BROOKLYN GROUNDS FINCHES

Darwin----Chase Utley had a grand slam to spark a five-run seventh, one of three innings with five or more runs, and every Brooklyn starter had at least one hit as the Moabs brought out the whupping stick and humiliated the Finches in front of their home-town fans, on the road in Darwin. Eventually the situation became so bad that OF Jose Cruz was drafted to pitch in the eighth, giving up an additional 7 runs as Darwin absorbed the worst drubbing (a 22-4 loss!) in team history.

The punishment began with starter Scott Kazmir, who saw his ERA soar nearly half a run when he coughed up seven runs in 3.2 innings, falling to 8-6. But the hit parade at the expense of Darwin’s pitching continued, with Jonathan Broxton and Jose Contreras (in long relief) getting pummeled, with both Abreu and Suzuki collecting four hits up in the order. This was all music to the ears of Brooklyn starter Chien-Ming Wang (4-4, 3.76) who was able to cruise to the win despite a lackluster effort (6 IP, 4 ER) of his own, and Taylor Tankersley worked three scoreless innings to finish the game and earn his first-ever BARB save.

What a disaster! And now, with Josh Johnson probably lost for the year and management now disgusted with the poor body language of the banished Contreras, Darwin may need to find pitching help to stay competitive in the East, where they still trail Worcester by two games: but where to find that help?

In other BARB news:

S-MART 3, BLACK MESA 2
WP: Justin Verlander (6-3, 3.45)
LP: Fernando Rodney (4-5, 3.73)
SV: Isringhausen (5)

Alex Rodriguez hit a tie-breaking solo HR off Verlander in the sixth, his 11th of the season, and the threadbare Boom Sticks pitching staff made things stand up, winning only for the 13th time on the road this season. But, speaking of which, the Anomalies have a very strange home-road split: above .500 when traveling (23-16), the Black Mesans are just 17-28 at home—very difficult to explain!

WORCESTER 4, FROSTBITE FALLS 3
WP: Chris Young (8-4, 4.08)
LP: Rich Hill (3-4, 5.46)
SV: Castro (7)

Carlos Beltran made a rare misplay, dropping Carl Crawford’s sinking line drive, and Derek Jeter followed with a two-run homer, and later added an RBI single as the opportunistic Elims did just enough to hold off a late Squirrels charge at home in Worcester.

ARIZONA 4, POTTSYLVANIA 3
WP: Jered Weaver (3-8, 3.72)
LP: Noah Lowry (5-9, 4.02)
SV: Greinke (5)

Ivan Rodriguez cashed in an error by Marcus Giles, driving in a run with a sac fly, then later added his tenth homer of the year to send Lowry and the Creepers to their BARB-leading 57th defeat and knocked the defending Central champs to 17 games back, while tough-luck pitcher Jered Weaver finally got a break and into the win column.

LAS VEGAS 6, YUMA 5 (11 innings)
WP: Mike MacDougal (4-5, 2.13)
LP: Michael Wuertz (2-1, 4.50)
SV: Rivera (19)

Hot-hitting rookie Ryan Braun drove in three runs to give Yuma an early 4-1 lead, but the Firebirds pen couldn’t hold things (again!) and the Luchadores came back to tie the game in the seventh on Carlos Lee’s 16th homer, then in extra innings cashed in a leadoff walk to A.J. Pierzynski in the top of the 11th, with the provocative catcher scoring on Jimmy Rollins’s one-out single a batter later. Mariano Rivera pitched a 1-2-3 bottom frame for his BARB-leading 19th save!

SAN JOSE 8, OAKEYLAND 4
WP: Jarrod Washburn (5-7, 4.86)
LP: Joe Blanton (5-5, 4.21)
SV: Hennesey (5)

Johnny Damon had three hits to lead the Rockets offense, and Jarrod Washburn put up five workmanlike innings, but the key to this ball game was the three errors, two by Orlando Cabrera, absorbed by the unlucky Ballers pitching staff. Still, Oakeyland remained 46-41, only a half-game behind Las Vegas in the Central race.