Divisional position shuffling

Josh Beckett pitched a complete game shutout of Amityville yesterday - a 10-hit, 8-strikeout effort en route to a 7-0 decision. Carlos Pena hit a 2-run homer in the third and Alex Gordon did the same in the fourth to propel the Rat Pack offense.

Meanwhile, first-place Marietta fell into a tie with idle Newark for first place in the Hanover Division after dropping a 9-4 contest to Hillsborough. Ron Belliard was 3-5 and Billy Butler was 2-5 with 3 RBIs to lead the way for the Hitmen. Wandy Rodriguez earned his first victory of the season with a strong 6-inning effort. Hillsborough moves into first place, a half a game ahead of Carolina.

The Mudcats dropped an extra-inning affair to fraternal rival Philadelphia. The Cats built up a quick 8-3 lead on the Animals, but Philly clawed their way back. A four-run 8th inning, highlighted by a 2-run Albert Pujols double, tied up the game. Pujols then came through again in the 10th when he hit the game winning single off reliever Buddy Carlyle.

Dustin McGowan was smoked in the first few innings of his start against New Jersey yesterday, but the Sardines ended up with an 11-7 victory anyway. Conor Jackson was 2-3 with 5 RBIs and Ryan Braun had 3 RBIs to power the Straphangers.

Jackson leads Sardines to victory

Blue Ridge stole one away from the Falcons yesterday. The Falcons posted a quick 4-0 lead but the Bombers came back and knotted the game in the 5th. The Falcons took the lead again in the 8th when Lance Berkman doubled in Ray Durham. But Joakim Soria couldn't hold it down in the 9th. He started the inning with a walk and a single. A sac bunt put the runners in scoring position and pinch hitter Hunter Pence came through with a bloop into center field that scored both runners, giving the Bombers a 6-5 victory.

Conor Jackson was 3-3 with 4 RBIs, including a triple, a homer and a stolen base to lead the Sardine City Straphangers to a 10-4 drubbing of Carolina. Evan Longoria also had 3 hits in the game and Alexei Ramirez was 2-4 with a triple and 2 RBIs. Cole Hamels evened his record at 3-3 with an 8-inning performance, limiting the Cats to 7 hits and one earned run.

The Sugar Bears offense was firing on all cylinders in yesterday's blowout win against Las Vegas. J.D. Drew was 3-4 with 2 homers and 5 RBIs, Bobby Abreu also hit 2 homers, Chipper Jones went 3-5 with a measly one homer 2 RBI and Mike Fontenot (yesterday's goat) was also 3-5. In total, the Sugar Bears hit 8 home runs (and Vegas hit 4 in defeat) in the 16-9 victory.

Scott Kazmir 2-hit the Hired Hitmen for 7 innings before giving way to Dan Wheeler, who preserved the 8-0, 2-hit shutout for the Endzone Animals. Kazmir struck out 8 Hitmen and walked 3. Albert Pujols was 4-5 with a homer and a double and 3 RBIs.

Division leads shrink as top cats fall

Hoboken stunned the Rat Pack yesterday 5-1 behind Matt Garza's 7 inning effort. Aaron Rowand was 3-5 and Hunter Pence had 2 RBIs to help the Cutters pull off the upset. The Rat Pack saw their lead drop to 1/2 a game as the Sugar Bears bested Tampa Bay 7-1. Jack Cust had a homer and 3 RBIs and James Shields pitched 8 innings for the W. The loss knocks the Plunkers back down to .500.

Meanwhile, Vancouver's lead in the Morris Division shrank to 1 1/2 games as the Fist dropped a 5-3 decision to the Sardine City Straphangers. Fausto Carmona pitched a complete game and improved to 5-3 on the season. Kurt Suzuki hit two homers in the win. The Sardines have now won 9 of their last 12. The slumping Endzone Animals were able to capitalize on the loss by taking a 6-3 win over the Falcons. Yovani Gallardo won his 8th of the season by holding the Falcons to 3 hits and 3 runs over 6 innings. Albert Pujols was 3-4 with 3 RBIs in the contest.

Philly evens the series, Sharks on the edge

Philadelphia stormed back with back-to-back shutouts of the Mighty Men to tie the series back up at two. The Endzone Animals scored seven in the first inning en route to a 15-0 victory. Josh Johnson pitched six innings, limiting the Mighty Men to five hits and two walks and striking out seven. Meanwhile, rookie Jeremy Sowers was hammered for seven runs (six earned) in 2/3 of an inning. Jimmy Rollins had 4 RBIs and Albert Pujols hit a pair of homers to lead the team. The two teams return to Philadelphia on Thursday, with game two of the Francisco Liriano-Johan Santana matchup. Santana was roughed up last time, so we'll see if he can outduel the rookie.

Meanwhile, it will take a miracle for Honolulu to come back from a 3-0 deficit after a 9-4 loss to Newark yesterday. Chien-Ming Wang pitched eight solid innings to earn the win and Gregg Zaun had 3 RBIs to lead the offense. The Sharks will fight for their survival today in Honolulu.

Wednesday doubleheader recap

Roy Oswalt pitched a gem against South Boston yesterday as the Sharks routed the Gang 10-0. Oswalt pitched a complete game shutout, surrendering only five hits and no walks while striking out six. Oswalt has pitched well in five of his last six starts since coming back from his injury last month. The one low note was a 10-2 loss to Marietta.

Albert Pujols drove in six runs and hit his 39th home run in Philly's 11-3 shellacking of Las Vegas. Brandon Webb won after missing his last start due to injury to improve to 11-7. Reed Johnson also contributed 3 RBIs. The Rat Pack used eight pitchers in the game, including rarely utilized Casey Janssen, who pitched the last three innings. It was Vegas' ninth straight loss.

The Mudcats beat the Animals in the late game yesterday, but lost David Eckstein to injury. Eckstein has been on the disabled list twice already this year as a member of the Endzone Animals and now will give the Mudcats a chance to pay him to sit at home and play his Nintendo Wii.

Newark won twice yesterday becoming the first team to 90 wins on the season. In game one against Hillsborough, Jim Edmonds hit two homers and drove in six runs for the Sugar Bears. Randy Johnson won his 197th career victory. Ryan Howard hit his 50th homer of the season for Hillsborough. Edmonds hit another homer in the second game as John Smoltz started his 300th career game. His seven strikeouts left him four shy of 2000 for his career.

Jose Contreras shut down Vancouver for a 5-0 shutout, though Contreras couldn't make it through the full nine. Contreras lasted eight innings, holding Vancouver to four hits and two walks. Mike Wuertz finished the ninth to preserve the shutout.

Look for a new Trade Talk article later tonight.

Pujols powers Philly

Hoboken's Scott Kazmir pitched a six-hit shutout of Las Vegas yesterday. Kazmir struck out 9 to improve to 3-4 on the year. Not only was it the first shutout of Kazmir's young career, but also his first complete game. Probably unnoticed in this game was a fine effort from Vegas' Anthony Reyes (6 IP, 2 ER, 6 K) whose last five starts have been lousy. Reyes has not had a quality start since his first two starts of the year.

Chris Carpenter returned to action for South Boston on Monday and picked up the win despite looking a bit rusty. Carpenter pitched 7.1 innings and allowed four runs and six walks. South Boston won for the fourth straight time.

Philadelphia solidified their hold on the Morris Division lead and knocked Arkansas into third place with a come-from-behind effort last night. The Animals scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth, including an Albert Pujols walk-off grand salami off reliever Justin Duchscherer. It was Pujols' second homer of the night. Pujols ended up driving in six of Philly's seven runs in the game.

The top pitching line of the day goes to Hillsborough's Jeremy Bonderman who held the Mudcats to three hits and no runs, while striking out nine in a complete game, 4-0 victory.

Look for a new Rookie Watch article later today. Phil Plantier will look at the rookies in the Morris Division.