Philly's "Secret Weapon" offs Hitmen

Philadelphia unveiled their "secret weapon", newly-acquired Kyle Kendrick, who stifled the Hitmen amidst a 16-2 beatdown. Kendrick had spent the entire season in AAA, mostly with Vancouver's affiliate in Tacoma, but finally got a chance to prove himself when Philly sent down youngster Yovani Gallardo. Chris Young drove in 4 runs and Magglio Ordonez and Mike Lamb each drove in 3 to power the Animals' offense.

Newark's 9-game winning streak came to the end as the Rat Pack evened their series with a 3-2 win yesterday. Tim Lincecum outdueled James Shields to pick up the W. Jim Thome was 3-4 against his former team and Chone Figgins, in his first game off the DL hit a 2-run homer. The Sugar Bear's lead fell back to one game.

Vancouver was crushed by former teammate Prince Fielder, who smashed two home runs and was 3-3 with 4 RBIs. Blue Ridge cruised to an easy 9-2 win.

Hoboken gave Joel Pineiro his final release yesterday - at least until the next injury occurs. Aaron Cook was activated from the disabled list and Pineiro was seen crying as he left the team clubhouse. "I really thought this time they'd change their minds" said a sobbing Pineiro. "They'll be sorry though. They'll call me back!"

Ping Ponged Pineiro

Crazy game down in Vegas yesterday as the Plunkers pulled out to an 8-1 lead after two innings. But Vegas pounded out 8 runs in the 6th to take a one-run lead. In the top of the ninth, the Plunkers tied it up, but Placido Polanco hit a single with the bases loaded to give the Rats the 10-9 win. The win was the Rat Pack's 7th straight, keeping them in a first-place tie with Newark.

Felix Hernandez is now 2-0 since returning from the DL last week. King Felix pitched 7 strong innings against Arkansas en route to a 7-2 win. Hillsborough picked up yet another game over 7th place Tampa Bay and moved to one game back of 5th place D.C. Meanwhile Arkansas lost their 5th straight and is only 1/2 game out of 12th place.

D.C. is losing ground rapidly with another loss to Vancouver. Michael Young went 4-4 and Andre Ethier hit a key 2-run home run to propel the Fist to a 6-3 win. Vancouver widened their division lead to 4 1/2 games.

Hoboken meanwhile kept playing yo-yo with pitcher Joel Pineiro, releasing him after his latest start. At one point Pineiro got so fed up with owner Mark Hrywna that he began to choke him after a heated conversation. "He got all up in my face and pushed my buttons" said Pineiro. With Aaron Cook still expected to miss at least one more start, the Cutters may yet ask Pineiro to come back one more time. "Yeah, he choked me" said Hrywna, "but we'll still probably take him back."

Vegas courts Lady Luck

The Rat Pack won a 6-5 decision over the Bushslappers in 11 innings, taking their eighth straight. The interesting thing about the victory is that it brings the Rats' record in one-run games to an astounding 8-0, by far the best in the league. Only Philadelphia is also undefeated in one-run games, but they are only 3-0. Carolina is second in one-run victories with 6, but they also have 6 losses. The Rats also lead the league in extra-innings wins with 3 (out of 3 games). These stats usually indicate a large amount of luck, but with the Rats you can't really be sure. Time will tell if the ball bounces the other way in the Pack's future.

Tampa Bay looks back on track after picking up their third straight victory, a 9-6 stunner over the Philadelphia Endzone Animals. Pat Burrell and Torii Hunter each had 3 hits and 2 RBIs to lead the Plunkers to victory.

Meanwhile, the Straphangers dropped their ninth straight game, a 5-3 setback to Blue Ridge. Daisuke Matsuzaka, despite having a solid season so far, dropped to 1-5 on the year after 7.2 mediocre innings. The Sardines jumped out to an early 3-0 lead but slowly saw their lead erode, eventually tied in the fifth inning. Prince Fielder drove in the winning run in the bottom of the eighth and the Bombers tacked on an insurance run. Russ Springer entered to close the game out and despite being a bit wild (12 pitches, 5 strikes), the Sardines were shut down.

Joel Pineiro made his last start for the Cutters - at least for the time being - and was given his outright release. The Cutters resigned Joe Beimel, who had been cut to make room for Pineiro, to a special one-day contract. "We feel bad that Joe didn't get into a game last time" said manager Wally Backman. "We'll try harder this time around." Beimel is expected to be released when Aaron Cook is eligible to come off the DL tomorrow.