Sano swings for the fences

Hillsborough rookie Miguel Sano is having a sensational season and has an outside chance at matching a DMBL record, if not put himself in historic if dubious company.

A Big Sunday For Halladay & Howard

Ryan Howard belted his 300th career home run on Sunday afternoon, becoming the 22nd player in league history to get to 300. He's the second player to reach 300 during this season, with a few more possibly still to come in 2012. Rowdy's Lance Berkman pelted No. 300 earlier this year and sitting on the cusp of 300, going into Wednesday's matchups, are Hoboken's David Ortiz at 298 and Bridgewater's Carlos Beltran at 297.

Howard has hit 14 home runs in 54 games (after Tuesday's win) since coming to Vancouver from Philly in exchange for a first-round pick. Used mainly as a DH, with some time at 1B, Howard has a line of .250/.311/.515 during his time in Vancouver after hitting just 12 home runs in 77 games with Philly, including .226/.315/.412.

In game one of Sunday's doubleheader, Howard launched a solo home run after teammate John Mayberry's solo home run, chasing Marietta starter David Price in the fourth inning for this 300th. The Fisters ultimately fell, 9-7, to the Mighty Men.

Roy Halladay pitched a complete game shutout Sunday afternoon, breaking a tie with Kevin Brown for fourth place all-time in complete games. The righthander now has 71 complete games, trailing only future Hall of Famers Roger Clemens (84), Curt Schilling (87) and Greg Maddux (104). It also was his 22nd career shutout, putting him within two of Brown for second and within 10 of Maddux, the all-time leader with 32 shutouts.

Halladay went the distance in Hoboken's 11-0 thrashing of Sardine City on Sunday, limiting the Straphangers to four hits while striking out five and walking two. It was his first shutout and second complete as a Cutter, improving to 5-4 in 11 starts with a 4.62 ERA since being shipped from Philly, along with a 6th rounder, in exchange for Giancarlo Stanton. Combined, Halladay is now 14-8 with a 3.24 ERA, including seven complete games (second only to James Shields of Newark with nine) and three shutouts.

Home run No. 300 for Berkman

Lance Berkman became the 21st player in DMBL history to reach 300 career home runs, and doing so against the franchise he broke in with more than a decade ago. Just after teammate Adam Jones was picked off first base by rookie Michael Pineda in the second inning, The Big Puma launched a homer deep down the right-field line.

Next up on the home run list is Rafael Palmeiro at 20th, with 330 home runs, so Berkman has an outside chance at catching him if he can reach 38 round-trippers in 2012.

Berkman had been a stalwart in the Arkansas offense ever since being a 1st round pick (13th overall) in the 2001 draft. He hit no fewer than 24 home runs (4x) in 9 of 10 seasons with the Golden Falcons, including a career-high 39 in 2007, and never hit lower than .800 OPS (if you round up his .799 OPS in 2008).

Released by Arkansas at age 34, Fat Elvis was selected in the 13th round of the 2011 draft by Sardine City but eventually released and ended up scuffling most of last season with Carolina (now Rowdy), where he's manning right field this year.

"Hear that?  Yeah, that was No. 300."

Behind Berkman on the all-time home run list is a real horse race, with four active players closely jockeying all season. Currently, David Ortiz of Hoboken is ahead at 283 homers (8 on the year), followed by a tie between Philly's Ryan Howard (6) and Bridgewater's Carlos Beltran (5) with 281, and Vancouver's Todd Helton at 279 (3).

Howard, Vazquez take awards

It was a good week for Hillsborough batters this week. Ben Zobrist hit .426 with a .517 OBP and .660 slugging, scoring 11 runs, while teammate Casey McGehee hit 3 homers and scored 10 with a .999 OPS. Sin-Shoo Choo had an even better 1.065 OPS with 5 doubles and 10 runs and 8 RBIs. But the JR Cigars Smokin' Batter of the Week award goes to Ryan Howard, who hit an astounding .441 with a .512 OBP and 1.059 slugging. Howard hit 4 homers and 2 triples (!) and 5 doubles with 11 runs scored and 11 RBIs. Enjoy your complimentary box of Gurkhas, Ryan!

Other non-Hillsborough top hitters: Bridgewater's Brian McCann (.366/.409/.683, 3 HR, 9 RBI) and Derrek Lee (8 HR, 12 RBIs), and Amityville's Brandon Phillips (.397/.426/.569, 3 HR, 14 R, 10 RBIs).

This week's BP Spills Coffee Pitcher of the Week Award was a tough one with lots of deserving candidates. There were a bunch of "comeback" candidates - pitchers who started the season poorly but had good weeks like Arkansas' Jorge de la Rosa (1-0, 1.20, 1.00 WHIP, 16 K) and Cliff Lee (2-1, 1.74, 1.02, CG), Hillsborough's Felix Hernandez (3-0, 2.45, 0.95) and Vancouver's Jake Peavy (2-0, 2.45, 1.09). Then there were the outstanding relievers like Bridgewater's Andrew Bailey (6 SV, 0.25 WHIP in 8 IP, 14 K) and Carolina's Burke Badenhop (2-0, 2.29, 1.12 in 19.2 IP). But the prize this week goes to Newark's Javy Vazquez who was 2-0 with a 1.64 ERA and 1.05 WHIP. Vazquez also struck out 24 batters in 22 IP.

Other contenders: Vegas' Brett Anderson (1-1, 2.25, 0.88), Amityville's Doug Fister (1-1, 1.26 who was released and claimed by Newark), Newark's Brad Bergesen (1-0, 1.06), Blue Ridge's Gavin Floyd (2-0, 1.83, 18K), Vancouver's Mat Latos (1-0, 2.08, 0.92) and Kevin Millwood (1-0, 2.02, 0.82) and Sardine City's John Lackey (1-0, 2.05, 0.95, 18K).

Slowey, Lester duel to 1-0 finish

Don't forget to get those votes in for the All-Star game! Less than two weeks away!

New Jersey and Amityville battled it out in a 1-0 pitchers duel. Seth Smith broke the tie in the 6th with a solo home run. Kevin Slowey went 8.1 innings for Team Buddah, holding the Ant Slayers to only 4 hits and striking out 5. John Lester was the hard luck loser for Amityville, pitching 7.1 innings and striking out 8.

Ichiro Suzuki kept up his hot hitting, going 4-6 with 3 RBIs and leading Marietta to a 15-9 victory over Hoboken. The "other Suzuki", Kurt, also contributed a 3-6, 3 RBI game including a home run. The Mighty Men scored in every inning except the 9th, when they just sent up random fans from the bleachers to bat in their place.

Hillsborough thoroughly dominated Arkansas in a 13-2 win yesterday. Not only did the Hitmen score 13 runs on 18 hits and saddle Falcons starter Ricky Nolasco with 10 earned runs, but they also held the Falcons to only 5 hits. Ryan Howard fell one double short of hitting for the cycle.

Hillsborough goes on, Newark next

The Hired Hitmen shutout the Rat Pack 7-0 to take the decisive game 5 and advance to the second round. Three Hitmen pitchers combined to hold the Rats to 6 hits and 3 walks, while striking out 13. Ryan Howard was 3-4 with 2 homers and 4 RBIs and Aubrey Huff and Nick Markakis were also 3-4 each. The Hitmen took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, then tacked on 4 runs in the third, including a 2-run Ryan Howard home run. Howard then came through again in the 7th with another 2-run shot off Derrek Lowe. The Hitmen will face Newark in a best-of-7 series starting Thursday.

Hitmen streak hits 6

The Hired Hitmen won their 6th straight yesterday, pounding D.C. 9-2. Ryan Howard was 3-4 with a pair of home runs and 7 RBIs to singlehandedly lead the team to victory. C.C. Sabathia went the distance, improving to 2-0 on the season, as he limited the O-Bombers to 6 hits and one walk, while striking out 7.

Vancouver kept pace by thrashing Philly 11-0. Ben Sheets pitched 7 shutout innings and Omar Infante was 3-5 with 2 homers and 4 RBIs. Jerry Hairston also hit a home run and drove in 3 runs. The Endzone Animals could only muster up 5 hits in the contest, losing their 5th straight. That's bad news for Philly as Las Vegas comes to town to start their series today.

Speaking of Vegas, the Rat Pack was abused by Team Buddah last night 9-1. Andy Pettitte pitched a gem for Buddah, striking out 8 in 8 innings of work and holding the Rats to 6 hits. Joey Votto was 2-4 with 2 doubles in the game. Buddah only had 9 hits and 2 walks but made it count - only two Buddah batters were stranded in the efficient victory.

Blue Ridge, Sardine City rallies fall short

D.C.'s Shawn Hill held the Falcons scoreless for 6 innings, allowing only 2 hits, despite 5 walks. Bobby Howry kept the shutout intact, recording his third save of the year, as the Bushslappers won 6-0. Carl Crawford was 3-4 and the bottom five in D.C.'s order each had one RBI (the other run scored on a wild pitch).

Hillsborough, finally healthy after a string of unfortunate injuries, drowned the Plunkers 6-1. All-Star backup Russell Martin was 4-5 and Ryan Howard had a pair of homers and 3 RBIs to lead the Hitmen's offense. Dan Haren picked up the win with 7 strong innings.

Blue Ridge rallied to score 4 runs to tie up their game with Philadelphia, but ended up losing 7-6 in 10 innings. Prince Fielder hit a grand slam in the ninth off ace reliever J.J. Putz to send the game to extra innings. Jimmy Rollins hit a bases-loaded single with two outs in the bottom of the 10th to win the game for the Animals.

Finally, another extra inning game was played between Newark and Sardine City. Newark took a two-run lead into the eighth, but Ken Griffey, Jr. hit a 2-run shot to tie the game up and force the extra frames. Unfortunately for Sardine City, Jack Cust hit a triple to give the Sugar Bears the lead and would eventually score to give them a 6-4 lead. Jared Burton sent down the Sardines in order in the bottom half of the inning, including two strikeouts.