Buddah streak ends at 6

New Jersey's winning streak finally came to an end at 6 games. Hillsborough defeated Team Buddah 7-3 behind the pitching of Dan Haren, who improved to 8-2 with an 8-inning effort in which he struck out 8 and gave up 2 runs. Justin Upton hit a 3-run homer in the 7th to give the Hitmen the offense they needed to end Buddah's run.

Meanwhile, Vancouver keeps winning and Hoboken keeps losing. The Cutters dropped their 7th straight, a 9-4 decision to the Fist. Ryan Ludwick was 4-5 with 2 homers and 6 RBIs to lead Vancouver to their 10th win in their last 12 games.

Ricky Nolasco and Hiroki Kuroda dueled in a 0-0 game for 6 innings, but Nolasco was pulled after hitting the 100-pitch mark. Unfortunately for the Falcons, Jeremy Affeldt allowed 2 runs to score on a Jacoby Ellsbury single and Jorge Cantu sac fly respectively. The Falcons couldn't get any runs across and the Ant Slayers won the game 2-0.

Jason Bartlett (4-4) and Andrew McCutchen (3-6, 4 RBI) led the Bombers to an 11-2 thrashing of Sardine City. McCutchen was a double away from hitting for the cycle. Rookie hurler J.A. Happ improved to 7-2 with a solid 7-inning effort. Blue Ridge currently sits in second place in the Morris Division, 3 1/2 games out of first.

Ichiro Suzuki was 5-6 with 4 RBIs as the Mighty Men unleased their firepower against the Mudcats to the tune of a 15-7 victory. Chone Figgins was 3-5 with 2 triples and Kurt Suzuki was 3-4 with 2 RBIs as Marietta avoids the sweep.

Ludwick, Shields, lead their teams to playoff push

Just about 2 weeks remains in the season, that means we'll probably have about two more weeks worth of awards to give out. This week, a box of Maria Guerreros goes out to Arkansas' Ryan Ludwick, our JR Cigars Smokin' Batter of the Week. Ludwick's Arkansas Falcons have turned on the heat this week and closed to within 1 1/2 games of the wild card. For the week, Ludwick batted .407/.529/.852 with 3 homers, 11 runs scored, and 6 RBIs.

Other contenders for some stogies this week: Newark's Manny Ramirez (.452/.500/.613, 10 RBIs) and Chipper Jones (.462/.529/.538, 7 R), and Philly's Mark Teixeira (.393/.541/.750, 7 R).

Newark clinched their 9th consecutive Hanover Division title over the weekend. Leading the way is their clutch pitching staff. Chien-Ming Wang won his 21st game Friday and Joey Devine is in the driver's seat for the Eckersley Award. But this week's What Stormtroopers do on their Day Off Pitcher of the Week Award goes to James Shields. Shields won both his starts this week, while giving up only one run on 9 hits and 5 walks in 16 innings (0.56 ERA and 0.67 WHIP). Shields also struck out 15 batters and pitched a complete game shutout against D.C.

Other top pitchers: D.C.'s Todd Wellemeyer (1-0, 2.77, 1.23), Amityville's Armando Galarraga (2-0, 1.98, 0.95) and Jamie Moyer (1-0, 2.08, 0.87), Marietta's John Danks (1-0, 1.06, 0.59), Philly's Matt Cain (2-0, 1.32, 1.10), and Sardine City's Cole Hamels (2-0, 1.29, 1.07). Another pitcher of note, Las Vegas' Tim Lincecum went 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA this week and improved his record to 18-2.