Putz suffers three harsh losses as Finer Things Club sweeps Santa Poco

You'd be hard-pressed to find a more dehabilitating series loss than the one Biv suffered early Wednesday morning. His Santa Poco Amigos (Biv West) lost all four games to Finer Things Club (Chad East) with closer J.J. Putz suffering the losing decision in three of the contests.

The outcomes shot FTC into first place in the East -- past Biv's Harrison Cougars -- and drove the Amigos out of first in the West. And that doesn't even include the torment of losing leadoff man Reggie Willitts for five games to come.

That said, Finer did get the job done throughout the series, piecing together 38 hits and 20 walks in the four contests and getting clutch pitching when it needed to.

Game 1: Finer 5, Santa 4
W-Downs (2-0), L-Putz (0-1)
The first of four blown saves in the series occurred when the Amigos, down 4-2, got three straight hits off FTC closer Rafael Betancourt with two outs in the top of the ninth: an Alex Cintron double, a Reggie Willitts single (on a 2B X roll to 2e5 Alex Cora) and a two-run double by Joey Gathright. But FTC answered in the bottom half on Tike Redman's two-out RBI single off J.J. Putz to score Ryan Garko, who had doubled.

Game 2: Finer 6, Santa 3
W-McGowan (3-2), L-Garland (2-3), S-Betancourt (8)
Joba Chamberlain sustained his longest outing of the season -- one inning, though it involved facing only two batters after the Amigos put two on with no outs in the eighth. Chamberlain came in to fan Justin Morneau, then got Travis Metcalf to roll into a double play to preserve a 6-3 lead in the eighth. Ryan Raburn's go-ahead pinch-hit single keyed FTC's three-run seventh. Joba has now used up four innings (in eight appearances) of his available 17.

Game 3: Finer 5, Santa 4
W-Halladay (4-3), L-Putz (0-2), S-Downs (2)
Ridiculousness ruled in this game, as the Amigos' bullpen stoppers twice blew saves and suffered a crushing defeat. Joakim Soria was the first to get back luck, letting a 2-1 slip away in the seventh. But after Santa plated two runs off Roy Halladay in the bottom half to go up 4-2, Soria was removed in the eighth after yielding a leadoff walk to Jorge Posada. That brought in Putz, who had no luck as he served up a two-run Mike Lowell home run -- on a HR 1 or double 2-20 roll. But the unlucky 20-sided roll proved somewhat moot, as FTC laced three more hits off Putz after that to take a 5-4 lead, and a short-handed bullpen held on from there. Jack Cust bombed his league-best 11th home run in the loss for Santa.

Game 4: Finer 3, Santa 2 (10 innings)
W-Grilli (1-0), L-Putz (0-3), S-Betancourt (9)
Robinson Cano's RBI double in the top of the 10th off Putz was the winner, scoring Garko, who had singled and moved to second on a passed ball. The Amigos looked to be in line to avoid the sweep, but Putz couldn't hold a 2-1 lead in the eighth. He entered with Hideki Matsui on first and got two quick outs, but Raburn again came through with a pinch-hit (this time a double) to tie things at 2-2. To add salt to the wound, Santa's leadoff man, Willitts, was hurt and will miss the team's next 5 games. The Amigos managed just three hits off four FTC pitchers.

Up next:
Finer Things Club (22-12) vs. After The Snow (18-16)
Santa Poco Amigos (18-16) vs. Huge Mistakes (8-26)

Injuries, extras, and intrigue highlight Big Hebs series victory

An easy Sunday afternoon quickly became one of high drama and tension as an injury and extra-inning filled series went to The Big Hebs (Detter West) as they took three of four from the Surly Nausicans (AL East) in a split series. In addition to the strain three extra-frame contests put on the teams' bullpens, the two clubs lost a combined SIX players to injury, including four more to the constantly banged up Hebs. Three more Heb starters will miss at least three games as Jack Hanahan is lost for seven, Jared Saltalamacchia for six, and Gary Matthews Jr. for three. Matthews is lost for the third time this season, while Saltalamacchia misses at least six for the second time. Hanahan splits time with Eric Chavez at 3B, who also was injured in the series, but only missed one game.

The summaries:

Game 1 -- Nausicans 3, Big Hebs 2 (11 innings)
W - Okajima (3-0); L -Benoit (0-3)
A much anticipated battle of the aces went to the Nausicans thanks to a walk-off homer by Victor Martinez, who wins a game in his final at-bat for the second time in three contests. The game was tied in the 11th after Hideki Okajima survived a situation that saw him put runners at the corners with one out for Vladimir Guerrero, preserving his perfect ERA. By the time the series was in the books, Okajima had pitched three times in four games and had gone 19 innings this season without surrendering a run. Nausican ace Fausto Carmona seemingly out-dueled Jered Weaver, tossing nine innings, but gave up a pair of first inning unearned runs, costing him a shutout victory.

Game 2 -- Big Hebs 6, Nausicans 4
W - Bannister (4-2); L - Beckett (2-4)
Brian Bannister gutted out a complete game victory, preserving the Big Hebs bullpen - a move that would prove huge in the next two games - and fixing a HAL glitch. Five of the six Big Hebs runs came on long balls off of Nausican starter, Josh Beckett - a three-run bomb by Matthews and a two-run shot by Jim Thome. Melky Cabrera went 4-for-4 for the Nausicans, who fell short in their quest to come back from a 6-1 deficit.

Game 3 -- Big Hebs 2, Nausicans 1 (12 innings)
W - Benoit (1-3); L - Bradford (0-1)
Guerrero won a game in the final at-bat for the fourth time this year, ripping a two-out, game-winning single in the 12th off of Nausican reliever Chad Bradford. The big blow came on the heels of Thome failing to win the game with one out in his 1-column and was one of four hits by the Heb DH on the day. Andy Pettite started for Surly and held a 1-0 lead into the sixth when Heb catcher Rob Bowen hit his first homer of the year in timely fashion to tie it up. Heb starter Kevin Millwood gave up just one unearned run over seven innings, but gets the no-decision. Darren Oliver went 4.1 innings in relief, but also got a no-decision as the win goes to game one loser, Joaquin Benoit.

Game 4 -- Big Hebs 6, Nausicans 5 (11 innings)
W - Speier (2-1); L - Rivera (1-3)
Spot starter Jeff Weaver was as bad as expected as nearly every out on his card is a tweener, preceder, or postceder, but a Heb rally and strong relief pitching helped them pick up the series victory. Weaver gave up 5 runs on 11 hits over 5 innings, but the Hebs charged back from a 5-2 deficit to tie the game and force extras. Joel Peralta threw 4.1 scoreless innings and Justin Speier tossed the final 1.2 in shutout fashion to salvage the game, but the real hero was Eric Chavez, whose two-out single in the 11th inning won the game and sparked the "joyous home town celebration" (HAL's words). Thome's seventh inning solo homer was his eighth of the year and tied the game, leading to extras.

Next up:
Big Hebs (19-15) vs. Army of Steamrollers (15-15)*
Surly Nausicans (15-19) vs. Santa Poco Amigos (18-12)*

Donors welcome surprising series win

Despite being outscored in the series, the Hawaiian Organ Donors (Chad West) won a surprising three games out of four against the AL's top team, the Harrison Cougars (Biv East). All three Donor wins were by one run, two of them coming in extra innings with closer Bobby Jenks picking up the W. The series recap:

Game 1: Cougars 9, Donors 3
W-Burnett (4-3), L-Escobar (4-2)
Japanese man Akinori Iwamura send a very clear message in any language Sunday afternoon, a crushing grand slam to open the floodgates of Harrison's series-opening win. Placido Polanco went 4-for-4 and Magglio Ordonez had three hits and three RBIs as Hawaiian permitted No. 1 starter Kelvim Escobar take a complete-game beating. Jason Kubel had three of the Donors' 10 hits.

Game 2: Donors 3, Cougars 2 (10 innings)
W-Jenks (1-2), L-Ray (1-2)
Paul Konerko lifted a sacrifice fly in the top of the 10th, scoring Michael Young (who was 4-for-5) with the go-ahead run for the Donors. Bobby Jenks "saved" his own win, as Hawaiian emerged ina game of failed opportunities. The teams left 16 men on base and had 21 combined hits.

Game 3: Donors 7, Cougars 6 (11 innings)
W-Jenks (2-2), L-R.Perez (0-2)
Harrison manager Biv Ayers was kicking himself for a while after letting Ron Villone pitch to Konerko in the bottom of the eighth. With the Cougars leading 6-4 and two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Ayers have Villone one more batter -- and Konerko got lucky, hitting a 1-9 HR chance and getting it to tie the score and, ultimately, force extra frames. Billy Butler provided the finishing blow, nailing a walk-off homer off ace closer Rafael Perez in the 11th on a 1-5 ballpark HR roll in what was basically a very cheap Hawaiian win. And in a continuing odd stat, Hawaiian's Lenny DiNardo remained 0-0 for the season with yet another no-decision (in six starts).

Game 4: Donors 2, Cougars 1
W-Baek (2-0), L-Lester (0-3), S-Neshek (1)
Hawaiian's series-long punch-and-judy attack netted a very Hawaiian-esque victory. Mark Teahen's RBI single in the fifth provided the difference, and Harrison's limited-AB guys (Jacoby Ellsbury, Timo Perez) could not hit their hot spots in the clutch. The Organ Donors wound up with a stunning 48 hits in the series off very good Harrison pitching, but it netted just 15 runs.

Up next:
Hawaiian Organ Donors (18-16) vs. Long Ball Larry (10-24)
Harrison Cougars (21-13) vs. Huge Mistakes (6-24)*

Amigos Forge First-Place Tie With Sweep of Mistakes

Paul's difficult West season continued on Sunday afternoon as his Huge Mistakes couldn't come from behind against the Santa Poco bullpen. The Amigos, now the winners of four straight, find themselves in a first-place deadlock with After The Snow.


Game 1: Santa Poco 6, Huge 4
W-Z.Greinke (3-2), L-J.Saunders (0-2). S-J.Putz (9)
Zack Greinke came with his best start of the 2007 campaign, allowing only two hits over a season-high 7 innings along with six strikeouts. Mike Redmond had 3 hits and 2 RBI for Santa Poco while Justin Morneau and Travis Buck contributed home runs for the Amigos. The Mistakes mounted a furious late rally with four runs off reliever Ryan Bukvich before J.J. Putz was called on to retire one batter and earn the save.

Game 2: Santa Poco 4, Huge 2
W-D.Braden (2-1), L-B.McCarthy (0-2), S-J.Soria (4)
With the tying run on 2nd for Huge with one out in the top of the 6th, the Amigos turned to workhorse reliever Joakim Soria. Soria struck out the next two batters, and then went on to earn a 3 1/3 inning save with no hits allowed. Justin Morneau hit his league-high 9th home run in the victory.

Game 3: Santa Poco 6, Huge 5

W-J.Bale (1-0), L-S.Baker (2-3), S-J.Putz (10)
With the #5 starters pitching their teams into a 5-5 tie after 6 innings, Travis Buck's RBI double in the 7th turned out to be the decisive tally. The Amigos right fielder totaled a triple, double and 3 RBI on the day. J.J. Putz tossed the final two frames to earn his 10th save.

Next up -- BLOCK 3 INTERDIVISION:
Santa Poco Amigos (18-12) vs. Finer Things Club (18-12)
Huge Mistakes (6-24) vs. Army of Steamrollers (15-15)

Big Hebs fight through injuries to claim another series win

In what amounts to a true rarity in the JKSA, a Detter led team - The Big Hebs (West) - won a three-game series from a Scott Norris led squad - After the Snow. The first place Snow club sees their first place lead narrow to one game, while the Hebs pull within two game of the AL West lead. The fact that the Hebs have been able to play above .500 ball despite teh mass of injuries is surprising in and of itself. Entering this series with Vladimir Guerrero out for a couple more games, they promptly lost 2B Mark Ellis and C Rob Bowen in the first game, both for a trio of contests. That leaves Orlando Cabrera, Jose Guillen, and Jerry Owens as the only regulars to have not missed at least three games to injury.

GAME 1 After the Snow - 6; Big Hebs - 4
WP: J. Washburn (4-1)
LP: K. Millwood (3-2)
Sv: H. Street (8)

Jarrod Washburn made yet another statement as the league's best number three starter by posting his fourth win of the season. He was cruising along with a 6-1 lead until the eighth inning when a couple baserunners chased him from the game and Jim Thome hit a pinch-hit three-run homer off of reliever Leo Nunez. The Hebs made a play to make it interesting, but without the injured Guerrero and Ellis, there wasn't quite enough punch in the lineup to overcome Jermaine Dye's two homers and four RBI. Huston Street pitched a quiet ninth for his eighth save.

GAME 2 Big Hebs - 10; After the Snow - 8
WP: W. Eyre (1-0)
LP: M. Guerrier (2-1)
Sv: J. Speier (3)

The HIGHLY maligned Gary Matthews Jr. channelled his inner father to play hero for the Hebs once again. Just three games removed from a game-winning homer against the Big Mistakes, Matthews carried his club to yet another dramatic victory. The speedy centerfielder hit a pair of homers, including a seventh inning grand slam that turned a 8-6 deficit into a 10-8 lead. Matthews' heroics helped starting pitcher Willie Eyre overcome a gruesome start that saw him give up seven runs in the first three innings - including two more homers off the bat of Dye - and pick up his first victory. A quartet of Big Heb relievers combined to throw the final four shutout innings, with Justin Speier earning the save.

GAME 3 Big Hebs - 4; After the Snow - 1
WP: K. Davies (1-1)
LP: J. Contreras (2-1)
Sv: D. Oliver (2)

It was another pitching masterpiece for the Big Hebs as they picked up their fourth straight series victory. Starter Kyle Davies surrendered only a first inning unearned run over five solid innings and handed the ball off to the bullpen, who continued its masterful work. Joaquin Benoit struck out the first four batters he faced en route to 3.2 frames of shutout baseball, while Darren Oliver retired the only batter he faced to secure his second save. Thome hit a solo blast - his sixth - as part of a pair of hits, hiking his average to .449 on the year and Jared Saltalamacchia had two hits of his own, raising his average to .360.

Series Notes:
* Benoit came into the series with a 13.94 ERA, allowing 16 earned runs over 10.1 innings. In his two outings against the Snow, Benoit threw 6 shutout innings, striking out nine, lowering his ERA to 8.82.

* After the Snow's Ichiro went 5-for-13 to raise his average to a league-best .393 while swiping four more bags to run his season total to 27, also the most in the circuit.

* Dye hit four of his nine homers in the first two games of this series.

Late-game heroics pace Big Hebs Sweep

Returning to action for the first time since the birth of Aleka (al-a-ka) Ann Detter, the Big Hebs (Detter West) rode the inspiration of their new arrival, along with some timely hitting and good fortune, to a sweep of the homestanding Big Mistakes (Paul West).

GAME 1 Big Hebs - 5; Mistakes - 4
WP: B. Logan (1-0)
LP: J. Nathan (1-1)
Sv: J. Speier (2)

Torii Hunter's three-run homer broke a tie and gave the Mistakes a 4-1 lead, but in what is becoming an all too common theme, the bullpen could not hold the lead. After starter John Danks saw his team's lead trimmed to 4-3, Paul called on Joe Nathan to preserve the victory. Nathan, who tossed 2.1 innings, was a mere two outs away from victory before Jim Thome was summoned to the plate as a pinch-hitter. The Hebs' leading hitter, Thome responded in a big way, launching a two-run clean homer to swing the pendulum again. Justin Speier pitched a spotless ninth to nail down the save for the Hebs.

GAME 2 Big Hebs - 5; Mistakes - 3
WP: B. Logan (2-0)
LP: J. Blanton (0-4)
Sv: J. Peralta (2)

Late-inning dramatics again fueled a Big Hebs victory as Big Mistakes starter Joe Blanton was unable to preserve a 3-0 lead, seeing eight innings of masterful work go to waste. Leading 3-1 in the eighth, Blanton seemed ticketed for a complete game victory, but surrendered a game-tying two-run homer to Gary Matthews (of all people) on a 1-5 roll. Lefty Boone Logan held the Mistakes at bay in the eighth and was gifted the victory for the second straight game as a Jared Saltalamacchia single was followed by four consecutive walks to give the Hebs a lead they would not surrender. Joel Peralta retired the game's final two hitters for his second save. Saltalamacchia's 4-for-4 night at the plate raised his average to .381 on the year.

GAME 3 Big Hebs - 5; Mistakes - 3
WP: B. Bannister (3-2)
LP: C. Silva (1-4)
Sv: J. Speier (3)

Game three was won by the same count as the previous, but in far different fashion. Starter Brian Bannister and the Hebs were in command from the outset, riding three hits each from Orlando Cabrera and Thome to a 5-3 win. Jose Guillen chipped in with a two-run roundtripper for the Hebs. Justin Speier hurled the final 1.2 frames to earn his third save of the year and his second of the series. The three hits by Thome raised his season average to .450, while his OB% climbed to .589.

Long Ball Larrys and Clean-Sweep Kinnicks lead to Friendly Split

After the first 4 game series of the season for both the Long Ball Larrys and the Clean-Sweep Kinnicks, the outcome was a split.

Game 1  Kinnicks 2, Long Ball 1

W: Johan Santana (4-1)  L: Scott Kazmir(0-7) S: Francisco Rodriguez(10)

This game was a great pitchers duel as indicated by the low score.  Santana went 8 1/3 innings, striking out 10.  Kazmir pitched great striking out 9 in just 5 2/3 innings.  Kazmir gave up 2 earned runs to pick up the loss.  Long Ball Larry had an impressive 14 strike outs as a team.  Francisco Rodriguez came in to close it out with 1 out in the 9th to pick up his 10th save of the year.

Game 2 Long Ball 5, Kinnicks 1

W: Chien-Ming Wang(3-3) L:Javier Vazquez(2-4)S: Mike Timlin(1)

Chien-Ming Wang(3-3) delivered a fine performance for Long Ball.  He surrendered 7 hits and 2 walks in 6 and 2/3 innings. Troy Glaus hit is 3rd homerun of the year and Carlos Pena hit his 8th.  Pena finshed the game going 3 for 4 with 2 RBIs and a run scored.  

Game 3 Long Ball 14, Kinnicks 3

W:Phil Hughes(2-0) L: Miguel Batista(1-5)

Once again Miguel Batista struggles allowing 7 earned runs in just 3 innings of work. Glaus led the offense for Long Ball. He delivered a single which was good for two runs in the 2nd inning and lofted a three-run homer (his 4th of the season) in the 8th inning. Glaus led his team with 5 RBIs in the game. Phil Hughes allowed 3 runs, only 2 earned in 5 innings. Anderson gave the Kinnicks a little bit of offense by hitting his 7th homerun of the season.

Game 4 Kinnicks 13, Long Ball 6

W: Boof Bonser (2-3) L:Shaun Marcum(4-2)

Finally the Kinnicks got a their bats working in Game 4. Boof Bonser settled into his new role as the #4 started pretty well. He went 7 1/3 innings, giving up 5 earned runs with an astonishing no walk performance. Marcum went 8 innings allowing 13 runs, and 20 base hits. Adrian Beltre went 2 for 5 with a homerun (6th), 2 runs, and 2 RBIs. Garret Anderson went 3 for 5, blasting his 8th homerun of the season. Anderson keeps his average rising, now up to .385.

Next Up:

Bob Loblaw (14-13)* @ Clean-Sweep Kinnicks (19-15)

Long Ball Larry (10-24) @ Finer Things Club (18-12)*

Steamrollers Fall To 0-6 Versus Cougars

The Army of Steamrollers luck against the Harrison Cougars didn't improve any in the teams' second meeting of the year, as Norris dropped one absurd game and two tough ones to Biv's first-place East squad.


Game 1: Harrison 9, Army 4
W-F.Rodney (2-0), L-B.Wolfe (0-2)
The first six innings between starters Daisuke Matsuzaka and Jeremy Bonderman were scoreless, but things got out of hand in the bottom of the 7th. Trailing 2-1 with two outs in that frame, the Cougars went into a rage against Steamrollers reliever Jeremy Accardo. Five consecutive batters reached base, including a two-run homer from Magglio Ordonez along with back-to-back blasts by Sean Casey and Jhonny Peralta. The 8-run outburst was enough for Fernando Rodney, who couldn't finish the game but earned his second win.

Game 2: Harrison 5, Army 4 (10 innings)
W-R.Villone (1-0), L-B.Wolfe (0-3)
Army got to Harrison closer Rafael Perez with a game-tying RBI double off the stick of Carlos Guillen in the 9th, but some extremely cheap action in the bottom of the 10th got the Cougars its second victory of the series. After Jacoby Ellsbury and J.D. Drew both succeeded with single 1-5 rolls, a passed ball put the winning run at 3rd with nobody out. Jhonny Peralta then rolled flyball-b with the outfield in to win the game.

Game 3: Harrison 1, Army 0
W-D. Cabrera (6-0), L-A.Sonnanstine (1-2), S-R.Perez (12)
In a game uncharacteristic of #5 starters, only one mistake occurred all day -- a 6th inning homer by J.D. Drew off the pitcher's card. Daniel Cabrera walked only one batter on his improbable run to 6-0, tying Army's Jeremy Guthrie for the league's highest win total. Rafael Perez tossed the final 1 2/3 to earn his league-best 12th save.

Next up -- BLOCK 3 INTERDIVISION:
Harrison Cougars (20-10) vs. Hawaiian Organ Donors (15-15)
Army of Steamrollers (15-15) vs. Huge Mistakes (11-13)*

Finer Things takes .600 clip into Block 3

The Finer Things Club (Chad East) bounced back from a sweep to take two of three from unlucky Long Ball Larry (Greg East) on Thursday afternoon to close Block 2 action for both squads.

FTC won the rubber match despite starting perhaps the worst pitcher in Strat history, Brian Burres. The unskilled lefty had one of his best outings -- giving up three runs in 3 1/3 innings -- before being hooked for the last time. He closed with a 12.10 ERA in three unimpressive starts.

The Club takes an 18-12 mark into Block 3, acceptable considering its previous series was a maddening sweep at the hands of Army of Steamrollers (Scott East). Meanwhile, LBL (8-22) is still looking for an opportunity to use Jonathan Papelbon, who has tossed only 7 2/3 innings through 30 games. Look for some heavy usage of the Red Sox right-hander in the final 50 games.

Game 1: FTC 10, Larry 1
W-Westbrook (3-1), L-Clemens (0-6)
Roger Clemens' baffling struggles continued, as Finer posted 14 hits to send the Mitchell Report star to his sixth loss without a win. Large right-handers Mike Lowell and Ryan Garko drove in three runs apiece for FTC, while Gary Sheffield homered to produce LBL's lone run. Jake Westbrook spun a five-hitter, lowering his ERA to 2.53.

Game 2: Larry 6, FTC 2
W-Marcum (4-1), L-Halladay (3-3)
Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena each smacked three hits, and Shawn Marcum pitched a five-hitter to give Larry a boost. Extremely-limited LBL catcher J.R. House rocked his '2' column for his first home run of the year. Meanwhile, Roy Halladay (5.40 ERA) continued his troubling start to the season.

Game 3: FTC 9, Larry 7
W-Downs (1-0), L-Rogers (0-2), S-Betancourt (7)
A shootout went FTC's way, as light-hitting shortstop John McDonald made the difference with three RBIs from the No. 9 hole. Marcus Thames also enjoyed a rare offensive explosion, homering and scoring three runs. B.J. Upton, Robinson Cano, Jorge Posada, Thames and Lowell each had two hits for FTC, which used Joba Chamberlain to escape a bases-loaded jam in the seventh. Chamberlain has accumulated just three innings in 30 games, but has made seven appearances.

LBL's Crawford increased his average to .344 as he searches for a new home.

Up next:
Clean-Sweep Kinnicks (17-13) vs. Long-Ball Larry (8-22)
Santa Poco Amigos (15-12)* vs. Finer Things Club (18-12)

Hawaiian Organ Donors close Block 3 at .500; Kinnicks drop two in a row

The Hawaiian Organ Donors (Chad AL West) had a rough Ganza, but blasted some of the sour taste out of their mouth by winning the final two games against the powerful Clean-Sweep Kinnicks (Kyle AL West) Sunday afternoon to complete Block 2 play 15-15.

The box scores from the Donors' previous series, a sweep at the hands of After the Snow (Scott West), are either not yet posted or submitted. But when they are, be sure to check out the play by play of Snow's final inning vs. closer Bobby Jenks.

Recapping Sunday's Block 2 finale:

Game 1: Kinnicks 5, Donors 0
W-M.Batista (1-4), L-Buehrle (0-3)
A battle of winless starters went Migel Batista's way, despite the pitcher yielding seven walks. That's because Garret Anderson had a monster night for Clean-Sweep, launching three home runs off Mark Buehrle, who gave up 12 hits over eight innings.

Game 2: Donors 3, Kinnicks 1
W-F.Hernandez (2-4), L-O.Perez (5-1), S-Jenks (8)
Hawaiian's punchless offense did just enough to hand Odalis Perez his first loss of the season, and Felix Hernandez scattered 10 baserunners in six innings to collect just his second win of the year. Anderson stayed hot for Clean-Sweep, going 3-for-4 in the loss.

Game 3: Donors 7, Kinnicks 0
W-J.Wright (1-1), L-B.Bonser (1-3)
Chone Figgins was injured on Hawaiian's first at-bat of the game, but his replacement, Donny Murphy, delivered a key RBI double and scored twice as four Donors pitchers combined on a surprising three-hit shutout. For the series, the Kinnicks -- whose average has hovered around .300 all year -- batted just .242 with 6 total runs.

Up next: Split series!
Clean-Sweep Kinnicks (17-13) vs. Long Ball Larry (7-20)*
Hawaiian Organ Donors (15-15) vs. Harrison Cougars (17-10)*

AL West Round 5: Kinnicks take 2 from Organ Donors

Game 1 Organ Donors 7, Kinnicks 2

Game 1 started off with a very weird yet amazing inning for the Organ Donors. The Organ Donors managed to score 6 runs on just one hit in the bottom of the 1st. Miguel Batista (0-3) was credited with the Loss allowing 7 runs (3 earned) in 6 1/3 innings. Felix Hernandez(1-2) recieved the win alllowing just 2 runs on 4 hits. Jason Kubel went 1 for 2 with 2 runs, 2 RBIs and a homerun (1st).

Game 2 Kinnicks 5, Organ Donors 0

Clean-Sweep Kinnicks got their first shut out of the year. Odalis Perez (3-0) picked up his 3rd win of the season with a great performance. He went 6 2/3 innings allowing just 4 hits and no runs. Jamey Wright (0-1) recieved the loss; going 8 2/3 innings allowing 5 runs with 4 earned. Yuniesky Betancourt went 3 for 4 with 2 runs, 2 RBIs, and a homerun (3rd).

Game 3 Kinnicks 5, Organ Donors 2

Boof Bonser (1-0) pitched outstanding taking a shut out into the 8th inning. However he got himself into some trouble allowing 2 runs to score and loading up the bases. Bonser went 7 1/3 innings allowing 7 hits 2 walks and 2 earned runs. He struck 8 batters. Francisco Rodriguez came in early with two outs in the 8th to pick up the save, his 5th of the year. Kameron Loe (2-1) who up to this point had seemed to be pitching really well, allowed 5 earned runs to pick up the loss. Adrian Beltre smashed his 5th homer of the season. Ian Kinsler went 2 for 4, scoring twice, and stole a pair of bases.

Next:

Huge Mistakes (3-12) @ Clean-Sweep Kinnicks (10-5)
Hawaiian Organ Doners (9-7) @ Big Hebs (6-9)

Round 5 AL West: Amigos Sweep Mistakes

Paul had no luck and no runs, as a mere three scores in the series led to his Huge Mistakes being swept by Biv's Santa Poco Amigos.

Game 1: Santa Poco 5, Huge 1
W-Z.Greinke (2-1), L-J.Saunders (0-1)
Santa Poco discovered its home run stroke, as Travis Buck and Mark Grudzielanek each hit two-run jacks. The other run was scored during garbage time in a garbage way, as minor-league injury replacement Alex Cintron found a solo shot in the 9th. Amigo reliever Joakim Soria entered the game with a runner on and nobody out in the 6th and while he allowed the inherited runner to score, he was otherwise perfect in three innings of work.

Game 2: Santa Poco 4, Huge 0
W-M.Garza (2-1), L-B.McCarthy (0-1), S-J.Putz (4)
The long ball was in effect once again as bombs by Jack Cust and Justin Morneau were more than enough to support a four-man shutout by the Amigos pitching staff. Matt Garza and John Bale tossed the first eight frames and allowed only three baserunners, while David Riske tried to blow it in the 9th before J.J. Putz earned his 4th save. Maicer Izturis was the lone bright spot for Huge with two hits and a stolen base.

Game 3: Santa Poco 5, Huge 2
W-E.Santana (1-1), L-J.Danks (1-1), S-J.Soria (2)
Game 3 took on a different character as the combatants combined for 20 hits and 23 men left on base. In the end, the Amigos bullpen led the way again as a 5+ inning effort from Ervin Santana was followed by four scoreless frames from Riske, Putz, and Soria. Alex Cintron's two-out, two-run single in the 9th provided insurance for Santa Poco.

Next up -- GANZA
Santa Poco Amigos (7-8) at After The Snow (11-4)
Huge Mistakes (3-12) at Clean-Sweep Kinnicks (8-4)*

Round 5 AL East: Cougars Sweep Steamrollers

In a Sunday/Monday split series, Scott couldn't string enough together with his East team as his Army of Steamrollers dropped a series to Biv's Harrison Cougars.

Game 1: Harrison 1, Army 0
W-D.Matsuzaka (2-0), L-J.Bonderman (1-2), S-R.Perez (6)
With one out in the 8th, Placido Polanco doubled home Pudge Rodriguez, and that's all the offense there is to talk about in this game. Daisuke produced his third quality start for Harrison but was nearly outmatched by Army's Jeremy Bonderman, who got no run support in a complete game five-hit outing. Carlos Guillen had three hits for the Steamrollers.

Game 2: Harrison 8, Army 4
W-F.Rodney (1-0), L-D.Wheeler (0-2)
A tie game was broken open by Harrison in the 9th when Steamrollers reliever Dan Wheeler not only couldn't get anybody out, he got himself injured. The game was untied when Wheeler allowed a two-run single to pinch hitter Timo Perez, and it was on this pitch that the righty hurler was damaged for 3 games. On came reliever Al Reyes, who promptly surrendered a two-run bomb to Matt Stairs. This game marked Harrison's seventh win of the season and the team's first victory which was not saved by Rafael Perez.

Game 3: Harrison 10, Army 8
W-D.Cabrera (3-0), L-J.Litsch (1-2), S-R.Perez (7)
Sean Casey's second consecutive four-hit game was accentuated by a single and two long balls from the bat of Cougars SS Jhonny Peralta. A late rally by Army was once again quelled by Rafael Perez, who recorded the final two outs for his league-leading 7th save. Placido Polanco also had four hits for Harrison, who totaled 19 base knocks on the day.

Next up -- GANZA
Harrison Cougars (8-7) at Finer Things Club (8-4)*
Army of Steamrollers (5-10) at Bob Loblaw (10-5)

All three games decide by one run

To expand a bit on Chad's report: Two exhilarating wins propelled me back to health from the flu-filled fun I had had over the past several days and jumped After the Snow's record to 5-4. Meanwhile the Hawaiian Organ Donors dropped to 5-4.

Snow 4, Organ Donors 3 (W-Street, L-Buehrle, S_Guerrier)
As Ichiro goes, so goes After the snow. The speedy outfielder grabbed three base hits and stole two bases to help fuel the win. The game was missed opportunity after missed opportunity for both teams. A combined 15 men were left on base during the contest. Mike Napoli homered for the donors and Chone Figgins swiped three bags for the Donors.


Snow 5, Organ Donors 4 (W-Washburn, L-Hernandez, S-Street)
Ichicro again paced the way with two hits, a walk and stolen base. Dan Johnson and Jermaine Dye provided the pop with home runs and Washburn was effective giving up just seven hits and no walks in 61/3. The Organ Donors threatened in the ninth and pushed one run across before Huston Street came in to slam the door shut.

Snow 7, Organ Donors 8 (W-Gobble, L-Nunez, S-Jenks)
The Donors rallied for two runs in the top of the ninth to take - and ultimately hold - the lead. In the top of the inning, situational closer George Sherrill came in to slam the door shut. However, when DH Deric Barton flew out to left field Sherrill was forced to exit the game with an injury leaving only very poor mop-up relievers to pitch. And the Donors took advantage as a Mike Napoli 2-run triple off Alan Embree sealed the deal.

Round 3 AL West: Ill Norris takes 2 of 3

Scott Norris proved that there is no better medicine than playing Strat while taking a sick day. His After The Snow (AL West) squad took down the Hawaiian Organ Donors (Chad West) in two of three games Thursday afternoon, thus completing our Round 3 games.

Both teams leave the series with 5-4 records.

Snow was in a position for the sweep before a bizarre ninth inning of Game 3 saw his closer, George Sherrill, get injured with one out, thus opening the flood-gates. Mike Napoli's two-out, two-run triple off Alan Embree's card boosted the Donors to an 8-7 win. Bobby Jenks logged his 4th save in as many chances.

Snow picked up tight wins in Games 1 & 2, and commented that the victories were healing him. More details can be found when the website is updated.

Up next:
After The Snow (5-4) at Huge Mistakes (3-6)
Santa Poco Amigos (3-6) at Hawaiian Organ Donors (5-4)

Finer Things Club plays six, wins four

The Finer Things Club (Chad East) took advantage of an open Wednesday afternoon to squeeze in a pair of series, and continued its decent play by taking two of three from both the Surly Nausicians (Brian East) and Bob Loblaw (Paul East). That puts FTC and Loblaw tied atop the AL East at 8-4.

FTC has been battling an unusual pitching staff that was thrown out of whack by a seven-game injury to #4 starter Jake Westbrook and some early shellings, but the kinks seem to be getting ironed out with a long-ball mentality. The team has 20 home runs in 12 games, all from five players -- B.J. Upton (5), Robinson Cano (5), Frank Thomas (4), Jorge Posada (3) and Ryan Garko (3).

Game 1: FTC 3, Surly 2
W-Betancourt (1-0), L-Vizcaino (0-1)
A dramatic affair saw the Nausicians get a two-out, pinch-hit homer from Shelley Duncan in the top of the ninth off Rafael Betancourt, stunning the Camden Yards faithful. But FTC answered with a BP homer from DH Frank Thomas with two outs in the bottom half.

Game 2: FTC 12, Surly 6
W-J.Lopez (1-0), L-Pettitte (0-2)
This one turned into a slugfest early, as Club poured on four first-inning runs and didn't look back. Ryan Garko paced the 15-hit FTC attack with a 4-for-4 evening. David Ortiz (4th) went deep for Surly in defeat.

Game 3: Surly 5, FTC 3
W-Byrd (1-0), L-Halladay (1-1), S-Rivera (1)
Victor Martinez carried the Nausicians, blasting his first two home runs of the season and drivin gin three runs. Kenny Lofton also returned to action after an injury for Surly, battering three hits and continuing the struggles for FTC starter Roy Halladay.

Game 4: Loblaw 6,, FTC 5
W-Snyder (1-1), L-Betancourt (1-1)
Bob Loblaw sent the Rogers Centre fans home happy with a stirring rally in the bottom of the ninth. FTC had taken a 5-4 lead in the top half on B.J. Upton's solo homer with two outs, but blew it thanks to a flurry of rolls off Betancourt. Loblaw scored two runs in the bottom half, all with none out, getting the last run on a dropped fly ball by left fielder Tike Redman. Manny Ramirez was Bob's offensive star with four RBIs.

Game 5: FTC 9, Loblaw 3
W-Verlander (3-0), L-Sabathia (2-1)
A battle of staff aces went heavily Club's way as Justin Verlander improved to 3-0 with a solid outing. He allowed only one hit through seven innings before tiring. Marcus Thames was a surprise contributor with three hits for FTC, which raced to a 7-0 lead through three innings.

Game 6: FTC 7, Loblaw 3
W-Westbrook (1-0), L-Schilling (1-2), S-Betancourt (3)
Jake Westbrook returned from his seven-game injury, having pitched just 2 2/3 innings in that one season outing, and picked up the win. The Big Hurt had the crushing blow, driving home two runs in the sixth with the infield drawn in, breaking a 3-3 tie. Joba Chamberlain made his third appearance of the season, striking out Ramirez to escape a bases-loaded, two-out jam. Both teams lost their starting catchers for one game, with the news being worse for FTC since Jorge Posada was its #1 pick. Loblaw's Alex Rodriguez struggled in the series, going 2-for-12 with no RBIs.

Up next:
Bob Loblaw (8-4) at Surly Nausicians (4-5)*
Finer Things Club (8-4) at Long-ball Larry (4-8)