Brooklyn—Miguel Cabrera, indifferent glove and all, put on a hitting clinic against the slumping Finches, driving in six runs to key a doubleheader sweep with five hits, including his 12th, 13th and 14th round-trippers of the 2008 season, a three-HR game!
And, as we shall see, things aren't exactly going the Finches way elsewhere, either, as the second game saw Darwin manager PZ Myers, reliever Cla Meredith and 3B Chipper Jones all tossed for arguing balls and strikes with plate umpire Steveland Morris.
In the opener, Cabrera drilled a two-run double to knock out a previously-unbeaten Oliver Perez (4-1, 2.78) and rookie Manny Parra (1-0, 2.16) took a shutout into the ninth before needing some relief help, but it was an EASY 7-3 win for the host Moabs.
But Cabrera was just getting warmed up. In the nightcap, the Brooklyn third sacker was asked to serve as the club’s designated hitter. He doubled in the first, walked as part of a four-run second that sent Scott Kazmir (4-2, 3.97) to the showers early, then homered in his next three consecutive at-bats, one off Jonathan Sanchez with a man aboard and a couple of solo shots against knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, in the game for ‘garbage time’ with his club already down 8-0 in the fifth. As it turned out, Darwin would score a bit against Micah Owings (3-1, 4.35), but nowhere near enough, as the Moabs piled more on and finished the sweep with an 11-3 throttling of their divisional rival. Brooklyn, at 34-26, has gotten back into the East race, with only one game separating them from Darwin and Frostbite Falls in the ‘win’ column.
In more bad news for the Finches, it was announced today that LHP Tom Glavine would join fellow Bravo John Smoltz on the DL, and rumors swirled that the Unnatural Selections may find it prudent to give one or the other the heave-hot.
In other BARB action:
BLACK MESA 12, S-MART 6 (1st game of DH)
WP: Takashi Saito (8-0, 1.34)
LP: Garret Olson (2-5, 6.14)
BLACK MESA 5, S-MART 4 (2nd game of DH)
WP: Brian Fuentes (2-2, 5.24)
LP: J.C. Romero (0-3, 3.45)
SV: Papelbon (15)
Led by their incredible bullpen, the Anomalies (31-28) pulled three games over .500 and within a half-game of first in the surprisingly-competitive Western Division, winning for the tenth time in their last eleven games by sweeping a doubleheader from sagging S-Mart. The amazing Takashi Saito continued to show why he was the league’s most underrated reliever in the off-season, tieing Yuma’s C.C. Sabathia for the league lead in wins (!) out of the bullpen, while Brian Fuentes garnered a win and Jonathan Papelbon picked up his BARB-leading 15th save.
Lost in the shuffle, though, was a seven-run seventh in the opener that featured three home runs (Dunn, Morneau, Youkilis) and six hits on the day by strikeout-prone Adam Dunn to raise the Anomalous cleanup hitter’s average to a season-high .232. Dunn pumped his fist after his fourth hit of the day, perhaps motivated by some negative comments reported the prior week about his alleged lack of desire. The homer surge highlighted the fact, though, that the Anomalies have some depth at 1B and the OF, but are in need of starting pitching and (with regular SS Rafael Furcal on the DL) in the infield.
POTTSYLVANIA 3, YUMA 2
WP: Braden Looper (2-7, 5.30)
LP: Edinson Volquez (0-2, 5.40)
Edinson Volquez struck out nine Creepers, but the Firebirds couldn’t mount much offense other than Vladimir Guerrero’s 12th homer of the year, and pinch-hitter Chad Tracy’s single off reliever Matt Capps with two out in the eighth hung the rookie with the loss, as the Firebirds (33-29) lost a tough one on the road in Pottsylvania.
LEXINGTON 8, OAKEYLAND 6
WP: Johann Santana (7-3, 3.13)
LP: Matt Garza (0-2, 7.88)
SV: Chamberlain (2)
Jeremy Hermida had three hits in the first two innings to give Johann Santana an early 6-0 lead, but the Rebels would have to fight off a late rally from the host Ballers in order to even their record at .500 (29-29). Rookie Matt Garza was punished for the second time in three starts since being added to the rotation, the ninth straight loss for the club, which has struggled since losing starting OF Eric Byrnes and Andruw Jones along with nominal ace ‘Dice-K’. The recall of highly-touted prospect Carlos Quentin is probably just days away....
CASSELTON 4, LAS VEGAS 2
WP: Kevin Correia (2-1, 3.74)
LP: Jered Weaver (5-3, 3.15)
SV: Jenks (14)
Kevin Correia worked into the eighth in his first outing since coming off the DL, and Brandon Philips led off the game for the Horned Toads with his fourth HR of the season, as Casselton overcame a two-run bomb by the host Luchadores’ backup catcher, Ramon Hernandez. Las Vegas, which at one point had put together a nine-game lead in the Central, has slipped of late due to injuries to their starting lineup, and they have to be looking forward to the return of C Jorge Posada and CF Matt Holliday.
WORCESTER 4, FROSTBITE FALLS 1
WP: Jeremy Guthrie (5-3, 3.59)
LP: Brad Penny (4-5, 4.36)
SV: Sherrill (6)
The Squirrels left ten men on base, in no small part due to Brad Hawpe, who struck out five (count ‘em, FIVE) times against Elims pitching as the visiting Worcestershires handed host Frostbite its’ fifth straight loss. Worcester (30-28) managed only four hits as it was, but one was a bases-loaded triple by Derek Lee and the other a two-run bomb by Alex Rios.
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