GAME DAY 37: CURRENT STANDINGS

WORCESTER 3, FROSTBITE FALLS 0

WP: Joba Chamberlain (6-1, 1.94)
LP: Tim Lincecum (3-3, 2.69)

The Eliminators, minus injured RHP Brandon Morrow, didn’t hesitate to stretch out starter Joba Chamberlain, who has been on a roll of late. It all paid off as Chamberlain scattered just three hits in his first-ever BARB shutout, outdueling Tim Lincecum, whose only real mistake was a breaking ball up to Hanley Ramirez, who sliced it over the right-field wall for his team-leading 14th home run. With the win, Worcester (26-11) extended their lead in the East to six games.

DARWIN 9, TEXAS 5

WP: Tim Wakefield (2-2, 4.57)
LP: Jason Hammel (1-1, 2.63)

Adam LaRoche’s all-around game led the Unnatural Selections to a road win in Texas, starting a pair of double plays, going first to third on a ground ball to right, and cranking a three-run bomb off Javier Vasquez to help his teammates score eight late runs against Tornadoes pitching. Texas, still pumped from acquiring Carlos Zambrano, anticipates that Alex Rodriguez will be activated any day now.

CASSELTON 4, LAS VEGAS 2

WP: John Danks (5-1, 2.74)
LP: Jered Weaver (3-3, 3.15)
SV: Romo (2)

Plunked down in the order in the ‘DH’ role to accomodate newly-acquired Mike Napoli, the plucky Geovanny Soto delivered three ribbies, including a two-run roundtripper, his eighth of the season, as the Horned Toads (17-12) kept a game-and-a-half in front of the hard-charging Pottsylvania Creepers.

ST. FRANCIS 6, BLACK MESA 1

WP: Randy Johnson (4-2, 3.61)
LP: Wandy Rodriguez (2-5, 6.24)

‘The Big Unit’ continues to pile up his record total of career wins and strikeouts in Hatfield-sponsored fantasy leagues. Hard to believe that the present Friars GM drafted Johnson TWENTY years ago in another league, or that at this stage of the game he can stick around to the eighth. Of course, a grand slam by Hank Blalock off Anomalies pitching never hurts. Despite the win, the Inspirations lost ground to Los Angeles, which has won five straight (14-15) to take over third place in the Central.

And, speaking of standings, here's a new feature for the blog: