Round 1 Recap

Sardine City owned Vancouver in the regular season, winning 9 of their 12 meetings throughout the season. Things looked to continue the same way after game one. Sardine City pounded Vancouver 9-4 behind Daric Barton's 4-5, 3-RBI night. Iron Fist starter Roy Oswalt was shelled for 6 runs in 5.2 innings. But Vancouver came right back in the next game, 6-4, salvaging a 1-1 split in the series. Vancouver scored 5 runs in the first inning and the Straphangers never recovered. Zack Greinke held them to just 4 hits in 7.2 innings. The series shifted to Sardine City, but Mat Latos quieted the Straphanger crowd with a dominant effort (8 IP, 6 H, ER, 5K) to win the game 6-1. With the series on the line, the Straphangers were determined not to go down quietly. The Sardines jumped out to an early 4-2 lead, but Vancouver tied it up in the 5th. Josh Willingham hit a solo homer in the 9th to give the Fist the 5-4 lead and Joaquin Benoit retired the side in the bottom of the 9th to win the series for Vancouver.

Hoboken came up just shy of winning the Hanover Division title, so they were expected to breeze through round one. The franchise has only won one playoff game in their previous two appearances, so the Cutters were hoping to improve on their previous record against Carolina. Game one was a battle as the two teams traded leads and eventually ended up in extra innings. Rookie Mike Stanton proved to be the hero with a walk-off solo homer in the 10th inning to give the Cutters a 1-0 series lead. Winning game one appeared to give Hoboken some confidence as they easily dispatched the Mudcats in game two 8-3. Stanton had a huge game (4-5, home run, 3 RBIs) and Jhoulys Chacin gave a solid effort (7.2 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 5 K). The Mudcats were on the brink when they returned to Carolina for game three, but they pulled off a 7-5 win anyway. The Cats actually held a 7-2 lead, but Hoboken had a brief comeback attempt in the 9th. Rookie Stephen Strasburg turned in an impressive performance, holding the Cutters to one run on three hits in seven innings, while striking out seven. Game four was another battle, this time between starters Clay Buchholz and C.J. Wilson. Both starters gave up only one run and struck out 7 each, but neither was awarded a decision. It was fitting that the series both began and ended in extra innings. This time it was Ian Kinsler who drove in the winning run in the 10th with a double that scored Hanley Ramirez. The Cutters had won their first post-season series in franchise history.

Vancouver advances to face the number one seed, Philadelphia, starting tomorrow. Vancouver won 7 of their 13 regular-season games. Hoboken, meanwhile, faces Las Vegas, whom they have also beaten 7 out of 13 games.

Gutierrez, Bay bash their way to victory

Carolina, who's been in a bit of a freefall since being in first earlier this season, scored an important win over first place Vancouver. Barry Zito held the Iron Fist to 6 hits and no runs in 7 innings and struck out 9 en route to a 2-0 victory. Mat Latos pitched an impressive game for the losing end, giving up only 1 earned run on 3 hits in 7 innings, but it wasn't enough. The win was just the 3rd in the last 10 for Carolina.

Jason Bay's 2 home runs propelled the Mighty Men to a 7-5 win over Hoboken. Alberto Callaspo was also 3-4 in the game for the Mighty Men, who preserved their 5 game lead in the Hanover Division. The Mighty Men have dealt with injuries to their outfield, but have continued to play top shelf ball, currently riding a 3 game winning streak.

The Mallers slump continued as they were mercilessly shelled by the Sugar Bears 13-3. Jorge Posada was 4-5 with 3 RBIs and Mike Cameron had 5 RBIs for Newark. Brad Bergesen held the Mallers to just 5 hits. The Mallers have now fallen into 4th place in the Morris Division. Last week the Mallers lost 7 in a row to fall out of first place and hope that these last two games aren't an indication of a new streak.

Franklin Gutierrez hit 3 home runs - but drove in only 4 - to lead Team Buddah to a 7-5 win over Amityville. The Buddahs' offense has apparently awoken in the last few games, as the 7 runs was the lowest total in their last 5 games. The Buddahs have won the last 4 games, scoring 8 runs twice and 16 once. Buddah also score 8 runs in their last loss to Hoboken. They've got a long way to go, however, sitting 16 1/2 games out of first and 11 1/2 out of a playoff spot.

Remember when Alex Rodriguez was struggling for the Rat Pack shortly after being acquired from Amityville? Well that seems like a long time ago now with A-Rod tearing the cover off the ball. A-Rod is now hitting .284/.357/.670 since joining the Rat Pack with 11 homers and 22 RBIs. Yesterday, A-Rod again led the offense with 2 homers and 5 RBIs, but the Rats dropped a 9-7 decision to Sardine City.

Future aces duke it out in New Jersey

A battle of two possible future DMBL pitching stars took place between Vancouver's Mat Latos and New Jersey's Rick Porcello yesterday. Porcello pitched well, giving up 2 runs in 7.1 innings, but it was Vancouver that escaped with a 2-1 win. Latos pitched 5 innings giving up 1 run on 4 hits, but he walked 4 and was removed without earning a decision. The Fist won the game in the 8th on a Michael Bourn single, extending their winning streak to 5 games.

Hillsborough kept pace, winning their 4th straight game, a 12-3 drubbing of Amityville. Carlos Lee was 3-4 with 2 homers and 5 RBIs and Kelly Shoppach was 2-5, also with 2 homers and 4 RBIs. Hillsborough remains tied with Carolina and Vancouver for 2nd place in the Morris Division.

Alex Rodriguez made his Rat Pack debut in a game that saw the Rats pummel the Bombers 8-1. And A-Rod's contribution? 0-5 with 3 strikeouts...but he did pitch in $10 towards pizza after the game, so that was nice of him. Meanwhile, Yunel Escobar, Matt Holliday, and Curtis Granderson each had 3 hits to lead the Rat Pack offense. Vegas moved to one game over .500 with the win.

Rivera notches another win

Mariano Rivera picked up another victory in Marietta's 11-8 win over Carolina yesterday - his 5th of the year. Down 7-5 in the 8th, Rivera came in to shut down the Mudcats, but promptly gave up a game-tying 2-run home run to A. J. Pierzynski, then gave up the go-ahead run later in the inning, but the Mighty Men stuck with him. The Cats sent in Brian Fuentes to nail down the win, but Fuentes got into trouble soon. Kevin Youkilis tied the game up on a single and then Fuentes fell apart, walking Jason Bay and surrendering a three-run homer to Derek Jeter. Chris Perez came in and struck out the final two batters, but the damage was done. Rivera retired the side in order to preserve his own victory. Things didn't work out too well for Fuente, who not only took the loss and saw his ERA balloon to 12.91, but was issued his walking papers after the game. Carolina picked up C.J. Wilson off the scrap heap to replace Fuentes. The loss was Carolina's 5th straight.

The hot team du jour seems to be Team Buddah, who has now won 7 of their last 10 and beat Hillsborough 9-7 yesterday despite allowing a 6-run rally in the 8th. Highly-touted rookie Rick Porcello allowed only one unearned run in 7 innings while striking out 8 and allowing only 4 hits. All the runs Buddah gave up were unearned, owing to two critical Rafael Furcal errors.

Meanwhile, a team going the other direction is Sardine City, who dropped their 5th straight. Blue Ridge scored 7 runs in the 6th and 7th innings to take an 8-4 win over the Straphangers. The Sardines outhit and outwalked the Bombers, but were unable to capitalize and left 11 men on base in the match.

Mat Latos made an impressive debut for Vancouver yesteday, allowing only 1 earned run in 7 innings and striking out 8, but the Iron Fist bullpen couldn't seal the deal. The score was tied 2-2 entering the 8th when Hoboken began the inning with their first 6 batters reaching base safely. The Cutters were up 6-2 before the first out was recorded. The Cutters would go on to score 4 more runs, capped by a 2-run Hanley Ramirez homer. Ramirez ended the game going 4-5 and Batter of the Week Russ Branyan was 3-5 with 2 RBIs.

After today's games, DMBL will take a hiatus until Monday the 19th.