Players of the (extended) Week

This week's JR Cigars Smokin' Batter of the Week was a close one, but we're giving our box of Siglo Limited Reserves to Philadelphia's Adam Lind. Lind hit an astounding .467 (14-30) over the extended week, with a .515 OBP and 1.033 slugging. He hit 5 homers, scored12 runs, and drove in 9. His competition came from Bridgewater's Carlos Beltran who hit .459/.535/.946, also with 5 homers and 12 runs, and 10 RBIs.

Other notable hitters: Marietta's Ichiro Suzuki (.500/.500/.767, 5 2B, 13 RBI) and Adrian Gonzalez (.372/.460/.698, 11 RBI), Arkansas' Scott Podsednik (.441/.525/.471), Philly's Albert Pujols (.419/.432/.814, 4 HR, 9 R, 13 RBI), and Vancouver's Garrett Jones (.447/.512/.763, 3 HR, 9 RBI).

We all know that Zack Greinke has had a remarkable season for Vancouver and this week was no different - Greinke was 2-0, with a 1.13 ERA, 21 Ks, and 0.81 WHIP. Pitcher of the Week, right? Not so fast... How about Newark's Javy Vazquez? Started out like crap, but has turned it around with a nice 2-0, 1.06 week in which he also struck out 21 had an even lower 0.76 WHIP. Wow! But no... This week's Big Guy Fantasy Sports Pitcher of the Week goes to the unheraled Randy Wells of Vancouver. Wait...what? WHO? Randy Wells, drafted in the second round in 2010, who's been putting up a very solid rookie campaign for the Fist. Wells was 2-0 this week with a miniscule 0.56 ERA and 0.69 WHIP. Sure he doesn't strike out anyone like the other two big shots (9 in 16 IP), but he gets the job done.

Other top pitchers: Philly's Jered Weaver (1-0, 1.98, 1.24), Sardine City's trio of John Lackey (2-0, 1.76, 1.04, shutout), Ubaldo Jimenez (2-0, 2.81, 0.81, 15 K) and Josh Johnson (1-1, 1.26, 0.84, 19 K) and Newark's Koji Uehara (1-0, 1.54, 0.86).

4-hitters all around

The Endzone Animals came back from a 6-1 deficit to beat the Falcons 7-6 yesterday. After only 2 innings, the Falcons had the aforementioned 6-1 lead, but the Animals clawed back, scoring 3 runs in the 6th to bring them to within one run. In the 8th Torii Hunter hit a two-run homer (his third of the day) to give the Animals the lead. Trevor Hoffman nailed down the 9th for his 10th save.

Randy Wells continued his fine season with a complete game, 7-1 victory over the Rat Pack yesterday, in which he held the Rats to only 4 hits. Wells improved to 7-2 on the season. Garrett Jones and Chase Utley each had 3 RBIs for Vancouver.

Not to be outdone, Marietta's Joel Pineiro pitched a 4-hitter as well in the Mighty Men's 12-1 pounding of Amityville. Marietta totaled 17 hits in the contest, including 4 from red hot Ichiro Suzuki. Ichiro is 9-14 with 10 RBIs since returning to the lineup from injury. Marietta has scored 45 runs during their current 5-game winning streak.

And to top the previous 4-hitters, Newark's Javier Vazquez pitched a 4-hit shutout of Sardine City. Vazquez struck out 10 in his victory and seems to have gotten his season back on track after a series of rough outings.