Cutters farmhand dies in tragic accident

Stunning news as Hoboken Cutters farmhand Nick Adenhart was tragically killed in a car accident last night. Adenhart was leaving a minor league game in which he had a superb outing, but his hopes and dreams of reaching the DMBL are now over. The Cutters drafted Adenhart in the 6th round of the 2009 draft. R.I.P.

Todd Wellemeyer and Roy Halladay dueled to a 1-0 final, with the O-Bombers ending the Mudcats' 5-game winning streak. Halladay went the distance in the loss, giving up 7 hits and 2 walks, while striking out 7. Wellemeyer didn't make it all the way through, but held the Cats to 6 hits in 8 innings. It was his first win of the season after losing his first 5 decisions. The lone run scored in the 3rd when Dan Uggle doubled in Jay Bruce.
Derek Lowe shut out the Iron Fist on 6 hits last night, sending the defending champions careening out of first place and into third. The Rats only managed 7 hits, but still scored five runs to give Lowe all the run support he'd need. It didn't help that Fist starter Chad Billingsley walked 5 in 5.2 innings. Carlos Pena was the offensive hero, going 2-4 with a home run and 3 RBIs.

The third shutout of the night belonged to Hillsborough's Felix Hernandez. Hernandez, perhaps finally ready to fulfill some of that promise, pitched 6.1 innings, holding the Bombers to 3 hits and striking out 6. The Hitmen gave him plenty of run support - Aubrey Huff was 3-4 with his 11th home run and 3 RBIs to lead Hillsborough to a 9-0 victory.

Philadelphia is now on a three day transaction streak. It all started Monday when the Animals cut Jeremy Affeldt and signed Jose Veras. The next day, the team felt they needed a bigger veteran presence and signed Ken Griffey and cut Matt Joyce. Yesterday, the club picked up Micah Owings and dumped Joe Blanton. Why? "Just for the heck of it" said club owner/GM Anthony Pucci. "I'm spinning the wheel to see who we can cut tomorrow!"

Another day, another Mighty deal

The Mighty Men have kept the trade wires steaming with another pair of deals. Last night the Mighty Men acquired first baseman Adrian Gonzalez from the Amityville Ant Slayers in exchange for pitcher Jon Lester. Lester was taken in the second round of last year's draft by the Mighty Men and was probably the ace of the staff in 2008, for whatever that means. Nevertheless, scouts liked what they saw in Lester and think that 2009 could be a breakout year for the youngster. Meanwhile Gonzalez was seen as expendable, considering the Ant Slayers already had James Loney on the roster. Gonzalez had a very good rookie year for the Honolulu Sharks in 2007, but regressed slightly with Tampa Bay. With the acquisition of Gonzalez, recently-acquired Kevin Youkilis will likely be shifted over to third base. This looks like bad news for incumbent third baseman Edwin Encarnacion though.

The Mighty Men followed that up with a morning deal sending farmhand Todd Wellemeyer to the D.C. Bushslappers for a 7th round draft pick. Wellemeyer was disastrous in a relief role for the Mighty Men, but he still has some upside. The Bushslappers seem to think that he would do well in the starting rotation, so he will get every chance to make the staff.