Crawford speeds his way to milestone

The hottest team currently in the DMBL is no doubt the Amityville Ant Slayers. The Slayers have pulled themselves out of the basement with their current winning streak and are now at .500 with a 25-25 record. Yesterday's 6-3 win over D.C. was their 7th in a row. Roy Oswalt carried the team with an 8-inning performance in which he held the O-Bombers to 2 runs on 4 hits while striking out 12. The Ant Slayers take on the first-place Mighty Men next and it will be impressive if they could carry the streak through the series.

Newark stole a victory away from Carolina yesterday in extra innings despite only getting 4 hits in the entire game! Carolina held a 4-0 lead going into the 8th. Carlos Zambrano had been working on a no-hitter going into the 9th. Zambrano walked the first two batters, but got the third to pop out. Then Manny Ramirez came up and crushed one into the left field bleachers to bring the score to within one. The no-hitter, the shutout were both gone, but at least the lead was intact. Carolina brought in Brian Fuentes to seal the deal, as Zambrano was looking fatigued. Unfortunately, Fuentes walked the next batter and gave up a double to Jed Lowrie to tie up the game. Off they went into extra innings. In the bottom of the 11th, Lowrie came through once again, doubling in the winning run to end the game. The Cats gave up only 4 hits in the game, but they walked 9.

Blue Ridge's Carl Crawford was 3-5 in his team's 4-1 victory over New Jersey. Crawford also stole his 11th base of the season, giving him 200 for his career - the 6th player to achieve the feat. Crawford passes Chuck Knoblauch (199). Crawford's next step will be to pass Omar Vizquel (212) and Roberto Alomar (213). Kenny Lofton (284) is the all time leader. So who will be the next 200-base stealer? Well it might be a while. Juan Pierre (184) and Edgar Renteria (172) are the closest, but both are without jobs currently. Alex Rodriguez, with 173, is the closest active player and may be the best bet despite stolen bases not being a major part of his game these days.

Drought in Vegas

Two straight games, two straight shutout losses for the Rat Pack. Going back to Tuesday's game against Newark, the Rat Pack have now failed to score in 20 consecutive innings. First it was Joe Saunders and the Sugar Bears that held the Rat Pack to 4 hits in a 12-0 loss. Then yesterday Roy Oswalt kept them to 5 hits in a 3-0 affair. What makes it so shocking is that this is no weak-hitting team. Las Vegas is 4th overall in total runs scored and the team ranks first in OPS. The Rats face Jon Lester today and all eyes will be on the Vegas bats to see if they will continue the slump or break out in explosive fashion.

Carolina's Carlos Zambrano combined with Brian Fuentes on a 6-hit shutout, not that anyone was paying attention. Zambrano's shutout was much less elegant as he walked 7 Philadelphia batters in the 2-0 game. Zambrano improved to 7-2 with the effort.

How bad do the Bombers feel after yesterday's debacle? The Bombers had built up an insurmountable 13-0 lead in the 5th inning, but Vancouver didn't give up. The Fist scored 10 runs in the next three innings to bring the deficit to 13-10. A nervous Francisco Rodriguez was called into the 9th inning to shut the door on the comeback and things looked good as K-Rod sent back the first two batters. Then it all came unraveled. Rodriguez walked Ken Griffey, then gave up a double to Adam Lind. Rodriguez flubbed an easy toss to get the third out that scored Griffey, then Troy Glaus doubled in Lind, making it a one-run game. Rodriguez then walked pinch-hitter Adam Jones and was visibly shaken. Rodriguez threw a wild pitch that scored the tying run before striking out the final batter of the inning. Suddenly Vancouver was looking like the team of destiny and a sure victory for Blue Ridge was now in extra innings. In the 12th, Griffey drove home the winning run on a single up the middle, sealing the comeback victory.

Carolina sweeps, Newark avoids sweep

Carolina completed the sweep of first-place Philadelphia thanks to an excellent performance from Carlos Zambrano. Zambrano threw seven innings of three-hit ball and allowed only one run while striking out eleven and walking three. Carolina gave Johan Santana only his second loss of the season.

Newark, on the other hand, avoided the sweep by handing the Cutters a 10-3 loss. Gregg Zaun hit a 3-run homer rookie Tony Saunders picked up his second win on the season. Saunders is perhaps the latest in a line of WTF Sugar Bear starters - scrap heap pickups that end up winning double digits for the Sugar Bears. Will Saunders join the John Thomsons and Mike Graces and become another Newark legend? With that powerhouse offense behind him, why not?

In case you missed the late transactions last night, Arkansas signed a couple of DMBL veterans to help fill out platoon roles. Craig Biggio, who played briefly for Hoboken this year, and Bernie Williams, recently released by Sardine City, were brought on board. "We needed some veteran leadership on this team." said owner Stump Matiash. "We're tired of the constant keg parties and video game tournaments after games." Arkansas is currently two games back of sixth-place Vancouver for the final wild card spot.

South Boston broke Marietta's seven game winning streak with a 14-8 romp. Vlad Guerrero posted a monster 5-6 night with 6 RBIs and a homer. The Gang had a total of 20 hits. Marietta actually had an 8-5 lead in the ninth inning and the usually reliable Mariano Rivera on the mound, but Rivera gave up five straight singles to lead off the inning and then a homer to Prince Fielder. The Gang scored a total of nine runs in the inning when all was said and done.

All good things must come to an end

Matt Diaz's hitting streak ended last night at 23 with an 0-4 against South Boston. Despite getting a hit during all five straight losses prior to yesterday, the streak came to an end in a victory for the Mighty Men. Apparently Diaz was just satisfied in passing Miguel Cabrera for the season-high hitting streak. "No way Cabrera should have that recognition...he doesn't deserve it" said Diaz after the game. "Anyone but a damned Cutter." It is unknown why Diaz is so livid with the Hoboken organization at this time. Meanwhile South Boston's five-game winning streak also came to a halt after the 8-6 Marietta victory.

The Mudcats shocked the Animals again yesterday, besting them and ace starter Johan Santana 4-1 yesterday. Santana was not involved in the decision as he and Mudcat starter Carlos Zambrano had dueled to a 1-1 tie through seven innings only to watch J.J. Putz give up RBI doubles to Travis Hafner and Grady Sizemore in the eighth. The Cats have a ways to go to climb back into the playoff picture, but at least they're on the right track again.

D.C.'s hardluck pitcher Anibal Sanchez finally got his first win yesterday against Vancouver. Despite a 2.55 ERA and five quality starts, Sanchez was 0-5 in his first eight games this year. Sanchez was not at his best yesterday (8 IP, 5 ER, 1 K) but the Bushslappers finally scored some runs for him, giving Sanchez his first career DMBL victory. Jose Reyes was 5-6 in the game with three stolen bases. "Sanchez begged me before the game to do what I could to win the game for him" said Reyes after the game. "I told him to stop crying and act like a man."