FINCHES BACK IN FIRST (SORTA)

Darwin—Hosting the S-Mart Boom Sticks, the Finches finally got some mileage out of speedster Chone Figgins and the rest of their bench, as Darwin swept a pair of games from the visitors and (as it happened) moved a half-game in front of both Frostbite Falls and Worcester in the Eastern division race....and what a race it is!

Darwin (89-60)
Frostbite Falls (88-60, 0.5 GB)
Worcester (86-63, 3 GB)
Brooklyn (83-66, 6 GB)

The Moabs, despite trailing by six games, are still mathematically in the hunt for the ‘wild card’ spot, but they are the longest of long shots. Still, with only nine games left, any of the four terrors of the East could win the division, win the wild card or miss the playoffs altogether. In fact, the shame of it is that there may be two teams with 90 or more wins that will be on the outside looking in, with both the Central and West division winners likely to finish with less than 90 wins. There ain’t no justice!

As far as the schedule goes, Frostbite Falls is favored (sigh). With two games left against the Finches, but six against the league-worst (44-104) Pottsylvania Creepers, the Flying Squirrels seem poised to exploit the Band of Badanov once again. Darwin, meanwhile, has most of its games left against S-Mart (58-91), while Worcester and Brooklyn have most of their games against Oakeyland (68-90) and Las Vegas (79-69), respectively. Simply on strength of schedule, the present standings would seem the most likely finish—but a lot can happen, of course, in the two games where the Squirrels meet the Finches—and the Moabs play out their sibling rivalry with the Eliminators.

Anyway, in other BARB action:

FROSTBITE FALLS 17, POTTSYLVANIA 4
WP: Ben Sheets (10-7, 3.91)
LP: Randy Flores (3-7, 8.25)

Hot-hitting Edwin Encarnacion hit his fifth homer in his last ten games, triggering a nine-run fifth and a laugher that saw (among others) So Taguchi take the hill for the hapless Creepers, who lost their BARB-leading 104th contest. Ben Sheets worked six strong innings in the win, fanning six and allowing only two hits.

YUMA 4, SAN JOSE 2
WP: C.C. Sabathia (17-8, 3.25)
LP: Jarrod Washburn (8-15, 4.75)
SV: Soriano (5)

Workhorse C.C. Sabathia became just the second BARB hurler to win 17 games, working into the ninth, while Travis Hafner hit homers #34 and #35 to lead the Firebirds attack, the club’s fourth straight win and good enough to maintain a three-game lead in the West with six games to play....but two of them with hard-charging rival Arizona.

ARIZONA 5, BLACK MESA 4
WP: Cole Hamels (8-8, 5.22)
LP: Justin Verlander (12-8, 3.27)
SV: Street (13)

Cole Hamels, in his first start off the disabled list, got lots of early run support against an obviously-fatigued Justin Verlander, and the D-Backs held on to edge the host Anomalies and stay within striking distance of West-leading Yuma. Good news for Firebird fans: other than a two-game set with Arizona, the rest of their jousts are with San Jose (64-86th, 10th in the loop in W-L record). . .

BROOKLYN 11, LAS VEGAS 3
WP: Chien-Ming-Wang (8-7, 3.89)
LP: Scott Olsen (11-4, 3.81)

The Moabs pounded Scott Olsen, adding half-a-run to his ERA in just one inning as 3B Casey Blake doubled twice in the same frame and later added his 17th homer—not bad for a guy projected to be a bench player this season! Wang finally moved his record above .500 after an injury-plagued season, and the DL-ravaged Moabs stayed in contention for a playoff spot for another day. . .!

DARWIN 6, S-MART 5
WP: Cla Meredith (6-3, 1.56)
LP: Jason Isringhausen (5-11, 6.21)

Chone Figgins, pinch-running for Lance Berkman, stole second with nobody out in the bottom of the fifth and came home a pitch later when Jeff Francouer singled through the drawn-in infield as the Finches came up with the walkoff hit. John Smoltz, making his second start since coming off the DL, again failed to get past the fifth and may now simply be at the point in his career where is no longer a #1 starter.