Breaking a catch(er)

Another backstop went down yesterday, as New Jersey's Jason Varitek will miss most of the next week to recover from a rabid squirrel attack. Teammate J.C. Romero thought it would make a great April Fool's prank if he released the rodent in the locker room, but the prank turned into a nightmare when the squirrel started foaming at the mouth and went after Varitek. Varitek becomes the fourth catcher to hit the injury list. We all remember Chris Ianetta's incident from a week or so ago. He's been joined by Las Vegas' Chris Coste - also out around a month - and Sardine City's Miguel Montero. All these ailments have been a boon for the league's castoffs - the much-traveled Jason Kendall and Yorvit Torrealba have now found jobs with Blue Ridge and Sardine City, respectively, while Las Vegas proudly welcomed John Buck back aboard. Will New Jersey turn to the likes of Kenji Johjima or Gregg Zaun? Or will the Buddah just try to tough out the loss until Varitek can return?

Newark escaped a close one in Blue Ridge yesterday, outlasting the Bombers in extra innings. With the game tied up at 5 in the late innings, Carl Crawford hit an RBI single to give Blue Ridge a one-run lead. But the Bombers gave up a 9th inning leadoff home run to Jack Cust to send the game to extra innings. The teams' bullpens battled it out for four innings but Blue Ridge finally fell in the 14th when Asdrubal Cabrera lined a single up the middle to score J.D. Drew.

The Mighty Men manhandled Jake Peavy and the Iron Fist yesterday, scoring 6 runs against the defending Ben McDonald winner and chasing him in the second inning. The Mighty Men would tack on two more runs to take an 8-3 decision. Brian Giles and Kevin Youkilis each had 3 RBIs and Giles and Derek Jeter had 3 hits apiece.

Newark clinches 1st spot

Well Newark finally did it - the Sugar Bears broke their losing streak and clinched the Hanover Division by shutting out Hoboken 5-0 yesterday. Chien Ming Wang pitched 5.1 shutout innings and Luke Scott drove in 2 runs in the match. The dejected Las Vegas Rats went on to be shut out as well, by the Plunkers. Jered Weaver pitched 7 shutout innings in the 2-0 win for Tampa.

Hillsborough dropped their 4th straight game, a 4-3 squeaker to Arkansas. Of course Hillsborough just came off a streak that saw them win 16 of 18 games, so their timing is questionable with the season ending next Tuesday.

The Hitmen lost no ground to D.C. as the Slappers dropped a 7-2 decision to Jake Peavy and the Iron Fist. Peavy won his league-leading 23rd decision.

Sugar Bears secure top spot

Vancouver broke their losing streak, barely, by edging the Mudcats 3-2 in 13 innings. Jake Peavy and Tim Hudson battled it out for 6 or so innings, but the score remained tied at 2 since the 2nd inning. With the no-decision, Peavy loses any hope of tying the DMBL mark of 26 victories in one season. Mike Lowell won the game with a walkoff home run in the 13th. Vancouver's magic number drops to 3.

D.C. tied up Hillsborough with a 4-1 win over the Falcons. Kelvim Escobar won his 16th with a 6-inning, 5-hit outing, giving up only one run and striking out 5. Both the Hitmen and Bushslappers are 3 away from clinching a playoff spot.

Randy Johnson (7.1 IP, 3 H, 13 K) outduelled Phil Hughes (6 IP, 2 H, 5 BB, 7 K) to pick up a 1-0 victory over the Sardine City Straphangers. The two teams combined for 10 hits total as Newark locked up the top overall seed in the playoffs.

Rarely do you see a pitcher pitch a complete game AND give up 9 earned runs but that's exactly what Blue Ridge's Jon Lieber did yesterday in a 9-3 loss to Philadelphia. Lieber "took one for the team", giving up 13 hits and walking 6 in 8 innings of work. Most of the damage was done in the first three innings, as the Animals piled up 8 of the 9 runs in those innings.

Peavy

John Lackey pitched a 4-hit shutout of the Mudcats yesterday, striking out six, and improving to 12-6 on the year. The Hitmen only managed 3 runs and 7 hits, but it was enough. Meanwhile Tampa pounded the Sugar Bears 11-5. Andy Pettitte, a former Sugar Bear, won his 12th as he limited Newark to 4 hits and 2 runs in 6 innings. James Loney and Pat Burrell combined to go 4-7 with 9 RBIs to lead the Plunker offense.

The team that lost ground was the Sardine City Straphangers. The Sardines fell victim to Vancouver's ace, Jake Peavy, who became the first in the DMBL to win 20 games. Peavy improved to 20-3 with 7 solid innings. With possibly 6 more starts to go, Peavy has an outside shot at tying Greg Maddux's 10-year old DMBL record of 26 wins.

Las Vegas finally was able to gain some ground on Newark with a 2-1 win over Hoboken. Jason Hirsh, who has been stellar since replacing Erik Bedard and Tim Lincecum in the rotation, outduelled Matt Garza to earn the W. Since returning to the rotation, Hirsh is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA and 1.17 WHIP in 2 starts.

Plunkers end slump, Peavy deals

Tampa Bay broke their 7-game slide with a 5-4 extra-inning defeat of the Bushslappers. D.C. jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, but the Plunkers crept back and tied it with a 3-run 6th inning. Finally, Kenji Johjima broke the tie in the 10th with an RBI single, his second RBI of the night. The loss put D.C. into a 5th place tie with Hillsborough. The Hitmen won their 5th straight - an 8-1 rout of the Hoboken Cutters. Dan Haren evened his record at 8-8 with a 7 inning performance, giving up only one run on 3 hits.

Vancouver's Jake Peavy led the Fist to their 9th straight victory and shut out the Mighty Men on only one hit. Josh Bard's single in the 5th was the only hit that the Mites could muster. Peavy struck out 13 en route to his league-leading 16th win. Peavy also leads the league with 4 shutouts on the season.

Fausto Carmona has quietly put together an excellent season for the Sardine City Straphangers. Yesterday he improved to 11-5 on the season as the Straphangers beat the Endzone Animals 6-3. Carmona now ranks 7th in the league in ERA (3.66). The Straphangers still sit on the cusp of playoff contention - 7 games behind D.C. and Hillsborough.

Newark - Vegas battle for Hanover, round 1...

Newark took the first game of their series against Las Vegas with a 6-3 win in the House yesterday. The Sugar Bears scored 6 runs in the final three innings to grab the lead. Recently activated Pat Neshek took the brunt of the damage, surrendering 4 runs in 2.1 innings. Newark stretched their division lead to 2 games. Game two is later tonight.

Tampa Bay has gone as cold as their manager recently, dropping 12 out of their last 15, falling four games under .500 and out of a playoff spot. Tampa is now two games behind Hillsborough for that 6th spot and they're looking over their shoulder as fellow first-year franchise Blue Ridge is only 2 games behind them.

Jake Peavy won his league-leading 14th game of the season against Arkansas, clinging to a 3-2 victory. Peavy surrendered only 3 hits in his 7 innings of work, while striking out 9. Peavy is now in striking distance of the "Pitching Triple Crown" - third in ERA with 2.97 (.21 behind leader Ted Lilly) and 9 strikeouts behind Las Vegas' Erik Bedard.

Hitmen move into wild card spot

Jake Peavy won his league-leading 13th win yesterday as Vancouver cruised to an 8-2 victory over D.C. Curtis Granderson was 3-5 with 3 RBIs and hit his 19th triple of the year. Granderson appears poised to obliterate Jose Reyes' DMBL-era record of 24 triples set last year.

Hillsborough moved one game over .500 and into sole possession of 6th place overall with their third straight win and sixth in seven tries. C.C. Sabathia struck out 11 in 7 strong innings and Carlos Lee had 3 RBIs. Hillsborough has been going back and forth about selling their players, but now sitting in the final playoff spot, they may become buyers.

Las Vegas and Newark remain tied for first in the Hanover Division after both teams won their games yesterday. Javier Vazquez improved to 11-1 in Newark's 5-4 edging of Hoboken, while Tim Lincecum propelled the Rat Pack to a 5-2 win over Tampa Bay.

Mike Lamb hit 3 home runs in Philadelphia's 7-1 rout of fraternal rival Carolina. Jason Bergmann limited the Cats to 3 hits over 7 innings and struck out 9. Philly still trails Vancouver by 3 1/2 games in the Morris.

Lots of movement going on in the league yesterday as the trading deadline looms closer. Arkansas shuffled out Mark Grudzielanek in favor of Tim Wakefield, who had pitched in 4 games in an earlier stint with the team. Hillsborough cut scrub shortstop Alex Gonzalez in favor of DMBL veteran Aubrey Huff, who was cut earlier this year by Carolina. Hoboken dumped prospect Jeff Niemann for former Vancouver backstop Gerald Laird. Las Vegas shook up their AAA squad by cutting Greg Dobbs and signing former D.C. first baseman Lyle Overbay. Finally, Philadelphia signed Adam Lind who Carolina cut a month ago.

Cutters, Buddah battle for 13

Don't forget this is your last chance to vote for the All-Stars this year!

Hoboken finally broke their 8-game losing streak, but it took some work. Starter Jon Garland battled Buddah's Joe Blanton through 8 shutout innings. The game was knotted at 0-0 until in the 13th inning, Travis Buck hit a solo home run to give the Cutters the lead. Jason Isringhausen pitched 5 innings of relief to earn the win.

Vancouver came right back from being shutdown yesterday, to post a shutout of their own. Jake Peavy held the Hired Hitmen to 2 hits, while striking out 11 to improve to 11-2 on the season. It's the third shutout for Peavy this year.

Vancouver picked up a game on Philadelphia, as their 9-game winning streak came to an end at the hands of D.C., 6-4. Adrian Beltre was 4-4 with 2 RBIs and Carl Crawford was 3-4 to lead the D.C. offense.

Newark took revenge on the Mudcats yesterday as the series shifted to Carolina. Javier Vazquez improved to 10-1 with a complete game effort, striking out 11 and surrendering only five hits and one run. Hideki Matsui was 2-4 with 3 RBI and 2 doubles.

Peavy schools Sardines

Jake Peavy put on a pitching clinic yesterday against the Straphangers. Peavy held the Hangmen to only 3 hits in pitching a complete game shutout, while striking out 14. Peavy becomes the first in the DMBL to 9 wins. Peavy's opponent, Cole Hamels, didn't do too shabby either in the contest. Hamels pitched 8 innings of 4-hit ball and struck out 8, but he gave up two runs, one of which was earned, and ended up on the losing end. It's now eight straight starts by Hamels in which he's given up two earned runs or less.

Tampa Bay pummeled the Newark Sugar Bears 10-3 behind Adrian Gonzalez's 4 RBI and 2 homers. Mark Buehrle held the Sugar Bears to 3 hits and one run in 7 innings. James Loney was 3-4 and Brian Roberts had 3 RBIs for the Plunkers.

Arkansas stunned the Endzone Animals yesterday with an 11-6 victory at the Eagle's Nest. Barry Bonds, Ryan Ludwick, and Adam Dunn each had 3 RBIs and at least one homer (Bonds had two).

Randy Wolf won his final start (7IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 6 K) for the Mighty Men, after getting repeatedly pounded in all his other starts. Unfortunately for Wolf, he still found a pink slip in his locker after the game. The Mighty Men activated starter Micah Owings from the disabled list and needed to make room. Wolf was last seen by the Mighty Men's headquarters throwing eggs with Brett Tomko driving the getaway car.

Pack win ends slide

Well the Rat Pack finally ended their losing streak, winning in true Vegas fashion with a 7-6 trimming of the Mudcats. It was the Rats 10th win by a one-run margin (they are now a league best 10-1). The Pack was actually losing 5-4 going into the ninth, but Matt Holliday hit a three-run homer to give the Rats the lead. The Cats narrowed the lead with a Grady Sizemore solo shot, but that was all.

Arkansas' Curt Schilling pitched a 3-hit shutout of Team Buddah yesterday to improve to 4-3 on the season. Schilling's shutout snapped a tie with Brad Radke (17) for all-time shutouts and is now alone in the fourth overall spot.

The Sardine City Straphangers upset the Endzone Animals yesterday 9-7. Mike Jacobs, subbing in for the injured Kevin Youkilis, was 4-6 and Ryan Braun had 3 RBIs to lead the Sardine offense. B.J. Upton also had 2 doubles and 2 stolen bases, while hitting 3-5 on the night.

Vancouver extended their winning streak to six games with a 4-2 win over Marietta. Jake Peavy (8 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 3K) became the league's first 7-game winner.

Jason Isringhausen made his 500th DMBL appearance yesterday, saving a 3-2 Cutter win over Hillsborough. The save puts Izzy one behind Trevor Hoffman for fourth all-time.

DMBL Site glitches, Butch suspected

Yes, the league's site has been experiencing technical difficulties in the past 24 hours. Problems began yesterday morning when security guards at the league's main server facility witnessed a pair of shady characters wearing blue and yellow apparel leaving the compound. The site was restored in the afternoon then went down again. Once again guards found strange evidence inside the compound - a "Nation of Butchlam" logo was spray-painted on one of the walls. Late last night the site was once again restored, but it was a short-lived resurrection. As of this posting, the site is still down. Police reported pulling over a vehicle with Billy Spiers, Jim Eisenreich, Mike Caruso, and Jeff DaVanon inside. None of the four accomplices would cooperate. The DMBL has tasked George Mitchell to investigate into the matter.

Some quick notes on yesterday's games... Arkansas completed their sweep of Newark yesterday, marking one of the bigger upsets in this young season. The Falcons scored nine runs in the final three innings to take a one-run victory over their bitter rivals...Jake Peavy, still enjoying his box of JR Cigars from last week, pitched a dominating one-hit, 12-strikeout game against the Cutters. "Next week, I'd like some Montecristos please" said Peavy on his way to the dugout after the game...Sardine City continued their slide with their 11th straight loss.

Animals tally eighth straight

The Endzone Animals won their eighth straight after a 5-1 shutdown of Vancouver yesterday. Jason Bergmann held the Fist to one run on six hits in seven innings. Magglio Ordonez's three-run homer in the first inning off Jake Peavy gave the Animals the early lead. Peavy struggled in the first, walking two of the first three batters before the homer, but settled in and pitched seven innings, but took his first loss of the year.

New Jersey's Jesse Litsch held the Tampa Bay Plunkers to only three hits and one run in seven innings to earn his first win of the year. Adam LaRoche was 3-4 with a homer and Josh Fields was also 3-4 to lead the Buddah "offense" to the 2-1 win. It was the ninth time (out of 15 games) that the Buddahs were held to less than 3 runs. Jeff Francis pitched a complete game in defeat, surrendering only two runs and nine hits.

Newark once again pounded away on their opponents. This time Marietta was the recipient of a 19-3 drubbing. Chien-Ming Wang once again received a ridiculous amount of run support from the Sugar Bear bats. After only receiving eight runs in support of his first start, Wang got 22 against Sardine City, 18 against Vegas, and now 19 against Marietta. Randy Johnson and Javier Vazquez each had one game of double-digit run support, but other than that the Bears were relatively held in check. "Wang was feeling all down in the dumps before the season after losing to the other pitchers in a poker tournament" said team captain Chipper Jones, "so this is our way of making it up to him."

Sunday wrapup

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

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

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

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

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

Wakefield, Williams prove poor reinforcements

Carolina took two from D.C. yesterday thanks to some solid pitching from starters Clay Hensley and Roy Halladay. Halladay, who had the better outing of the two, pitched a complete game, holding the Bushslappers to only two runs. Bill Hall, who hit a homer in each of the games, has quietly put up a solid season. Hall hit his 33rd and 34th homer of the season in yesterday's games and is batting .283 with a .974 OPS.

Tim Wakefield made his season debut for the Falcons against Vancouver yesterday. Unfortunately for Wakefield, Vancouver showed no mercy to the former Iron Fister. Wakefield gave up seven runs, six earned, in only 2.1 innings pitched, while giving up five hits and two walks and striking out none. Wakefield was recently signed by Arkansas to replace struggling Daniel Cabrera in the rotation.

Jake Peavy shut down the Falcons in game two of the doubleheader, pitching a 3-hit complete game. Peavy surrendered only one run - a Lance Berkman solo shot - in the contest while striking out nine.

Speaking of replacement players, Marietta had hoped that Woody Williams would enjoy a change of scenery and replaced Gil Meche in their rotation, but so far it's been a disaster. Most recently, Williams was rocked for six runs in 2.2 innings against the Sharks and now sports a 12.10 ERA on the season. Williams will probably be given one more chance - his next start is against the team that traded him, Vancouver.

Philly ended their four-game slide by pounding Boof Bonser and the Hoboken Cutters 10-2. Vernon Wells had 3 RBIs and Erik Bedard improved to 11-5 in the contest.

The Sugar Bears completed a 5-game sweep of Team Buddah and have now won 10 in a row. The Sugar Bears are now 49 games over .500.