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.

Sardine City edges Hoboken, 2-0, for critical Game 5 win

Daniel Norris and two relievers made Joc Pederson's 6th inning solo home run stand up before an insurance homer by Eric Hosmer in the 9th, to give Sardine City a 2-0 win in Game 5 at Hoboken.

Grandal's 9th inning HR ties Game 2, Ortiz wins it in 10th for Cutters

Yasmani Grandal's 9th-inning home run off Koji Uehara tied the game and an inning later, David Ortiz's fourth hit gave Hoboken a 6-5 victory over Sardine City in Game 2 of the DMBL World Series.

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.

Hoboken evens series on 10 walks

In one of the most bizarre games in league history - playoff or otherwise - Tucson took a combined no-hitter into the 9th inning despite trailing 3-1 thanks to 10 walks by its starting pitcher.

Hoboken comes back to beat Hopatcong 5 in games

Can a 1st-round series be epic even if it's not a Best-of-7? Third-seeded Hoboken and No. 6 Hopatcong tried to find out in the opening round.

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.

Cueto notches 20th win

Vancouver's Johnny Cueto became the DMBL's first 20-game winner this season, solidifying his candidacy for the Ben McDonald Award. Coincidentally, the win also was the 100th of his career.

Three-home run fever is catching

Three-homer fever has spread to Tuscon. Kingsnakes 3B Nolan Arenado launched a trio of home runs on Wednesday and Tucson was the victim of three home runs the very next night by Philly's Tommy Joseph.

This Week In DMBL

Week 2 of the 2017 season (games of April 14-19 on the DMBL calendar) had plenty of two-homer games, more grand slams and a few pitching gems.

Stars of spring training

The games that count started on Monday but could spring training results offer a glimpse into what the 2017 season will be? Were those 30 games just a hot stretch for some players or will they carryover into the regular season? Let's have a look anyway.

Future aces duke it out in New Jersey

A battle of two possible future DMBL pitching stars took place between Vancouver's Mat Latos and New Jersey's Rick Porcello yesterday. Porcello pitched well, giving up 2 runs in 7.1 innings, but it was Vancouver that escaped with a 2-1 win. Latos pitched 5 innings giving up 1 run on 4 hits, but he walked 4 and was removed without earning a decision. The Fist won the game in the 8th on a Michael Bourn single, extending their winning streak to 5 games.

Hillsborough kept pace, winning their 4th straight game, a 12-3 drubbing of Amityville. Carlos Lee was 3-4 with 2 homers and 5 RBIs and Kelly Shoppach was 2-5, also with 2 homers and 4 RBIs. Hillsborough remains tied with Carolina and Vancouver for 2nd place in the Morris Division.

Alex Rodriguez made his Rat Pack debut in a game that saw the Rats pummel the Bombers 8-1. And A-Rod's contribution? 0-5 with 3 strikeouts...but he did pitch in $10 towards pizza after the game, so that was nice of him. Meanwhile, Yunel Escobar, Matt Holliday, and Curtis Granderson each had 3 hits to lead the Rat Pack offense. Vegas moved to one game over .500 with the win.