CREEPERS LOSE MARTINEZ

Locked in a 4-4 tie, the Creepers saw Pedro Martinez leave in the fifth in his first BARB start since undergoing off-season surgery, and the results were not pretty: Martinez had a strained left hamstring, and this 'hamstrung' the pitching the rest of the way, with the visiting Squirrels having enough offense to overcome a poor start from Felix Hernandez.

Historically, the lefty slugger in GM Andrew Haynes' vision has been controversial LF Barry Bonds, who was let go in the off-season. A new power source, 1B Carlos Pena, hit two of Frostbite Falls' four homers, along with C Victor Martinez, 3B Hank Blalock. Kenji Johjima and Chad Tracy also went deep in a losing cause for the Creepers on a strange day when the wind was moving back-and-forth from left to right.

In other BARB action:

BLACK MESA 5, YUMA 4 (12 innings)
WP: Takashi Saito (2-0, 0.00)
LP: Rafael Perez (0-1, 9.00)
SV: Fuentes (1)

For the second time in three days, Takashi Saito picked up a win in relief, and for the second time in three days, backup C Ronnie Paulino was the hero, lining a single off Rafael Perez to score Adam Dunn in the top of the 12th after the Anomalies LF walked and then surprised the Firebirds by stealing second. It’s still early, but what could be more improbable a beginning to the 2008 season than a 0-3 mark by the defending champs?

CASSELTON 6, LEXINGTON 5
WP: Daniel Cabrera (1-0, 4.50)
LP: Johann Santana (0-1, 1.59)
SV: Jenks (1)

The Horned Toads put together a three-run sixth to spoil Johann Santana’s debut with the Rebels, who had troubles catching the ball. Lexington committed five errors in all, including two by B.J. Upton to trigger Casselton’s big inning. The Rebels made some noise in the ninth, scoring twice off Lee Gardner before Bobby Jenks came on to nail things down. Jenks got David Wright to ground harmlessly back to him to end the game, and just like that, the Horned Toads had won their first game in the Landon Bolt Era.

S-MART 2, DARWIN 1
WP: Jason Isringhausen (1-0, 0.00)
LP: Kevin Gregg (0-1, 27.00)

Tim Wakefield did a yeoman job to keep the game close, working into the eighth with a 1-1 tie in a duel with the Boom Sticks’ John Maine, but with two out in the ninth Miguel Tejada went deep for the first time in an S-Mart ‘uni’, a walkoff homer to give the Boom Sticks their first win of 2008. Leadoff man Chone Figgins struck out twice with the bases loaded to drop his early average to .100.

OAKEYLAND 6, WORCESTER 3
WP: Bobby Howry (1-0, 0.00)
LP: Eric Bedard (0-1, 9.53)
SV: Walker (1)

Mark Ellis hit a pair of three-run home runs to drive in a career-high six runs, as the Ballers insured their first series victory of the year by blowing up a wild (4 BB) Eric Bedard, who had a terrible time with Jim Thome, who worked him for several pitches in each at-bat, leading to two walks. The first was followed by Ellis’s first blast, a game-tying homer in the fourth. In the sixth, laboring with two down, Bedard walked Thome again and right-hander Matt Guerrier was brought in to get Ellis. Ellis foiled the percentages with his second clout, and Oakeyland’s relief corps shut down Worcester the rest of the way.

BROOKLYN 12, LAS VEGAS 5
WP: Adam Wainwright (1-0, 5.06)
LP: Jered Weaver (0-1, 4.50)

Jacob Ellsbury had four of Brooklyn’s 16 hits, including his first-ever BARB home run, to lead the Moabs to a rout of host Las Vegas. Brooklyn used its wheels against Jorge Posada, who twice threw the ball into center field attempting to nail basestealers Ichiro Suzuki and Ellsbury, and got enough from Adam Wainwright in his first-ever Moabs start to make it all work.