D.C. loses game, third bagger

C.C. Sabathia improved to 4-1 on the season with a victory over Blue Ridge yesterday. The Hitmen won their third straight to stay atop the Morris Division. Sabathia lasted 8 innings, striking out 9, and holding the Bombers to 3 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks. Carolina kept pace, taking out the O-Bombers 5-1. Vernon Wells was 3-4 and Ben Molina had a 2-run homer to lead the Mudcat offense, while Daisuke Matsuzaka held D.C. to only 2 hits in his 5.2 innings of work, striking out 9 in the process. The news got worse for D.C. as third baseman Ryan Zimmerman was lost for almost two months due to injury.

Team Buddah added insult to injury to the Cutters with a 6-3 victory. Mike Jacobs was 2-4 with 3 RBIs and Casey Blake hit a two-run homer that gave the Buddahs a 3-0 lead in the 4th. Hanley Ramirez was 3-3 in the team's defeat.

Manny Ramirez hit a 3-run bomb to propel the Sugar Bears to a 6-3 victory over Sardine City. Ramirez singled in another run to give him 4 RBIs on the night. The Sugar Bears only had 7 hits in the contest, but they also walked 7 times. Newark starter Joe Saunders pitched 6 solid innings, giving up only one run. The Sugar Bears have now won 4 in a row.

Philly edged Arkansas 6-5 yesterday behind Chris Young (2-3, 3 runs) and Jimmy Rollins (3-4, 2 RBIs). The Endzone Animals kept their transaction streak alive by cutting Aaron Miles and signing Kyle Davies.

Mighty Men make mighty strides

Billy Wagner must have been preoccupied with his Pitcher of the Week award yesterday and failed to save the game against the Endzone Animals last night. Vancouver was clinging to a 4-3 lead in the 9th inning. Wagner had already gotten out of a jam in the 8th and got the first two batters out in the 9th. But Gerald Laird, a former Vancouver player, took Wagner deep to center to tie the game up and go to extra innings. In the 11th, Vancouver exploded for 5 runs. Philly got a solo homer in the bottom half of the inning, but that was all they could get.

Hillsborough kept pace with the Fist, winning their matchup with D.C. 5-2. C.C. Sabathia improved to 3-0 on the season with an 8-inning, 7-hit performance, in which he only gave up one run. Hillsborough still holds a percentage-point lead over Vancouver in the Morris Division.

Marietta has won their 5th in a row and has stormed back into contention for the Hanover Divison. The Mighty Men pounded away on the Sugar Bears yesterday 11-2. Josh Hamilton was 5-5 with a homer and two doubles and Ryan Dempster held the Sugar Bears to 2 hits and no runs over 6 innings. Dempster also struck out 6. The Mighty Men, who were 4-7 before the streak, are now 9-7 and alone in 2nd place in the division.

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.

Hitmen gain ground on Slappers

Well, here we are at the final weekend of the regular season. The top four positions are locked up in order. Hillsborough and D.C. have both clinched playoff spots, but their order is too close to call. D.C. lost 5-0 yesterday to Carolina. Mike Pelfrey won his first career DMBL game with 6 innings of 2-hit ball. Meanwhile C.C. Sabathia pitched a complete game shutout (6 H, 8 K), outduelling Blue Ridge's Ted Lilly (8 IP, 5 H, ER, BB, 5 K) to move the Hitmen to within one game of the Bushslappers. Interestingly enough, it might be to the Hitmen's best interests to remain in 6th place. Hillsborough is 7-5 against Las Vegas (who they would face if the season ended today) this year as opposed to 4-9 against Philadelphia. As for D.C., it doesn't really matter. They're 6-6 against the Rats and 6-7 against the Endzone Animals.

This'll all probably be wrapped up by Monday, so it should be an interesting weekend, to say the least.

Batter and Pitcher of the Week

With Zane Smith missing in action, we've been charged with awarding the weekly prizes. Since the Olympics have just ended we'll do this in an Olympic fashion...

Batter of the Week

Bronze Medal - Akinori Iwamura, Tampa Bay - The Plunkers have been red hot this week, winning nine in a row before dropping two yesterday. Iwamura has been just as hot over that stretch. He was tied for second in the league with 10 RBIs over the past week and batted .385/.500/.692 with 7 runs scored.

Silver Medal - Troy Tulowitzki, Carolina - Carolina had given Tulo up for dead after he couldn't cross the Mendoza line for much of the season. After the roster purges just before the deadline, he got another chance to get some at-bats and has been much better. This week, Tulo batted .391/.423/.870 with 3 homers and 7 RBIs and brought his average up over the .200 mark to .205.

Gold Medal - Magglio Ordonez, Philadelphia - Magglio has made a strong case as MVP of the Endzone Animals, leading the team in RBIs, runs, average, OBP, slugging, and doubles. This week was no exception as he hit .500/.541/.781 to claim the JR Cigars Smokin' Batter of the Week prize. We'll be sending a box of Flor de Baloneys to the dugout in time for tonight's game!

Pitcher of the Week

Bronze Medal - Francisco Rodriguez, Blue Ridge - K-Rod has been money since coming over to the Bombers (1.19 ERA, 32 K in 22.2 IP, 0.93 WHIP). This week, he was exceptional, striking out 11 in 8 innings of work in 7 games (he's gotta be tired). All that and he even got a W for his efforts.

Silver Medal - Mariano Rivera, Marietta - The Master still has a small edge over K-Rod. Rivera saved 2 games this week in 6 games (7 IP), striking out 7 with an 0.57 WHIP.

Gold Medal - C.C. Sabathia, Hillsborough - the pitching has been a big reason why Hillsborough has been winning lately (9 in a row as of Sunday!) and there's no bigger pitcher on the staff than C.C. Hmmm I think that may have come out wrong... Anyway, Sabathia was 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA this week, including 15 K in 15 innings and an 0.93 WHIP. He gets to enjoy this week's Baracky II Pitcher of the Week Award!

Sardines drop 10th straight

Vancouver and Las Vegas have both hit a wall recently. Vancouver dropped their third straight game - a 6-2 defeat at the hands of the Bushslappers. Shawn Hill pitched 7 strong innings and limited the Fist to only 4 hits. Cliff Floyd made a good first impression going 2-4 with 2 RBIs. Meanwhile, Las Vegas dropped their 5th straight - a 7-3 loss to Tampa Bay. The Plunkers scored 6 runs in the late innings to rally back from a 3-1 deficit despite amassing only 6 hits. To add injury to insult, the Rats lost Carlos Pena for the better part of two weeks.

C.C. Sabathia held the Falcons to 3 hits in 8 innings and struck out 9 en route to a 7-2 win. The Hitmen kept pace with D.C. and Tampa Bay and held on to their 6th spot. Dmitri Young was 2-2 with 3 RBIs and Russell Martin was 3-3 with 2 runs scored in the contest.

Sardine City lost their 10th straight yesterday, a 9-1 rout by Team Buddah. Alfonso Soriano and David DeJesus each had 4 hits while Brad Penny improved to 8-12 on the season. Sardine City, once as close as 3 games out of a playoff spot, has fallen apart. They currently stand at 12 games behind the Hitmen and 9th overall.

C.C. the Slump Buster

C.C. Sabathia shut down the Vancouver Iron Fist in a 5-0 victory yesterday. Sabathia held the Fist to only 4 hits and struck out 6. With the loss Vancouver slips back to a tie with idle Philadelphia. Hillsborough gains a much-needed win and breaks their 5-game losing streak.

Meanwhile, Carolina stuns the Sugar Bears in Newark with a 10-7 victory. Jeff Francoeur was 4-5 and Cliff Floyd was 3-6 with 3 RBIs to lead the Mudcat offense. Starter Carlos Zambrano did not do much to help (3.2 IP, 9 H, 6 ER), but the Mudcat bullpen pitched 5.1 innings of shutout ball to give the Cats a chance to score some runs. They responded by scoring 8 runs in three innings to take the lead back.

Meanwhile, Las Vegas welcomed back shortstop Jeff Keppinger, who had been on the DL twice already this season. Kepp responded with a 3-5 night, leading the Rat Pack to a 9-1 victory over Marietta. Brian Wolfe took one for the team, replacing A.J. Burnett after he was ejected for challenging Casey Kotchman to a knife fight. Wolfe pitched 5.1 innings in relief, giving up only one run on 3 hits and striking out 4, while earning the win. The Rats are now only one game behind the first-place Sugar Bears.

Vegas reeling after 12-3 rout

Las Vegas dropped their sixth straight yesterday - a 12-3 shellacking by Vancouver. Greg Maddux moved into a first-place tie with Tom Glavine for most career starts. Maddux, who has had a bit of a rejuvenation this year, won his 5th game and lowered his ERA to 3.46 after a six-inning, one-run effort. David Ortiz was 3-3 with 3 doubles and Chase Utley drove in 3 runs to power the Fist's offense.

Doug Davis, spot starting for the injured Adam Wainwright, held New Jersey to two hits and one unearned run over six innings yesterday. It was Davis' first win in two starts this year. Prince Fielder had two homers and 5 RBIs and Garrett Atkins also had two homers and drove in 4.

D.C. and Sardine City battled for 14 innings before D.C. pulled out with a 6-2 win. D.C. led the game 2-1 early on, but the Sardines tied it up in the eighth. Jonathan Papelbon and Joe Nathan shut down the Straphangers for the next five innings and Akinori Otsuka and Matt Capps did their best to keep up from the other side. But in the 14th, things quickly got out of hand for the Straphangers. Edgar Gonzalez gave up a leadoff single and then walked the next two batters. C.J. Wilson then came into the game and gave up a grand slam to Jeff Kent.

Marietta's Daniel Cabrera (8 IP, 3 H, ER, BB, 9 K) outduelled Hillsborough's C.C. Sabathia (CG, 7 H, 1 ER, BB, 7 K) to give the Mighty Men a 2-1 victory. Derek Jeter's RBI double in the seventh gave the Mighty Men the lead and Mariano Rivera shut down the Hitmen for his 7th save. The loss drops the Hitmen into a fifth place (overall) tie with D.C.

Braun powers Sardines to third straight

Today is Double Header Day! There will be no games tomorrow, then we have another Double Header on Sunday.

Ryan Braun just missed the cycle yesterday, ending up a double short in a 6-3, extra inning game. Braun hit a bases-loaded triple in the tenth to give the Straphangers the lead and eventually their third straight win.

Newark and D.C. also took their match to extra innings. D.C. tied the game up at six in the bottom of the eighth. Both bullpens battled it out for the next four innings. D.C.'s Jonathan Papelbon had held the Sugar Bears hitless through 3+ innings, but in the 13th, Marco Scutaro, of all people, crushed one to give Newark the lead. Joaquin Benoit closed out the bottom of the inning to preserve the win.

Hillsborough continues their domination over the Rat Pack with a 3-0 blanking. C.C. Sabathia went the distance, giving up eight hits and one walk for his fourth win of the year. Since starting out his first three games with a 14.54 ERA, Sabathia has righted the ship (3-2, 2.83 ERA, 29 K in 35 IP). Brad Hawpe provided all the offense in the game with a 3-run blast in the sixth.

Blog Bits

Andy Pettitte won his 108th career game, snapping a tie with Kevin Appier and moving within one victory of David Cone at No. 10 all-time. He's also one start away (it will be his 300th) from Appier for 12th all-time.

Greg Maddux's next start will match Tom Glavine's record of 455 games started.

With his HR Thursday night, Chipper Jones finished the day at 351 HRs, tied with Gary Sheffield and Vlad Guerrero for 12th on the all-time HR list.

One-run Madness!

It was a tense day for most of the teams in the league - five of the six games were decided by one run yesterday.

C.C. Sabathia outdueled Nate Robertson to give Hillsborough a 2-1 victory yesterday. Sabathia improved to 7-2 on the season by limiting the Gang to only five hits over eight innings and striking out six. If Sabathia didn't miss almost a month due to injuries earlier this year, he might have been up there with Santana in the wins department. Robertson is still looking for his first win of the year, though he's far from Brett Myers territory at 0-4.

Jose Contreras also was impressive in helping New Jersey upset the Sugar Bears 3-2. Contreras has been very solid for the fledgling franchise and in fact earned himself a spot on the Hanover Division All-Star team. Contreras foiled an otherwise solid DMBL debut for Newark's rookie lefty, Joe Saunders. Saunders pitched seven innings and allowed only three runs on seven hits, but it wasn't enough. Mike Piazza hit his 14th home run this season and is now sitting at 398 for his career. Also with his 1961st hit, Piazza moved past Tony Gwynn for seventh all-time.

Johan Santana picked up win # 11 on the season by shutting down the Cutters. Santana was actually in line for the loss, when Adam Wainwright failed to hold the lead in the seventh. Wainwright began the inning after Scott Kazmir had pitched six strong innings, but the first two batters reached base and two sac flies later, the lead was gone.

The Straphangers won in similar fashion against the Rat Pack. With a 3-1 lead entering the eighth, newly-acquired George Sherrill had just pitched a 1-2-3 seventh and was trying to preserve the lead. But Ivan Rodriguez and Joe Crede both started the inning off with doubles and Kevin Youkilis tied the game with a sacrifice fly. Finally with two outs, Willy Taveras drove in the winning run and Akinori Otsuka retired the Rats in order in the ninth. Tom Glavine earned the victory and also reached 1500 strikeouts for his career.

Meanwhile Carolina and D.C. ran a marathon game that lasted 16 innings. "It's not Sunday is it?" asked Grady Sizemore, referring to the doubleheader day. D.C. had a 4-0 lead until the sixth when Carolina cut the lead in half. Carolina actually took the lead in the eighth after Travis Hafner and Johnny Estrada homered. Brian Fuentes couldn't hold the lead in the ninth so it was off to extra innings. Finally in the 16th, Richie Sexson came through with an RBI single to score Sizemore and the game was over.

Tomorrow we'll take a look at the biggest All-Star snubs.

Black Magic Pitchers

It was a battle of Santanas yesterday in Arkansas. Guitarist Carlos Santana played the National Anthem and former wrestler Tito Santana threw out the first pitch. It was Johan Santana that came out on top however. The Philly hurler threw a complete game 4-hit shutout and struck out seven Falcons. Johan improved to 9-1 on the season. It was not a good day for Ervin Santana, however. The Falcon starter threw seven innings, giving up five runs on 10 hits to lower his record to 3-8.

Marietta's Mike Mussina picked up a win against New Jersey yesterday. Mussina struck out nine in eight innings. Mussina (1871) passed Kevin Brown (1868) for seventh on the all-time strikeout list.

Hillsborough's C.C. Sabathia was impressive in his second game back from injury. C.C. limited the Mudcats to only three hits and two runs in a complete game effort. Sabathia improved to 4-2 on the year. In the game, Ryan Howard hit two homers (25 and 26) to take the league lead in homers and drove in 5 runs (Howard is third in RBIs).

D.C.'s winning streak came to an abrupt end as South Boston shellacked the Bushslappers 10-2. Despite the fact that South Boston was missing starters David Roberts and Alex Rios, the Gang exploded. Adrian Beltre, starting for one game for Rios, went 3-3 and Dan Uggla hit a three-run homer, while Dontrelle Willis won for just the third time on the season. After starting off 1-8, Willis has now won his last two starts.

Initial Results

Hillsborough's C.C. Sabathia made his first appearance since injuring himself a month ago. Sabathia was solid in his return (6.2 IP, 2 ER, 4 K), but lost to a superior A.J. Burnett in a battle of the initials. A.J. scattered three hits and one earned run in eight innings and struck out eight Hitmen. Mariano Rivera closed out the ninth for his sixth save. Incidentally, Hillsborough released outfielder Juan Pierre to make room for Sabathia. Pierre was struggling this season, but had been a member of the organization and was a regular since 2003.

Speaking of initials, trade talks are heating up in Sardine City as B. J. Ryan has been hotly pursued. Rumors are running wild, but possible fits are Marietta and Hoboken, the latter's bullpen being a disaster so far this season.

The Weekend Ahead: The Brett Myers watch continues Saturday as the much-maligned pitcher looks to end his winless streak against Vancouver. Philly and Newark take turns throwing each others' Johnsons at each other. Randy goes for Newark Friday and Josh starts Saturday for Philly. Newark faces second-place Honolulu after the Philly games. If Newark survives unscathed from the two series, there may be no stopping them.

The DMBL All-Star ballot is now posted so make sure you vote!

Black Monday for Pitchers

Barry Bonds moved one closer to home run #600 yesterday in helping Arkansas slide by South Boston 7-5. The homer was Bonds' 11th of the season.

Monday was a bad day for pitchers. Hillsborough lost lefty C.C. Sabathia for the next month in their loss to Vancouver. Sabathia was 3-1 with a 3.98 ERA so far this season. Hillsborough has Ian Snell on the farm, but they may choose to go with a veteran off the waiver wire. Sabathia only lasted into the third inning before being pulled.

Rookie phenom Jered Weaver also got dinged yesterday. Weaver pitched 5.2 innings yesterday, but did not factor into the decision. Weaver, who had a mishap with some snack foods during the break between innings, may miss up to two weeks. Cliff Lee, who was with Hillsborough last year, will fill in until Weaver is healthy again.

Not all injuries were pitching-related though. Newark will lose slugger Manny Ramirez for the better part of this week. "It's not really an injury" said Newark manager Don Mattingly. "It's just Manny being Manny." Ramirez said he is taking his annual vacation and will relax on the beaches in St. Thomas. "This weather just plain sucks" said Ramirez. "I need to get away for a bit." Owner Butch Garretson grumbled "Damn... bad week for that to happen!"

Spring Opener Notes

Wednesday was a big day for the DMBL's newest franchises. Although they both dropped their opener, the two teams rebounded with a win in their second games.

Team Buddah was spanked by Hoboken in their first game, but shut down Marietta in game 2. Rookie pitcher Tom Gorzelanny pitched eight strong innings, surrendering two unearned runs and 5 hits. Ichiro Suzuki (2-4, 3RBI) and Preston Wilson (2-3, 2 RBI) were the hitting stars in game 2.

Meanwhile the Sardine City Straphangers were pounded by Honolulu 11-2 in their first game, but rebounded nicely in a 5-3 victory over Vancouver. Veteran Tom Glavine, a former Ironfister, pitched eight innings, while two more former Vancouver players, Andruw Jones and Ken Griffey each collected two hits.

All eyes were on Honolulu pitcher Jered Weaver in Sharks camp. The first overall pick gave up five runs in eight innings, but otherwise pitched well. "We're pretty happy with him" said Sharks pitching coach Randy Myers. "He had some jitters that he needed to work out. We expect more from him next time out."

Hillsborough's C.C. Sabathia and Carolina's Roy Halladay each pitched complete game shutouts on opening day. "I think Roy's ready" said Carolina manager Lenny Dykstra.

Arkansas first baseman Justin Morneau collected six RBIs in his game against Philly and now has nine in two games. "I'm looking forward to collecting some steaks this year" said Morneau in reference to Zane Smith's hitter of the week award sponsor.