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A first basemen from Canada is assured of winning the 2011 DMBL batting title. It's just a matter of whether it's the one from the East Coast (Toronto, Ontario) or the West Coast (New Westminster, B.C.). Fans in New Jersey and Arkansas have something to root for in the final few games of the season.
 New Jersey's Joey Votto (originally from Toronto) is making a case for the Kevin Mitchell Award -- as well as a Sabrmetric triple crown -- despite Team Buddah not being in the playoff hunt, and British Columbia native Justin Morneau of Arkansas is hot on his tail for the league lead in batting average.
Entering the final two games of the season, Morneau (.33558) trails Votto (.337308) by less than 2 percentage points. Votto's season, however, ends in today's matchup at Blue Ridge against probable starter Tommy Hunter while Morneau is at home, scheduled to face Marietta's Francisco Liriano, followed by Chris Carpenter in the season finale.
 Morneau is all but guaranteed to lead the league in hits, holding a 202-198 advantage over Votto, who's among the top 10 in walks. If he can replicate the 2-for-4 performance from his last game in the final two (going 4-for-8), Morneau would finish at .337704, and would have to hope for Votto to go 1-for-3, as he did in yesterday's game, which would leave Votto at .337288.
If Votto can secure just two hits -- almost regardless of how many at-bats it would take him -- Morneau would need a serious two-game tear to catch him. Votto finishes at .337837 if he goees 2-for-5, and .337268 if he goes 2-for-6.
If Morneau can manage 3 hits in his final two games, he needs to do it within the span of 5 at-bats, to remain above .337 (.337726 if he goes 3-for-5).
Andy Pettitte is scheduled to start Thursday in the season finale for New Jersey in what will be the final appearance of his DMBL career.
Pettitte will complete his 16th consecutive season in DMBL, the last three with New Jersey. His longest tenure -- seven seasons -- was spent with his original franchise, breaking in with Jerusalem in 1996 and moving with the team to Stanhope in 2001. He spent the 2003 and 2004 seasons with Newark before three years with Carolina, and a single season with the Tampa Bay Plunkers.
He's won double-digit games in nine of his 16 seasons, reaching a career-high 15 in four different years. This will be the fourth straight season, and fifth in the last six, that Pettitte has made at least 32 starts.
Although he recently passed Greg Maddux and David Wells to move into 2nd place all-time in losses, Pettitte remains a better than .500 pitcher for his career, thanks to ranking 11th all-time in wins. He enters today's finale at 146-143 (.505).
Heading into his final start, Pettitte's career DMBL rankings are as follows (*active league leader):
- 5th in games started*
- 9th in innings pitched*
- 11th in strikeouts
- 16th in complete games
- 7th in shutouts
He'll be eligible for the DMBL Hall of Fame in 2016.
Philly's Albert Pujols became the 10th player in DMBL history with 400 home runs, the second to reach the milestone this season. Chipper Jones of Newark hit No. 400 earlier this season.
 The historic dinger, a solo shot, came off Cliff Lee in the first inning of a 3-2 win at Arkansas last week. Pujols is in line to pass Mike Piazza soon for 9th all-time in homers, with 406, and Jones, who starts the week in 8th place with 409. New Jersey's Vladimir Guerrero is in sight but likely a target for 2012, with 431 home runs in 7th place.
It was the 34th home run of the season for Pujols. He enters play this week with 35 home runs and 88 RBIs. While his 10th season line totals of .250/.317/.505 are virtually all career lows and way off his annual averages (.307/.366/.574), Pujols has been one of the most consistent and best hitters in the DMBL since being the top overall pick in the 2002 draft.
Pujols has averaged almost 41 home runs and 129 RBIs over his first nine seasons and has driven in at least 108 RBIs every year but his second (99). Last year he put up career highs in SLG (.677), OPS (1.046), HR (64), RBI (160), runs (128) and hits (208), in winning his second straight Kevin Mitchell Award. He's also been remarkably healthy, racking up no fewer than 600 at-bats while playing in an average of 159 games each season (a career low 147 in 2009).
Andy Pettitte, the DMBL's active leader in career losses, added another one Friday night, matching Mike Mussina for fourth all-time with 139.
Pettitte, who will retire after this season, potentially could finish his career second all-time in losses to Tom Glavine (172). He stands just a few more Ls away from David Wells (141) and Greg Maddux (142). In 24 starts this season, Pettitte is 5-9 with a 6.79 ERA. If he can stay healthy, you figure he could make as many as nine more starts in 2011.
Pettitte still boasts a better than .500 record (145-139 / .511) and barring some kind of complete collapse, should finish his career above .500. He's currently 10th all-time in wins, 9th in innings pitched (2,382), and 5th in starts (412) -- the active leader in all those categories -- as well as 11th all-time in strikeouts (1,658).
The lefthander from Louisiana will be eligible for the DMBL Hall of Fame starting in 2016.
New Jersey's Andy Pettitte very nearly had his 40th career complete game Monday night but settled for passing Mike Mussina into 6th place in career starts with 394. He now trails Curt Schilling (399) by five starts for 5th and is approaching 1,600 career strikeouts, which would put him just outside the top 10 in all-time strikeouts. David Cone ranks 10th with 1,601 K's and and after Monday's start Pettitte is just four away.
Johan Santana of Arkansas is the active leader in strikeouts, and sits 9th all-time with 1,647.
New Jersey's Vladimir Guerrero blasted past Mike Piazza to move into 7th place on the all-time home run list. Guerrero, who started the year with 397 home runs, has 13 dingers on the season for a career total of 410. Last week he jumped by Piazza, who's number one among catchers with 406 home runs. Vlad the Impaler has his sights set on Ken Griffey, Jr., who is still a free agent who has vowed to hang up the spikes if he doesn't get a call by season's send. If Guerrero stays healthy he could catch Junior -- 6th all-time with 444 home runs -- in 2011. At that point, he'll also be hot on the heels of Sammy Sosa for 5th place with 446 round-trippers.
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.
Don't forget to get those votes in for the All-Star game! Less than two weeks away! New Jersey and Amityville battled it out in a 1-0 pitchers duel. Seth Smith broke the tie in the 6th with a solo home run. Kevin Slowey went 8.1 innings for Team Buddah, holding the Ant Slayers to only 4 hits and striking out 5. John Lester was the hard luck loser for Amityville, pitching 7.1 innings and striking out 8. Ichiro Suzuki kept up his hot hitting, going 4-6 with 3 RBIs and leading Marietta to a 15-9 victory over Hoboken. The "other Suzuki", Kurt, also contributed a 3-6, 3 RBI game including a home run. The Mighty Men scored in every inning except the 9th, when they just sent up random fans from the bleachers to bat in their place. Hillsborough thoroughly dominated Arkansas in a 13-2 win yesterday. Not only did the Hitmen score 13 runs on 18 hits and saddle Falcons starter Ricky Nolasco with 10 earned runs, but they also held the Falcons to only 5 hits. Ryan Howard fell one double short of hitting for the cycle.
 New Jersey's Vladimir Guerrero matched Mike Piazza for 7th all-time in home runs Friday night at Home Depot Stadium. His 9th homer of the season, coming after a Seth Smith bomb off Marietta's John Danks to start the sixth inning, was No. 406 for his career. Guerrero had been jockeying with Newark's Chipper Jones (393) for a number of seasons on the home run list but has pulled away in the last year or so. Once he passes Piazza, Guerrero will have to target the 2011 season to try to catch No. 6 Ken Griffey, Jr. (444) and No. 5 Sammy Sosa (446).
New Jersey's winning streak finally came to an end at 6 games. Hillsborough defeated Team Buddah 7-3 behind the pitching of Dan Haren, who improved to 8-2 with an 8-inning effort in which he struck out 8 and gave up 2 runs. Justin Upton hit a 3-run homer in the 7th to give the Hitmen the offense they needed to end Buddah's run. Meanwhile, Vancouver keeps winning and Hoboken keeps losing. The Cutters dropped their 7th straight, a 9-4 decision to the Fist. Ryan Ludwick was 4-5 with 2 homers and 6 RBIs to lead Vancouver to their 10th win in their last 12 games. Ricky Nolasco and Hiroki Kuroda dueled in a 0-0 game for 6 innings, but Nolasco was pulled after hitting the 100-pitch mark. Unfortunately for the Falcons, Jeremy Affeldt allowed 2 runs to score on a Jacoby Ellsbury single and Jorge Cantu sac fly respectively. The Falcons couldn't get any runs across and the Ant Slayers won the game 2-0. Jason Bartlett (4-4) and Andrew McCutchen (3-6, 4 RBI) led the Bombers to an 11-2 thrashing of Sardine City. McCutchen was a double away from hitting for the cycle. Rookie hurler J.A. Happ improved to 7-2 with a solid 7-inning effort. Blue Ridge currently sits in second place in the Morris Division, 3 1/2 games out of first. Ichiro Suzuki was 5-6 with 4 RBIs as the Mighty Men unleased their firepower against the Mudcats to the tune of a 15-7 victory. Chone Figgins was 3-5 with 2 triples and Kurt Suzuki was 3-4 with 2 RBIs as Marietta avoids the sweep.
Vancouver and Hoboken battled it out with Vancouver edging the Cutters 11-10 in 10 innings. Both teams got on the board early and often, leading to a 9-7 Vancouver lead after 4 innings. The Cutters clawed back and eventually tied it up on a two-run home run by Adam Dunn. The Iron Fist scored what would be the winning run off a Michael Cuddyer single in the 10th. Ronald Belisario finished the game off for his 12th save. Cuddyer ended the game 4-6 with a triple and 4 RBIs and Brad Hawpe was 4-4 with 2 doubles for the Cutters. Jon Lester held the Falcons in check, limiting them to 3 hits over 7.1 innings, while striking out 11. Matt Kemp was 3-4 with 2 homers and 5 RBIs for Amityville in the 9-1 win. New Jersey extended their winning streak to 6 with a 6-5 win over Hillsborough. Everyone in the Buddah lineup got one hit except Seth Smith, who had 2 hits. Bridgewater won an important victory against the Rat Pack, ending their 3-game losing skid. Rookie Tommy Hanson held the Rats to only 4 hits in 7 innings to earn his 5th win of the year. Hanson struck out 9. Aramis Ramirez was 5-5 with 2 homers and 3 RBIs to lead the Mudcats to an 11-6 win over the Mighty Men. The Mighty Men lost ground to both Las Vegas and Newark, who won 6-5 over Philadelphia. The Mighty Men's lead shrunk to 4 games over second-place Newark. Vegas is one game behind the Sugar Bears.
Zack Greinke was at it again last night, holding the Cutters to just 1 hit and 1 run in a complete game, 4-1 victory. Greinke struck out 10 in the game (his 100th of the season), improving to 10-0 on the season (and 10 apparently being the magic number of the night, Joe Thatcher saved his 10th game of the season as well). Greinke's ERA falls to a league-leading, microscopic 1.87 and is now tied for most complete games in the league (3). Vancouver extended their division lead to 3 games with the victory. Those slugging Buddahs continued their offensive showing with a 13-3 drubbing of Hillsborough. Vlad Guerrero was 3-4 with a homer and 4 runs scored and Franklin Gutierrez continued his hot streak with a 3-5 night. The Buddahs have now won 5 in a row. Another hot cellar-dweller is Arkansas who won their 3rd straight with a 5-3 slaying of Amityville. Cliff Lee, who had been struggling this season, pitched a solid 7 innings, giving up only 1 earned run and lowering his ERA to 7.30. Philly survived a bigtime comeback from Newark yesterday to escape with a 7-6 win. The Animals had a 3-0 lead in the 8th, but Newark scored 2 in the bottom of the inning to bring them within one. The Animals knew they'd need some insurance so they scored 4 runs in the 9th to open up a 7-2 lead, but the Sugar Bears clawed back, capped by Adrian Beltre's 3-run homer that brought Newark to within one. Unfortunately for them, Asdrubal Cabrera popped out to center with two runners on base. Sardine City scored 9 runs in the final two innings to stage a successful comeback against Blue Ridge and win 11-9. The Bombers were up 7-2, but Sardine City rallied to tie the game up at 7. Blue Ridge scored two more runs to retake the lead, but the Sardines kept rolling. James Loney started it off with a solo homer with one out, then Blue Ridge fell apart, giving up a 3-run homer to Willie Harris. Mike Wuertz struck out 3 of the 4 batters he faced to earn his 13th save.
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.
Hillsborough took over sole possession of first place in the Morris Division with a 6-0 blanking of Philadelphia. Felix Hernandez held the Animals to 3 hits and 1 walk and struck out 10 to improve to 5-1 on the season. The Hitmen have now one 3 straight and have a 1/2 game lead on idle Vancouver. Michael Young was 4-4 with 3 RBIs and 2 homers to lead the Cutters to a 6-4 victory over Amityville. The Cutters are trying to work their way back into the race and have now won 7 of their last 10 and are only 5 games under the .500 mark. Marietta and New Jersey slugged it out as the Mighty Men edged Team Buddah 12-11. The Mighty Men took an early 5-0 lead, but the Buddahs scored 6 runs in the 3rd to take the lead. The Buddahs extended the lead to 8-5, but Marietta inched back and tied it back up at 9-9 in the 6th. In the 7th, Seth Smith hit a two-run homer to give Jersey the lead back, but Taylor Teagarden and Derek Jeter hit homers in the bottom half to give Marietta the 12-11 lead that would serve as the final. Teagarden (2 homers) and Adrian Gonzalez (1 homer) both finished with 3 RBIs and 3 hits each and Alberto Callaspo also had 3 hits for the Mighty Men. Smith had 4 RBIs and 3 hits for the Buddahs
Carolina rallied in the 9th to steal a victory from Hillsborough. Down 5-3, Jeff Francoeur led off the inning with a double, then scored on a Troy Tulowitzki single. Prince Fielder then gave the Cats the lead with a 2-run home run, his 13th of the season. C. J. Wilson struck out the side in the bottom of the 9th to nail down his 6th save. Ricky Nolasco and the Falcons shut out Vancouver yesterday 3-0, holding the Fist to just 4 hits and striking out 12 batters. After losing 5 straight, the Falcons now won two in a row but have a long way to go to get back into the competition. The Falcons sit 10 1/2 games out of 1st, but with Johan Santana and Cliff Lee starting to pitch better, it's too early to count them out. Newark evened their record at 22-22 with a 10-7 win over Amityville. Mark Rzepczynski held the Ant Slayers to one run on 5 hits in 6 innings despite walking 6. The Ant Slayers made it closer than it appeared by scoring 6 runs in the 8th, but fell short. Will Venable and Manny Ramirez were each 3-4 with 4 RBIs, with Venable hitting two homers. Nice pitchers duel in Philadelphia where the two teams were held to a combined 7 hits. Philly's Matt Cain held the Buddahs to 3 hits, but gave up 2 runs and took the loss. Andy Pettite earned the win with 6.2 shutout innings, giving up just 3 hits and walking 7. Unfortunately for Philly, they lost more than the game, as Adam Lind was lost to injury for at least a week. Blue Ridge, a surprise contender so far, took down the first-place Bridgewater Mallers 8-2 behind a stellar performance from rookie J.A. Happ. Happ pitched 8 innings and held the Mallers to 5 hits and 2 runs while striking out 8. Aaron Hill hit a grand slam in the 2nd inning - it was his 7th of the year.
Sardine City and New Jersey battled for a marathon-like 16 innings before the Straphangers took the lead. Both teams scored early - the Buddahs scored 2 in the 1st and the Sardines tied it up in the 3rd, then nothing. Josh Outman gave the Buddahs 7 innings, giving up only 7 hits and striking out 6, while his Straphangers counterpart, Jordan Zimmerman lasted 8 innings and holding New Jersey to only 3 hits. The bullpens held each other in check until the 16th, when Scott Eyre gave up a leadoff double to Marco Scutaro, then Ryan Braun homered to win the game. Another shorter extra inning game was played between Vegas and Amityville. The Rats picked up a 3-0 lead but the Ants got on the board in the 5th, then tied the score up in the 6th on a Miguel Tejada double. But the Rats would have the last laugh in the 11th when pinch-hitter Travis Hafner hit a solo homer to win the game for the Pack. The Ant Slayers held the Rats to only 5 hits in the game (versus 11 for the Slayers), but two of the hits were home runs. Clayton Kershaw finally had a decent outing against Newark, lowering his ERA to 10.13 with a 5.1 inning, 6 hit performance. Kershaw gave up one run and struck out 8, but didn't get a decision. That's because the Cutters scored all 7 runs in the final 3 innings to take a 7-1 win against Newark.
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.
The Buddahs have bounced back in a big way after ending their 9-game losing streak by rolling off 4 straight against Arkansas. Yesterday Andy Pettitte and the pen held the Falcons to only 1 hit in a 2-0 win. Justin Morneau was the lone Falcon to get a hit, although 2 others reached on walks and one was hit by a pitch. The Buddahs struck out 9 Falcons in the game. Carolina won their series against the Rat Pack with a 5-3, 11-inning win yesterday. The Cats tied the score at three in the 9th on a Delmon Young double. Then in the 11th, Prince Fielder hit a two-run homer to win the game. Evan Meek earned his first DMBL victory with a solid 4-inning performance, where he gave up only 2 hits and one run and struck out 6. Sardine City has risen up in the ranks - remember they were the last team this year to earn a victory - and is now sitting pretty in 2nd in the Hanover Division with an 11-7 record. Yesterday the Sardines took a 3-1 decision against Bridgewater. John Lackey pitched 6 innings and allowed only 1 run, while striking out 7 to earn the win.
Carolina finally fell, 6-4 to the Endzone Animals. The Mudcats could only muster 4 hits total, though one of them was a 3-run homer by Aramis Ramirez. Other than the one gopher ball, Philly starter Jered Weaver pitched brilliantly, lasting 8 innings and walking only 2. While the Mudcats ended their streak, the Straphangers had no such luck, descending to 0-4 on the season after a 3-0 loss to Team Buddah. Andy Pettitte pitched 6 innings of 5-hit ball to earn the win. The Buddahs only managed 5 hits as well, though 3 of them were doubles. Cole Hamels took the loss despite allowing only 2 hits in 5 innings (the 6 walks probably didn't help though). Hoboken shut down the once-mighty Sugar Bears 3-1. Starter Mark Buehrle tossed 8 innings, allowing only one run on 8 hits. Denard Span was 3-4, leading the Hoboken offense. "It's almost as if our team thinks they're still on vacation" said Sugar Bear manager Don Mattingly. All eyes were on 2010 first round pick Brett Anderson, but it was Randy Wolf who won the duel. Anderson was tagged for 4 runs on 10 hits in 7 innings - not a horrible debut - but Wolf allowed only 2 runs and 4 hits in 6 innings and earned the win in the 4-3 contest. Alex Rodriguez was 2-4 in the contest and drove in all the runs on two home runs. Vancouver and Blue Ridge battled it out in a tight one yesterday. With the score tied at 5 in the 8th, Blue Ridge took a tenuous 6-5 lead. Closer Francisco Rodriguez was unable to hold it though, despite getting the first two outs in the inning. Rodriguez walked Michael Cuddyer and then promptly served up a 2-run dinger to Garrett Jones. Joe Thatcher retired the final three batters in the ninth to earn his second save of the season.
Amazingly almost every team has lost and won at least one game by now...well, except Carolina (now 3-0) and Sardine City (falling to 0-3). The Mudcats edged the Straphangers 4-3 to complete the sweep. Prince Fielder's 2-run homer in the 7th locked in the lead for Carolina and Mike Pelfrey started the season at 1-0 after pitching 6.2 solid innings. Rookie Nelson Cruz went 2-3 with a homer and 4 RBIs in his first DMBL start for the Ant Slayers, leading the team to a 6-3 win over Hoboken. Hiroki Kuroda struck out 9 in 6 innings to earn the win while Hanley Ramirez went 4-5 for the losing team. Also in the game, catcher Jeff Mathis committed 3 errors. The first occurred in the 2nd inning when Mathis attempted to throw out Cruz as he was stealing second, but instead got the ball caught in his catcher's mask and ended up throwing it behind him. The in the same inning, Brandon Phillips also attempted to steal second base, but Mathis was distracted by an Amityville fan in the stands who lifted her shirt and threw the ball into the ground. Finally in the 5th inning, Adam LaRoche hit a ball just in front of the plate and Mathis, who had been eating Cheetos between innings and had orange dust all over his hands, lost control of the ball and missed pitcher Matt Garza's head by inches. "These sorts of things happen all the time" said Mathis after the game. "I just have to shake them off." Mathis then got up to leave the podium, but tripped over the chair and knocked over the microphones. No serious injuries occurred. Newark evened their series against Vegas with a 1-0 blanking of the Rat Pack. Koji Uehara in his first ever DMBL start, went the distance, holding the Rats to 6 hits and striking out 8. Rich Harden was doing his best to keep up, holding the Sugar Bears to only 1 hit in 4.1 innings, but his 5 walks raised his pitch count too high and pitching coach Sam Malone recommended the brittle starter to be pulled. The Sugar Bears finally scored in the 8th on a Nick Swisher double, but only managed 6 hits over the course of the game. Skip Schumaker was 5-6 as the Falcons outlasted the Bombers 9-7 and winning their first game of the season. The Falcons tallied 18 hits in the contest but Johan Santana's struggles from Spring Training continued. Santana pitched 6.2 innings, but allowed 6 runs on 11 hits and 3 walks. Franklin Gutierrez and Seth Smith each hit a pair of homers as the Buddahs doubled up the Mighty Men 8-4. Kevin Slowey picked up the win, pitching 7 innings and giving up 2 runs on 6 hits, while striking out 5.
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New Jersey's Joey Votto (originally from Toronto) is making a case for the Kevin Mitchell Award -- as well as a Sabrmetric triple crown -- despite Team Buddah not being in the playoff hunt, and British Columbia native Justin Morneau of Arkansas is hot on his tail for the league lead in batting average.
Morneau is all but guaranteed to lead the league in hits, holding a 202-198 advantage over Votto, who's among the top 10 in walks. If he can replicate the 2-for-4 performance from his last game in the final two (going 4-for-8), Morneau would finish at .337704, and would have to hope for Votto to go 1-for-3, as he did in yesterday's game, which would leave Votto at .337288.
