he now has 6 wins on the season and 192 in his career. With Newark's powerhouse offense behind him, Johnson should hit the 200-mark some time over the summer. His two strikeouts also move him closer to 3000 for his career. Johnson is now only 52 Ks away from the mark. It's possible that the Unit will hit both milestones in the same start, so stay tuned...

Pitching Breakdown

Honolulu kept their string alive by crushing New Jersey 9-2 yesterday. Jered Weaver improved to 4-1 on the year. The first overall selection in this year's draft also has a 2.30 ERA (4th), 45 Ks (tied for 3rd) and 8.6 R/9 (1st). Weaver is not only justifying his lofty draft status, but is also making a case for the Listach Award. Honolulu will next face the struggling Mudcats today in Carolina.

Two pitchers went down yesterday. The first was a crushing blow for the Marietta Mighty Men. Rookie starter Francisco Liriano - he of the hot spring and great start to the season - will be lost for most of this month. Marietta will replace him with Gil Meche, formerly of Vancouver. That's not the only rotation turnover in Marietta though. The Mighty Men have given up on their home/away platoon and have tossed both Brett Tomko and Mark Hendrickson overboard. They will be replaced by Jeff Suppan.

The other pitcher lost to injury was New Jersey's Jake Westbrook. Westbrook had pitched in only his second game since returning from a prior injury before succumbing to his latest ailment. Westbrook will once again be replaced by Livan Hernandez, who was awful in his brief tryout before (0-2, 11.20 ERA). Westbrook will miss around two weeks.

By the way, did you see Jason Jennings breathe a huge sigh of relief when he realized that he wasn't facing the Sugar Bears this week? In fact Jennings pitched 7.1 innings against South Boston without allowing any runs and lowering his ERA to a still high, but at least single digit, 9.37.

Pedro goes for 200

As mentioned in yesterday's entry, Arkansas' Pedro Martinez will try for his 200th career victory Saturday against South Boston. He'll be facing Dontrelle Willis. Martinez will be only the second in DMBL history to achieve 200, Greg Maddux being the first.

Philly's Brandon Webb pitched a gem against Vancouver last night. Webb limited the Iron Fist to one run on four hits over 8.1 innings. Philly is now a half a game out of first with Arkansas idle yesterday.

Marietta's Francisco Liriano is continuing where he left off in spring. Liriano is now 3-0 on the season and held the potent Sugar Bears offense to only three hits in seven innings at Newark. Liriano has a 1.71 ERA on the year.

Philly cut Marco Scutaro, who had been taking David Eckstein's place in the lineup. The Animals decided to go with Khalil Greene who had recently been signed. Journeyman infielder Todd Walker was signed to provide some help at second base.

Opening day notes

Well the big day finally came and the results of all that hard work is coming to fruition.

The Newark Sugar Bears came roaring out of the gates, destroying newcomer Sardine City 15-3 and 18-7 in their doubleheader. The Sugar Bears have scored more in their two games than the rest of the Hanover Division combined! The first game saw fan favorite and longtime Sugar Bear Randy Johnson start as a "treat" for the hometown faithful. Johnson pitched adequately, but the pressure wasn't really on when Manny Ramirez drove in 6 runs. Chien-Ming Wang, who started game two, deferred his start in game one. Management feels that Wang is their true #1 starter, but gave the start to Johnson because of his iconic status with the fans. Wang didn't have a good start in game two but was rescued by an outpouring of offense and shutdown performance by the Sugar Bear pen.

Meanwhile the other newcomer, Team Buddah, didn't fare much better, though they had some luck in their schedule - the Buddahs only played one game on Sunday. Team Buddah dropped their opener to the Rat Pack, despite rallying to tie the game twice in the latter innings. In the end, Mark Teixeira came through with an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth to win it for the Pack.

Marietta's Francisco Liriano continued his spring training excellence by striking out 8 in five and 1/3 innings against Hoboken.

Who had the most dominant start yesterday? Take your pick between Philly's Johan Santana and Arkansas Pedro Martinez. Santana mowed down the South Boston lineup, striking out 12 in 7 innings and surrendering only two runs. Meanwhile, the defending McDonald Award winner shut down the Bushslappers by allowing only one run in eight innings and striking out eight. Martinez outdueled rookie Anibal Sanchez, who pitched a complete game.

Lots of transactions to pour through over the weekend as final roster cuts were due. Las Vegas gave up on Gary Sheffield, despite protecting him, but the Rat Pack were already over their five man limit on inelligible players and Sheffield was the oldest of the group. Hillsborough broke up their Cordero Connection by releasing Francisco. Arkansas claimed second baseman Brandon Phillips from Carolina.

Finally the first injury of the season was to Marietta's Bengie Molina. Molina, who is in his sixth DMBL season, was visibly shaken after his first at-bat, a fly-out to center field. Jorge Posada is expected to take the bulk of the catching duties, and Molina may be placed on the DL.

Spring Training Wrapup: Pitchers

Arkansas claimed two players off the wire: rookie catcher Dioner Navarro, recently with Vancouver, and outfielder Xavier Nady, who was with D.C. Carolina shockingly released Endy Chavez, who was having a very strong spring (and made our list of top spring training performers yesterday).

Anyway, onto our top pitchers this spring.

Francisco Liriano, Marietta. Marietta gave up a lot to acquire the youngster, but Liriano proved that he was worth it (so far). Liriano was 4-1 with a 1.70 ERA. More importantly, Liriano only allowed 7.7 runners per 9 innings, and struck out 45 batters and allowed only 10 walks in 47.2 innings (4.5 K:BB).

Jeremy Sowers, Marietta. Liriano's teammate and another rookie pitcher slated to start the season in Marietta's rotation was 5-0 in spring training, with a 2.95 ERA. Sowers was not quite as dominant as Liriano though. Sowers only managed 9 Ks in 39.2 innings! Sowers' 1.18 WHIP is good, but will it last against real lineups?

Anibal Sanchez, D.C. This is starting to look like the rookie report. Hopefully Phil Plantier won't get jealous. Sanchez was 4-0 in the spring with a 1.73 ERA. Sanchez only allowed 8.9 R/9, but, like Sowers, he is a bit strikeout-averse. Sanchez only struck out 11 in his 36.1 innings of work, but he did only surrender one home run.

Ruddy Lugo, Newark. Another rookie, but this one's a reliever. Lugo was the second most used pitcher in Newark's pen (after Brandon Lyon). Lugo pitched 26 innings, but only allowed 20 baserunners while compiling a 1.04 ERA. It is not known who Newark will choose as their closer - Newark only had one save combined, with a mere 4 save opportunities (and half of those have been released when they cut ties with George Sherrill) - but Lugo may end up in the mix or at least be a valuable setup pitcher.

Brandon Webb, Philadelphia. Our first non-rookie! Webb has put together an impressive spring - 3-2, 1.15 ERA. Webb has compiled an impressive 0.97 WHIP and opponents have managed a meager .487 OPS against him.

Ervin Santana, Arkansas. The "other" Santana, Ervin was 2-0 with a 1.55 ERA in spring. He only allowed 17 hits in 29 innings of work, but he will need to get his walks down (15) if he wants to sustain any success in the regular season. Santana has most likely earned himself a spot as the fourth or fifth starter in the Falcons' rotation.

Felix Hernandez, Hillsborough. "King Felix" had a solid rookie campaign last year and seems to be building his way to another solid year this season. Hernandez put together a 4-1, 2.10 spring with 20 Ks in 30 innings. Pitching coach Brien Taylor expects Hernandez's strikeouts to increase during the season. "I've figured out a flaw in his mechanics" Taylor said. "I've instructed him to use a new delivery similar to the one that brought me success in my career."

Jeff Francis, Honolulu. Francis had very limited action last season, but looks poised to be a contributor this year. Francis was 4-1 with a 2.45 ERA this spring for the Sharks, but his peripheral numbers suggested a warning. Francis' K:BB ration was horrid: 8 Ks vs 13 BBs (0.6) and his 1.20 WHIP seemed to be a bit high for the ERA that he showed. Expect Francis' production to level out a little, but he should still be a valuable member of the Shark rotation.

Bob Wickman, New Jersey. The old dog still has some tricks up his sleeve. Wickman tied with Honolulu's Geoff Geary for the league lead in saves with 6. Wickman compiled an impressive 1.72 ERA in 15.2 innings of work. His 1.15 WHIP was solid, but Wickman did blow 2 saves in the spring. Will New Jersey have enough save chances for Wickman to make a run at the Eck?

Boof Bonser, Hoboken. We started with a rookie and we'll end with one. Bonser has been impressive for the Cutters this season - 3-0, 2.82. Bonser's more impressive stats are his 28 Ks, 7 BBs and 32 hits in 39.1 IP; a 1.02 WHIP, .586 OPS allowed, and a complete game shutout against Newark.

Well those are the top players this year. Tomorrow will be the final entry before opening day.

Liriano locks down his spot

Hillsborough's young phenom Felix Hernandez was rocked yesterday by Carolina. "King Felix" surrendered six runs on six hits and two homers and could not make it out of the first inning. Felix is still projected to make the rotation and could be in line for the season opener start.

Marietta's Francisco Liriano continued his masterful pitching and improved to 4-0 last night. Liriano shut down Hoboken, holding them to one run on four hits in eight innings. Liriano is now locked into a rotation spot and has been shut down for the rest of spring. Brandon McCarthy will get Liriano's next spot in the rotation.

Carolina's Juan Rivera smacked 2 homers with 5 RBI in a 3-5 night yesterday against Vancouver, a team that had previously drafted the outfielder.

Chris Young of Las Vegas put in an impressive outing yesterday against Team Buddah. Young pitched 8.1 innings of 2-hit ball. Young was acquired last season from D.C.

One lone cut yesterday: Hillsborough cut reliever Logan Kensing and signed infielder Neifi Perez. Kensing only pitched 1/3 of an inning for the Hitmen and only surrendered one walk. "That walk was enough for us though." said team owner Brent Campbell. "We can't have guys walking batters all over the place." Despite the fact that fellow reliever, Joe Nelson has seven walks in four innings pitched, Campbell attributed it to "bad luck". "I think that Campbell just really doesn't like Wolverine" said a disgruntled Kensing.

Another sign it's only spring training: last year's two DMBL World Series participants, Newark and Vancouver, are currently sitting in last place in their respective divisions.

Rookie pitchers impress

Revenge Factor Alert: Newark's Javier Valentin went 5-5 vs his former team, the Arkansas Golden Falcons.

Marietta's Francisco Liriano pitched a complete game against Carolina, and is now an impressive 3-0 in preseason. Marietta acquired the young hurler in the offseason from Las Vegas and is counting on the rookie to be their ace.

Sardine City's Andruw Jones had a big day against South Boston yesterday. Jones was 3-3 with 2 home runs against the Gang. Jones was the second player taken by Sardine City in the dispersal draft.

Hillsborough's John Lackey had some control problems against Newark but otherwise turned in a solid effort. Lackey walked eight batters in his seven innings of work, but only surrendered one run and four hits. "Everybody is trying to gain their command in the spring" said Lackey after the game.

Rookie Tom Gorzelanny was once again impressive for New Jersey. Gorzelanny pitched seven strong innings in a bid to make the team's starting rotation. So far he is 2-1 with a 1.96 ERA in the spring. Meanwhile, in the same game, Vancouver's Chad Billingsley worked his way out of a possible rotation spot. With fellow rookie Scott Olsen struggling, Billingsley has not taken advantage of the opening. "We feel that Chad will do better in AAA" said team pitching coach Dennis Eckersley. Billingsley's next turn in the rotation will be taken by Randy Wolf.

Newark and Arkansas made some roster shakeups yesterday. Newark released outfielder Ryan Church and rookie reliever Kurt Birkins to make room for a couple of middle relievers. Arkansas once again gave up on young shortstop Bobby Crosby. Arkansas had hoped that Crosby would be their shortstop of the future two years ago, but Crosby has not progressed as they had hoped. "We may yet see Crosby back in Falcon gold" said owner Stump Matiash, "but for now we need to go in a different direction."