Greinke becomes 6th to 200 wins

Zack Greinke became the 6th pitcher in DMBL history to reach 200 wins in Hillsborough's 7-2 victory over Empire City on Wednesday night.

Turner powers up yet again to force Game 5

Justin Turner continued his power surge, going yard for the fourth consecutive game, and Luis Severino pitched into the 7th on short rest for Marietta, lifting the Mighty Men to a 5-0 win on Tuesday, to force a decisive Game 5 back in Tucson on Thursday.

One game to decide No. 4 seed

Faced with win-and-they're-in scenarios, few teams were able to secure their own destiny without help from other squads on the final day of the season.

Archer, Reed combine on spring training no-hitter

It may not count but it still doesn't happen very often: A spring training no-hitter!

2017 McDonald Award winner: Johnny Cueto

Vancouver's Johnny Cueto easily held off three left-handers and was a near-unanimous selection for the 2017 Ben McDonald Award after a league-leading 22-5 mark.

2017 McDonald Award candidates

There was only one 20-game winner in the DMBL this season but wins aren't a measure of a pitcher like they once were, as SABRmetrics and other numbers have taken a more prominent place in evaluating a pitcher's season.

Tucson hitting heats up for Game 5 win

Rich Hill limited Hoboken to 4 hits over 7 innings and Tucson used a 5-run 7th inning to turn a pitchers' duel into a 7-1 rout in Game 5 on Wednesday night. The 2nd-seeded Kingsnakes now lead the Best-of-7 series as Game 6 shifts to Hoboken.

Tucson opens defense of title with Game 1 win

Defending champion Tucson used three home runs and a sharp outing from top pick Rich Hill to take Game 1 over Hoboken, 6-4, in their Best-of-7 semifinal series.

2017 pitching leaders

There was only one 20-game winner in the DMBL this season but a few other hurlers put up historically good years in some categories.

Game 7: Hill vs Big Game

Vancouver and Newark take it to the field one last time to decide the 2008 DMBL Champion. Newark will send "Big Game" James Shields to the mound for the third time this series. Shields was destroyed in game one in the Cereal Bowl, but earned the win in game 4 in Vancouver (despite giving up 5 runs in 6 innings). Meanwhile, Rich Hill will make his first start of the postseason. Hill, who only made 10 starts all season - including 3 starts against Newark - earned this start with three solid appearances in the final round. Hill was not even on the active roster in the series against Las Vegas, but manager Darren Daulton thought he would be more of an asset against the Sugar Bears than veteran Greg Maddux. In Hill's first appearance, he earned a 4-inning save in Vancouver's 13-5 rout in game 1, allowing only one hit. Hill pitched again in game 4, making a key strikeout to end a Sugar Bear rally, but giving up a solo home run the next inning. Finally, Hill pitched 2.1 scoreless innings in game 5, allowing one hit and striking out 4. Hill is notorious for not being economical with his pitches, so Chad Billingsley and Zack Greinke are prepared to go if Hill appears to falter.

Game 1 goes to Vancouver!

Yowza, who'd have expected that not only would Vancouver take game one in Newark, but take it in so convincing a fashion? Vancouver pounded out 13 runs and 21 hits en route to a 13-5 victory.

The Fist got on the board quickly with a 2-run David Ortiz homer in the first inning, but the Sugar Bears answered in the bottom half with a 3-run Chipper Jones homer of their own. That would be the last time the Sugar Bears would hold a lead. Vancouver exploded in the second inning, starting with an error by Mike Fontenot that got leadoff batter Mike Lowell on base. Two batters later Michael Young tied the game up at 3 with a double down the line. Curtis Granderson lined a single to score Young, giving Vancouver the lead. After Todd Helton doubled and Chase Utley singled, starter James Shields was removed from the game, replaced by Scott Downs. Downs got off to a good start, striking out Ortiz, but fell apart immediately after, giving up three more hits and hitting a batter. After the smoke cleared, Vancouver scored 7 runs and was leading 9-3. Newark scored 2 more runs in the 5th but that was all they could muster against starter Jake Peavy. Peavy, despite earning the win, was not impressive, lasting only 5 innings and giving up 5 runs, 10 hits and 5 walks. Rich Hill, who replaced Greg Maddux on the World Series roster, shut down the Sugar Bears for the final 4 innings. Hill only gave up one hit and 3 walks and struck out 3. With the impressive performance, Hill may have earned himself a start later in the series. On the offensive side, Curtis Granderson and Moises Alou were both 4-5 and Victor Martinez had 3 RBIs.

Game 2 will feature lefty Randy Johnson for Newark and Zack Greinke for Vancouver. Johnson pitched a solid game 2 for Newark against Philadelphia though the Sugar Bears would eventually lose the game. Greinke was roughed up a bit against Las Vegas in their game 2 matchup. Johnson is 0-1 in the regular season against Vancouver with a 2.93 ERA and 1.06 WHIP, while Greinke only faced Newark once in the regular season (5 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 9 K).

Buddahs drop 9 in a row, Rats lose first

The Buddahs were so full of hope after winning their opening day matchup, but things have gone very sour since then. Team Buddah has now lost their 9th straight game after a 4-3 nailbiter to the Morris-leading D.C. Bushslappers. In the nine game skid, the Buddahs have been shut out three times and have scored more than 3 runs only once. New Jersey faces Hoboken tomorrow - the only team that they have beaten thus far - and then they face Marietta Sunday, so maybe they'll break that slide yet...

Roy Halladay shut out the Falcons yesterday in a 6-hit complete game. For Halladay it was his first win of the season. Halladay moved into the top 10 in career shutouts, tied with Andy Pettitte. Grady Sizemore's 3-run homer in the third gave the Mudcats all the runs they'd need, though they added a few more just for good measure.

Rich Hill of Vancouver had the other shutout of the day, though not a complete game. Hill only pitched six innings, but struck out 7 in the 5-0 victory over the Bombers. Hill had been roughed up in his previous two starts - he had a 17.36 ERA entering the game - so it was good to see the lefty right his ship, at least for one start. Troy Percival pitched a 3-inning save, his first since 2005 when he was with the Phoenix Dragons.

Sardine City's Fausto Carmona returned from injury (perhaps a bit early?) and was rocked by the Mighty Men. Carmona lasted only two innings and gave up six runs on seven hits and three walks. Meanwhile Marietta's Daniel Cabrera was brilliant, picking up his first career complete game and holding the Sardines to one earned run on five hits, while striking out eight. Third baseman Ryan Braun committed his sixth error of the season in the game.

Finally, the Rat Pack was dealt their first loss of the season, an 18-5 drubbing by the Sugar Bears. Jack Cust had two home runs and 6 RBIs and Bobby Abreu was 4-6 with 4 runs and 3 RBIs to help the Sugar Bears remind everyone that they are still the team to beat. The two clubs face each other again today - remember that this week they are offering a free preview of the DMBL Extra Innings package!