PEDROIA, MORNEAU CRACK NATHAN

Joe Nathan may very well be in danger of losing his job as closer for the defending Central champs, giving up a pair of solo HR in the top of the 13th to Dustin Pedroia and Justin Morneau, as the Yankee Stompers deflated the host Horned Toads on the road in Casselton.

Casselton might not have been in the mess at all had their infield played tighter defense. With two out in the fourth, Miguel Cabrera and Adam Dunn reached on consecutive errors by 3B Casey McGeehee and SS Reid Brignac, which allowed David Ross to hit a single to score New England's first run. In the sixth, Morneua reached on another McGehee throwing error, leading to two more unearned runs off an otherwise-respectable J.A. Happ (6 IP, 4 H, 0 ER). Fortunately for Happ, his teammates got a two-run triple from Carlos Gonzalez with one out in the bottom of the sixth, and the home team went on to tie the ballgame...eventually forcing extra frames.

In that scenario, reliever Dennis O'Day was spectacular in long relief, scattering three hits over five-plus, but with the rest of the bullpen gassed, eventually yielded to Nathan (1-2, 10.13). Pedroia hit Nathan's second pitch of the 13th DEEP, over the wall in left-center, to put New England ahead, and Cabrera wrecked another delivery a batter later, parking it over the bleachers in center field for a two-run lead. Dunn and Ross both struck out, but the damage was done. Brandon League earned a rare save by working the bottom of the frame to give Jonathan Papelbon (3-0, 0.96) a well-earned (4 IP, 0 H) win.

This was the second loss and third blown save in five appearances by Nathan this year, and it appears that the replacement for the disappointing Bobby Jenks may still not be ready to assume Casselton's full-time closer role, a major setback for the Horned Toads as they seek to repeat as Central champs.

SANDOVAL HITS THREE OF CLUB'S SEVEN BOMBS, BUT .45's STILL LOSE?!?!

Sin City---The Cowboys have to be living right. Their staff surrendered seven bombs, including four by starter James Shields, with resurgent 3B Pedro Sandoval the unlikely star, bashing three of the boundary belts himself in a career day...yet, despite all of that, Central California somehow still lost 18-10 on a wild, but hardly wind-aided affair on the road.

Rookie Daniel Hudson (0-2, 6.27) took the loss despite only allowing two bombs himself and outlasting (by one inning) a highly ineffective (2.2 IP, 6 ER, 4 HR allowed) James Shields. Hudson took a one-run lead into the fourth, but couldn't escape, as the host Cowboys batted around against him and reliever Jeff Niemann, scoring five times, the key run being a two-run double by Nelson Cruz. When the smoke cleared, the home team had a four-run lead and simply waited out the visitors, with Francisco Rodriguez collecting an easy save, his BARB-leading 5th of the season.

As for Sandoval, he hit his first two boundary belts against Shields, and later added a solo shot off Derek Lowe, as well as a single off Matt Capps. Sandoval had entered the game hitting .196 with 0 HR in 46 AB, so his big game had gotten him healthy in a hurry. IF Marco Scutaro also went deep twice, and Hunter Pence and Chris Iannetta also collected taters. A stunned visitor's clubhouse could not believe the outcome, or the perfectly-tranquil conditions that somehow caused the two clubs to combine for 28 runs.

In other BARB action:

ST. FRANCIS 11, YUMA 5

WP: Brett Myers (2-1, 4.03)
LP: Mat Latos (0-1, 99.99)

Actually, the software won't allow a number higher than the one shown, but since Latos triggered a ten-run first that saw him record only one out, his true tally in the earned runs department is more like 162.00....but I digress. Brett Myers got the easiest win of the year after the slugging Friars sent a "lucky" thirteen men to the plate in a first inning that saw the visiting Firebirds use three pitchers. Vernon Wells hit a three-run shot off a visibly-agitated Latos, who melted down. Rafael Betancourt relieved but only retired one hitter of his own, with Kevin Youkilis collecting a two-run single and Shin Soo-Choo adding another three-run blast, the biggest inning in club history.

PHILADELPHIA 4, LOS ANGELES 3 (Game 1 of DH)

WP: Cliff Lee (2-1, 3.96)
LP: Edwin Jackson (0-3, 6.06)
SV: Valverde (4)

Alex Rodriguez had a two-run single and a sac fly, Cliff Lee allowed only two earned runs and closer Jose Valverde collected his fourth save of the year, pulling briefly into a tie with Sin City's Francisco Rodriguez for the early BARB lead in that department, as the Rebels improved to 4-6 on the year, holding on to edge the Wolverines at home in Philadelphia in the first half of a twi-night doubleheader.

LOS ANGELES 2, PHILADELPHIA 1 (Game 2 of DH)

WP: Trevor Cahill (1-2, 4.58)
LP: Matt Garza (0-3, 5.00)
SV: Holland (2)

Nick Swisher hit his BARB-leading 6th HR of the year, a solo shot to break a 1-1 tie in the sixth, and a pair of lefties (Rafael Perez and Derek Holland) held down the powerful Philadelphia offense the rest of the way on just one hit to keep Rebels starter Matt Garza winless and earn a split of a doubleheader, on the road in Philadephia.

AC/BC 8, WORCESTER 2

WP: Max Scherzer (1-0, 1.80)
LP: Ryan Dempster (0-1, 5.94)

David Ortiz and Ryan Doumit both took the Worcester starter deep, collecting three runs in the third and fourth to send Dempster to the showers, as Alex Coffman's Ball Club (from some unnamed location) won handily on the road, in Worcester. Notice how easy it is to write copy about a well-established ball club that has a well-known home town to play in! Despite this familiarity (and a three-hit game for Robinson Cano), the world champs fell to 3-5, last in the East.