Woeful Woody

D.C. broke their hex yesterday with an 8-6 win over Honolulu. D.C. moved back into sole possession of fourth place overall. Frank Thomas had five RBIs in the game including a grand slam in the eighth that gave the Bushslappers the lead.

Woody Williams' woes continued against his former team Vancouver yesterday. Williams lasted only 3.2 innings, surrendering 5 earned runs and eight hits. Williams was fortunate enough to escape with a no decision. Marietta came roaring back in the sixth inning, knocking Vancouver starter Jake Peavy out of the game. Jim Thome hit his 30th homer in the game, a 9-7 victory for the Mighty Men.

Meanwhile, Hillsborough continued to roll, winning their ninth straight. Sure it took them 11 innings to beat the Cutters, but the Hitmen kept their streak alive. The game was tied 3-3 going into the 10th, but Geoff Jenkins hit an RBI double to give the Cutters the lead. It was short-lived, however, because the Hitmen tied it up in the bottom of the 10th. After a quick top of the 11th, the Hitmen started off their half of the 11th with a leadoff double. With two outs to go, Russell Martin hit a weak grounder to Ian Kinsler at second. Kinsler hesitated then panicked and threw the ball past Chris Shelton and into the dugout, scoring Ryan Howard from third and losing the game for the Cutters.

D.C., Hillsborough head in opposite directions

The Sugar Bears' streak is over at twelve after a doubleheader sweep at the hands of South Boston. The Gang took the first game thanks to a 2-homer, 5-RBI outburst from Ramon Hernandez and a solid outing from Dontrelle Willis. Randy Johnson did notch his 2000th career strikeout in the match, but he did not provide much help outside of that. The second game was much closer, but the Gang scored two runs in the eighth (seems to be a popular inning for comebacks) to take the lead 4-3. Brandon League won the game in relief and improved to 8-2.

Francisco Liriano shut out Vancouver 6-0 yesterday to improve to 11-1 on the season. Liriano held Vancouver to 6 hits in 6 innings and the Marietta pen finished the game off. The win spoiled the DMBL debut of Chad Billingsley who only gave up one run over seven innings of work, while striking out six. Billingsley took the place of the struggling Ben Sheets. Sheets was sent down to AAA to work on his mechanics. Vancouver got them back, however, in the second game as Moises Alou blasted three home runs (all solo shots) to help squeak by 8-7. Vancouver actually hit six homers in the contest, though they only managed 8 runs. Gerald Laird was the only one to hit a homer with a runner on base.

D.C. has hit a wall lately, losing their eighth straight game after a marathon 17 inning loss to Honolulu yesterday. D.C. has now dropped into a fourth place tie with Honolulu and is only one game ahead of Hoboken and Hillsborough for sixth place. It's a very tight race lately - 1 1/2 games separates third place Marietta from seventh place, so it'll be very interesting to see what happens in the next few weeks.

The anti-Bushslappers have been the Hillsborough Hired Hitmen who have won eight straight and are now tied for the sixth playoff spot with Hoboken. Hillsborough shut down the Cutters yesterday with back-to-back solid performances from Justin Verlander and Felix Hernandez. Verlander held the Cutters to only three hits and one run over seven innings in game one and Felix struck out nine in seven innings, while giving up only five hits and one run.

Remember Brett Myers' struggles earlier this season? Well those struggles are ancient history. Since starting the season at 0-12 with an 8.40 ERA, Myers has gone on a bit of a hot streak. He's 5-1 since that low point and has brought his ERA down to 6.34, including seven quality starts in his last eight outings and a recent Pitcher of the Week award.

Take note that the DMBL trading deadline will be this Sunday. After this point, any players that are signed off the waiver wire are not elligible to be kept after the season is over.

Sugar Bears win 11 straight again

Andy Pettitte made his season debut for Carolina, earning the win despite a mediocre performance. Pettitte, starting for the injured Carlos Zambrano, allowed five runs in six innings in a 9-5 win over South Boston. Paul Konerko was 4-5 with 3 RBIs and Travis Hafner also contributed 3 RBIs.

D.C. has finally cooled off, losing four straight after yesterday's 6-5 loss to Hillsborough. The slump coincides with the recent injury to second baseman Luis Castillo. "Luis is the heart and soul of this squad" said teammate Carl Crawford. "Sure he only has 9 extra base hits in 77 games but he has intangibles....intangibles!" The Hired Hitmen scored all six runs in the last three innings, including a 4-run eighth that featured a 3-run Ryan Howard shot.

Newark won their 11th straight game with a 9-6, 18-hit slugfest victory over Marietta. Newark batters are now hitting .323 on the season with a .408 on base percentage and .592 slugging. Newark also became the first team to win 80 this season (Philadelphia is the next highest with 62 wins!).

Chris Carpenter pitched a solid game to help Vancouver stymie Philly 3-1 yesterday. Carpenter improved to 6-3 for Vancouver (9-7 overall) with an 8-inning performance, holding the Animals to five hits and one earned run. Moises Alou drove in all three runs in the game.

The trading deadline is approaching. Sunday July 15th will be the last day to make any deals or to claim any free agents that will be elligible as keepers for next season.

Wakefield, Williams prove poor reinforcements

Carolina took two from D.C. yesterday thanks to some solid pitching from starters Clay Hensley and Roy Halladay. Halladay, who had the better outing of the two, pitched a complete game, holding the Bushslappers to only two runs. Bill Hall, who hit a homer in each of the games, has quietly put up a solid season. Hall hit his 33rd and 34th homer of the season in yesterday's games and is batting .283 with a .974 OPS.

Tim Wakefield made his season debut for the Falcons against Vancouver yesterday. Unfortunately for Wakefield, Vancouver showed no mercy to the former Iron Fister. Wakefield gave up seven runs, six earned, in only 2.1 innings pitched, while giving up five hits and two walks and striking out none. Wakefield was recently signed by Arkansas to replace struggling Daniel Cabrera in the rotation.

Jake Peavy shut down the Falcons in game two of the doubleheader, pitching a 3-hit complete game. Peavy surrendered only one run - a Lance Berkman solo shot - in the contest while striking out nine.

Speaking of replacement players, Marietta had hoped that Woody Williams would enjoy a change of scenery and replaced Gil Meche in their rotation, but so far it's been a disaster. Most recently, Williams was rocked for six runs in 2.2 innings against the Sharks and now sports a 12.10 ERA on the season. Williams will probably be given one more chance - his next start is against the team that traded him, Vancouver.

Philly ended their four-game slide by pounding Boof Bonser and the Hoboken Cutters 10-2. Vernon Wells had 3 RBIs and Erik Bedard improved to 11-5 in the contest.

The Sugar Bears completed a 5-game sweep of Team Buddah and have now won 10 in a row. The Sugar Bears are now 49 games over .500.

Mighty Men dominate Sharks

Marietta continued their dominance over Honolulu with their fourth straight win over the Sharks, 10-2. Jim Thome was 5-5 with 3 doubles, 2 homers and 4 RBIs. Francisco Liriano improved to 10-1 with a brilliant 6-inning, 2-hit performance. Liriano didn't allow any runs and struck out 10. The Sharks could only muster 3 hits the entire game. Unfortunately for the Sharks, they play the Mighty Men two more times today.

Ryan Howard had a huge day for Hillsborough yesterday. Howard was 3-4 with six RBIs and his 42nd home run of the year. The Hitmen won the game 8-2 over the Gang. Starter Dontrelle Willis could not get any outs in the first inning, surrendering six runs and walking four. The South Boston bullpen only surrendered two runs over the rest of the game, but the damage was done.

The Cutters edged the Endzone Animals 6-3 yesterday. The Animals led 3-2 but Francisco Rodriguez could not hold onto the lead. The Cutters scored four runs in the eighth on back to back doubles by Mike Cameron and Hanley Ramirez. Juan Rincon nailed down the ninth for his 15th save.
Randy Johnson failed to get his 2000th strikeout after being chased in the second inning by Team Buddah. Johnson gave up six runs in the inning, though only two were earned. The Sugar Bears got him off the hook with a 7-run fourth, however, winning the game 12-7.

Today is a special Fourth of July doubleheader.

Day of Blowouts

D.C. pounded the snot out of Carolina yesterday, 15-8. Esteban German, filling in for the injured Luis Castillo, was 5-6 with three doubles and four runs scored. Lyle Overbay was 4-5 with 6 RBIs and Alfonso Soriano went 3-6 with 4 RBIs. Altogether, D.C. slapped out 20 hits and walked 10 times. Carolina starter Jason Jennings, no stranger to getting bitchslapped (bushslapped?), surrendered 13 runs and 14 hits in 4.1 innings.

Meanwhile in Hillsborough, the Hired Hitmen scored early and often against the South Boston Gang, taking the contest 12-4. Jason Bartlett was 3-3 with 2 stolen bases and Brad Hawpe hit a pinch-hit grand slam in the sixth. With the win, Hillsborough evened up their record at 53-53.

Finally in Vancouver, the Iron Fist were once again shellacked, this time by Arkansas, 16-4. It looked like a close contest in the beginning. Starter Ben Sheets had given up five runs, but Vancouver climbed back to make it a one run game after a 4-run fourth. Then in the eighth all hell broke loose. You knew it was going to be a bad inning when Wes Littleton hit Barry Bonds with the first pitch. Both benches cleared, but it was mostly just a lot of screaming. Bonds was forced to leave the game. Littleton was able to get two outs, though he allowed two more to score, then the two-out rally began. Brian Sweeney was called in to stop the bleeding, but instead cut the wound deeper. Seven runs crossed the plate that inning and four more in the ninth. Orlando Cabrera was 5-5 in the game with 4 runs and 4 RBIs and Brandon Phillips also drove in four.

Meanwhile, in a return to sanity, Las Vegas and Sardine City's starters duelled but Vegas prevailed 2-1 in the end. Cole Hamels pitched well for the Sardines (7 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 7 K), but it was not enough against Oliver Perez's brilliant outing. A rare sight this year (Perez is 5-14 with an 8.87 ERA on the season), Perez pitched 8 innings, surrendering only one run and seven hits, while striking out seven.

Newark rallied to beat Team Buddah yesterday. The Buddahs were clinging to a 3-2 lead late in the contest, when Bobby Abreu hit a two run shot off Todd Jones, giving the Sugar Bears the lead back. Both starters pitched brilliantly but were not factors in the decision. Tom Gorzelanny limited the mighty Sugar Bear offense to three hits and one run in six innings, while Javier Vazquez struck out 12 Buddahs in 6.1 innings for the Sugar Bears.

Clemens wins 200th

Friday night, Roger Clemens joined Pedro Martinez and Greg Maddux as the third member of the 200 win club. It wasn't Clemens' finest game, but he got the job done against Morris Division leader Philadelphia. Clemens improved to 10-6 on the season.

Hoboken's winning streak ended at eight on Saturday when the Hired Hitmen clobbered the Cutters 10-3. The Cutters were held in check by Felix Hernandez who struck out 10 in six innings of work. The Cutters, however, reverted back to their winnings ways, edging the Endzone Animals 9-8 Sunday. The Animals have had a rough weekend, dropping three of their last four and now face the Cutters three more times this week.

Ryan Howard hit his 40th homer in a loss to South Boston Sunday. Howard extended his league lead to five over Albert Pujols and Manny Ramirez.

Justin Morneau extended his hitting streak to 20 games with a 2-5 night against Vancouver. Curt Schilling improved to 3-0 with the win.

A new This Week is now up for your reading pleasure.