Sugar Bears even it up

It was a bit much to expect Vancouver to take 2 of 2 from Newark in the Cereal Bowl. Newark tied up the series with a 7-5 victory yesterday. Vancouver was the first one on the board again when Jose Guillen drove in a run in the first. But Newark tied it up in the second with a Carlos Guillen triple and then later took the lead after Jarrod Saltalamacchia singled in Guillen. Newark broadened the lead when Salty doubled in another run and Mike Fontenot drove in another for a 4-1 lead in the 4th. After a half hour rain delay, manager Don Mattingly pulled Randy Johnson from the contest, giving way to the Newark bullpen. Zack Greinke, who started for Vancouver, was also pulled. Vancouver scored a run in the 6th to pull within 2. Vancouver's playoff hero Chase Utley tripled in another run to make it a one-run game in the 7th. Newark pulled away in the bottom half on a 2-run Nick Swisher homer, then tacked on another in the 8th. Vancouver made it very interesting in the 9th. With two runners on, pinch hitter Mike Lowell smashed a line drive to left, scoring a run. Moises Alou hit a single to score another run, but the next two batters were retired to end the game.

The two teams will head to Vancouver tomorrow where Javier Vazquez will take on Ben Sheets.

All tied up!

Vancouver took the early lead yesterday and withheld a late Vegas rally to knot the series at 3 and force a game 7. Vegas scored early as Ben Sheets got into several jams in the early innings. In the first inning, the Rats managed to load the bases, but Sheets escaped with only one run scored, then worked out of another bases loaded jam in the second, once again only allowing one run. Vancouver came roaring back in the third, scoring four runs, including a 2-run Chase Utley home run. The Fist extended the lead to 5-2 with a solo homer by Michael Young in the 4th. Utley hit another home run, this time a solo shot in the 6th. Meanwhile, Ben Sheets had settled in and retired 10 out 11 batters since the rocky first two innings. But those early innings racked up Sheets' pitch count and he was replaced with Matt Herges in the 6th. Curtis Granderson's 2-run homer capped a 4-run rally in the 7th to give the Fist a 9-2 lead. Herges was cruising along until the 7th when he surrendered a 2-run blast to Jim Thome. In the 8th, it looked like the wheels were going to fall off for Vancouver, as Herges quickly got into a jam. Billy Wagner came in and the Rats narrowed the lead to 9-6. But that was all the Rats would get. Manny Corpas closed out the 9th for his 3rd save.

The teams return to Vancouver Friday for game 7. Vancouver has Chad Billingsley scheduled for the game, while Las Vegas sends out Josh Beckett.

Streaking

The Honolulu Sharks kept their winning streak alive (at eight), just barely against Team Buddah last night. The Sharks ran up a quick 7-3 lead, scoring a whopping seven runs in the third inning. But it didn't last long. Team Buddah narrowed it to 7-5 and then later tied it at 8 in the seventh inning. Thanks to Ryan Freel and some small-ball the Sharks were able to manufacture the winning run in the eighth. Freel had led off the inning with a single and then stole second base. He tagged up after Johnny Damon flew out, then scored on a Jamey Carroll sac fly. Tom Gordon and Mike Myers nailed down the ninth inning to preserve a narrow 9-8 victory and keep the Sharks' streak alive.

Meanwhile another streak continued and another one ended. Hoboken's Miguel Cabrera extended his hitting streak to 18 against the Sardine City Straphangers. Cabrera was 3-5 marking his second straight game with three hits. Meanwhile, Chase Utley who was right behind Cabrera at 16 went 0-fer against the Endzone Animals.

Great game down in South Boston where the Mudcats edged the Gang 10-9. The scoring started right in the beginning with the Gang scoring two in the first and the Mudcats responding with four in the second. The Cats eventually built up an 8-3 lead on the Gang, but the Gang wasn't finished. Relievers Scott Linebrink and Justin Speier proceeded to completely blow the game, surrendering a combined six earned runs in just one third of an inning. With the six-run inning, the Gang now held onto a shaky 9-8 lead. Closer Huston Street was already in from the previous inning. He was able to retire the first two batters, but after Jose Vidro hit a pinch-hit single, manager Sid Fernandez decided to go with recently recalled Nate Robertson to face Johnny Estrada. Estrada lined a single and Ramon Hernandez allowed a passed ball allowing both runners to advance into scoring position. Pinch hitter Jeff Francoeur lined a single to score both runners and take the lead back.

No More Nomar

New Jersey's Nomar Garciaparra suffered the biggest injury so far this season. Nomar will be out for 36 days. In the meanwhile, Team Buddah will have Shea Hillenbrand, Troy Glaus and Preston Wilson cover the hole in the lineup. Garciaparra was batting .292 on the season with 4 homers and 18 RBIs.

Hoboken's Miguel Cabrera went 3-4 in yesterday's game against Marietta and extended his hitting streak to a season-high 17 games. Right on his toes is Vancouver's Chase Utley who has an active 16-game hitting streak. The record is 38 set last year by Marietta's Morgan Ensberg.

The Honolulu Sharks extended their winning streak to seven straight yesterday, defeating the Hired Hitmen 11-6 in Hillsborough. Miguel Tejada was 4-5 and Jermaine Dye was 3-5 with 3 RBIs while Jeff Francis improved to 3-1 on the year for the Sharks. The Sharks are now sitting in second place in the Hanover Division and fifth place overall.