Streaks and swoons

The Mighty Men have reasserted themselves as the top dog in the DMBL with a 4-game winning streak. Yesterday, the Mighty Men shellacked the Ant Slayers 11-5 behind Ichiro Suzuki's 3-5, 7-RBI night. Ichiro hit a double and a home run - his 5th, to lead the Mighty Men offense. The win puts the Mighty Men up by 5 games over Newark in the Hanover Division race.

Bridgewater won their second straight game over Carolina in extra innings, this time winning 5-4 in 12 innings. Ryan Zimmerman roped a single in the 12th to drive in the winning run. Zimmerman ended the night 4-6. Bridgewater won the previous game 10-9 in 10 innings.

Blue Ridge has come down to earth, dropping their last 3, including yesterday's 10-3 drubbing at the hands of Hillsborough. Shin Soo Choo hit 2 homers in the game and his third in the series so far. Hillsborough is now only 1/2 game behind Bridgewater and 2 games behind Blue Ridge in the Morris Division.

Las Vegas, who pulled off a big trade for slugger Mark Teixeira, has yet to see the benefits of the swap. They lost their 4th straight, a 3-2 nailbiter against Vancouver. However, fans in Vegas are hopeful that Tex just needs an adjustment period to the hot desert climate, like fellow acquiree, Alex Rodriguez. As you may recall, A-Rod started his Vegas season struggling mightily, but now is one of the lineups most potent threats.

First half, ROY review

A losing record probably kept Sardine City’s Joba Chamberlain off the all-star team, but the '09 Listach Award may be in sight for the 2008 first-rounder. Drafted as an ineligible third overall, he ended the first half leading the league in K/9 at 11.1 and led all rookies with 116 strikeouts and a 3.43 ERA, through 94 1/3 inning. But Joba managed only a 5-7 record despite 9 of 16 quality starts and a 1.35 WHIP.

Chamberlain's competition for the Listach may not come from any fellow starters or first-round picks. This year's first round featured a bumper crop of starters, but many have struggled through the first half. Ricky Nolasco of Arkansas leads all rookies in IP with 114 2/3 but was 4-9 with a 4.87 ERA in 17 starts (8 QS). Likewise, New Jersey's Edinson Volquez, taken third overall (the first pitcher), has made 8 of 17 quality starts and cracked 100 IP but was just 4-7 with a 5.19 ERA. Amityville's Chris Volstad stood at .500 (6-6) and made 9 of 16 quality starters, but would have to bring his 4.42 ERA and 1.40 WHIP down some to make a run in the second half. You have to get to the second round to find a starter above .500 and thats Jair Jurrjens of Arkansas, who was 8-4 in the first half despite a 5.21 ERA, with 6 of 15 starts quality. He leads rookies with 3 CG and 2 SHO.

Hoboken's Clayton Kershaw, an ineligible 4th round pick in 2008, made only 7 starts in the first half after supplanting fellow rookie Nick Blackburn in the rotation but he was impressive, notching 5 quality starts while going 3-2 with a 2.72 ERA and 1.37 WHIP.

Could the Listach be swiped by a reliever? Newark’s Joey Devine leads all rookies with 15 saves (2^nd in the league) in 27 games, along with a 2-1 mark. The 2009 first-rounder also has a tidy 2.10 ERA to go with a 1.17 WHIP. He would be only the second relief pitcher to win Rookie of the Year (John Rocker, 1999).

A few batters have played prominent roles in their team’s lineups during the first half and might well be on the inside track for the ROY hardware. Chris Davis leads all rookies, playing in all 82 games for Las Vegas mostly at DH with a smattering of 1B and 3B. He’s also tops in HRs (18), RBIs (58) and an eye-popping 112 strikeouts. Jay Bruce of DC was second to Davis in HRs (17) and RBIs (50), with both on pace to drive in 100 as rookies.

Shin-Soo Choo has helped pace Hillsborough’s league-best offense, leading rookies in batting average (.298), and slugging (.545), as well as doubles (23), while getting into 67 games for the Hitmen. Hillsbrough’s rookie backstop, Kelly Shoppach, has split time with Russell Martin behind the plate and made the most of it, with 19 doubles, 10 home runs and a .527 slugging percentage at the break.

New Jersey’s Elijah Dukes got an all-star nod thanks to his impressive first half, that include a rookie leading 47 runs scores, and along with Choo, a rookie-best .382 on-base percentage. He’s also knocked in 37 runs with 14 home runs and 16 doubles to make for a .536 slugging percentage. second among rooks.

There’s not much pop behind Denard Span, but he made all 80 starts in center field for Hoboken while stealing 6 bases and scoring 43 runs. Along with Philly’s Fred Lewis, Span leads all rookies with 6 triples in the first half and his 83 hits are just ahead of the 81 compiled by Davis and Carolina's Mike Aviles. Lewis and Aviles also lead rookies with 10 SBs.

Frustrated Fist fall to Buddah

The 2009 DMBL All-Star Ballot has been posted. The game less than a month away, so get those votes in!

How the heck did Vancouver lose to New Jersey yesterday? Vancouver outhit Team Buddah 17-6, yet still lost 4-3 in extra innings. The Buddahs got on the board quickly with a first-inning Fernando Tatis home run. The Fist got in trouble with some walks and a passed ball, leading to another run. Vancouver quickly tied it up in the 2nd with a pair of runs. Vancouver took the lead in the 7th on a Troy Glaus single, but Buddah tied it up the next inning. Buddah finally won it in the 10th on a hit by Casey Blake. So how do you get 17 hits and score only 3 runs? Well, let's examine that 7th inning, which should have been a huge inning for Vancouver. Jerry Hairston led off the inning with a single, but was thrown out trying to steal second. Vancouver followed up with back to back singles. Adam Jones smacked a liner for a base hit, but Chase Headley was thrown out trying to score. The next hit finally scored a run, but Victor Martinez struck out to end the inning. The club left 13 batters on base and also hit into a double play in the later innings.

The day's other extra inning affair was an offensive battle. Sardine City built up ay 7-3 lead on Philadelphia but Jimmy Rollins hit a grand slam in the 8th to tie it up. Raul Ibanez then hit a 2-run shot in the 11th to give the Sardines a 9-7 lead, but Mark Teixeira came through with a 2-run double to tie it up. Marco Scutaro gave the Straphangers the lead for good in the 12th when his base hit scored Stephen Drew. The Sardines had 20 hits in the game, including Carlos Quentin (4-6) and Raul Ibanez (3-6, 4 RBIs). Quentin has been on a bit of hot streak lately, hitting .340 in his last 12 games with a 1.154 OPS.

Hillsborough won their 3rd straight and took a 1/2 game lead in the Morris Division. The Hitmen edged the Ant Slayers by a 6-5 margin. Shin-Soo Choo was 4-4 with 3 doubles and Freddy Sanchez was 3-5 with 2 RBIs.

Manny Ramirez was 3-4 with 2 home runs and 6 RBIs to lead the Sugar Bears to an 8-4 win over archrival Arkansas. The Sugar Bears scored 4 runs in the 8th to break a 4-4 tie and even the series at one game apiece. Yadier Molina was 3-3 with 2 doubles in a losing cause.