CHAMBERLAIN'S FIRST LOSS A NO-HIT BID

Office of the League Commissioner----For a third time this season, a BARB hurler seriously flirted with a no-hitter, and for the second time, they would end up being the losing pitcher of record as new Worcester starter Joba Chamberlain was involved in one of the weirder games of recent years.

Chamberlain, of course, was the first pitcher taken in this year’s draft, and made his long-awaited BARB debut back in May with the team that drafted him, the Lexington Rebels. Chamberlain began the year in the bullpen, collecting a save in his very first game (against Casselton) and was unscored-upon in his first six appearances.

But, as if often the case, Lexington GM Ronald Melkonian got itchy fingers and early in July the Rebels shipped Chamberlain and reliever Brandon Morrow to Worcester for starter Danny Haren, left-handed reliever George Sherrill and rookie Joey Devine.

As Haren (8-2, 3.66 in 111.2 IP) was arguably the Elim’s most durable hurler, this was a sign that Worcester GM Matt Caskey saw Chamberlain as more than a setup man! Sure enough, as soon as Chamberlain arrived, Caskey placed the 21-year-old phenom in their rotation against division rivals, and he didn’t disappoint: Joba ‘ruled’ against Brooklyn and Frostbite, and collected wins against both to help propel his team to a 15-11 mark in July, the best record of any club in the competitive East.

So, in Chamberlain’s third start (on the road in Oakeyland), anticipation ran high, but what occurred was a weird reminder that, just when you think you’ve seen everything…..well…..read on…

Against the Ballers, Chamberlain walked a batter in three of the first five innings and uncorked a wild pitch with a runner on in the fifth, but made pitches when he had to against Oakeyland hitters, striking out both Conor Jackson and Orlando Cabrera with runners in scoring position to preserve a shutout…while allowing no hits. His teammates, meanwhile, had launched a pair of solo home runs (Jeter, Ramirez) against Ballers starter Justin Duscherrer (2-2, 5.12), and added a third tally in the fourth with a little ‘inside baseball’. So Chamberlain had a 3-0 lead after five innings, and was seemingly in control.

But Cabrera, Jackson and Nick Swisher all walked to start the sixth inning. Chamberlain, challenging with fastballs, got Jim Thome and Mike Lowell to hit fly outs, but these were deep enough to score a pair of runs. Ivan Rodriguez fanned to end the inning, but Oakeyland had scratched out two runs without a hit, as the Ballers (in their best imitation of a Billy Beane-style offense) seemed content to wait the big rookie out. Still, Chamberlain had a no-hitter going and so was allowed to start the seventh inning, unfamiliar territory for the rookie.

But rookie Carlos Quentin walked on four pitches. Derek Jeter mishandled a grounder to put two on, and Ramirez threw a ball away to score a third run. Clearly, no-hitter or not, Chamberlain simply didn’t have it any more: nine walks, six in the last two innings, and 140 (!) pitches thrown. It was time to get him out of there. And so, with the game tied 3-3 and the bases loaded, Pedro Feliciano came into the game to pitch to the left-handed hitting Jim Thome. Former Eliminators prospect Mark Reynolds was sent up as a pinch-hitter and delivered a ground ball that scored Mark Ellis with the go-ahead run. Jesse Litsch, brought in to pitch to Lowell, was victimized by Jeter’s second error (!) of the inning. When the dust cleared, the no-hitter was still intact…but three more runs had come across. Chamberlain and the Eliminators, incredibly, now trailed 5-3 after six!

Anyway, eventually Oakeyland did get a hit or two, rapping out four straight singles in the eighth off Litsch to earn an insurance run, and Brad Lidge (uncharacteristically cool) survived a Mark Ellis error that led to an unearned run in the top of the ninth, collecting his ninth save and preserving a 6-4 win for his team. Chamberlain (2-1, 1.16) had finally taken a loss in his 15^th BARB appearance, and his final pitching line (0 H, 9 BB, 5 runs, two of them earned) was surely the oddest of this year’s campaign…

A HISTORY LESSON

How weird would it be to pitch a no-hitter, and lose? Just for the record, it’s been done more than once (Jim Maloney, for example). For the record, I can recall a game (Sept. 19, 1986) wherein left-hander Joe Cowley (pitching for the White Sox) no-hit the playoff-bound Angels despite allowing seven walks. After the game, the normally mild-mannered Wally Joyner (a rookie sensation that year with the Angels with 22 HR and 100 RBI) was quoted as saying that if Cowley pitched that way again, they would beat him, that anyone would beat him like a drum.

Joyner turned out to be a prophet. Cowley didn’t win another game that season, was traded to Philadelphia in the off-season, and was released after four winless starts (0-4, 15.43) with the Phillies. No one made him an offer, Cowley retired at age 28, and so he became the only pitcher in major-league history whose last win in the bigs was a no-hitter. Weird.

In other BARB action:

LEXINGTON 9, CASSELTON 8

WP: Francisco Cordero (5-2, 3.69)
LP: Bobby Jenks (2-3, 2.62)
SV: Street (14)

Carlos Lee singled home the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth to cap a furious rally that saw the Rebels score five times against Trevor Hoffman and Bobby Jenks, and Lexington held on to win their biggest comeback of the year. Trailing 7-1 after three innings and 8-3 after six, the Rebels batted around in the eighth and could’ve had more runs, but had two runners thrown out at the plate.

It was a compelling inning to a game that had seen new starter Danny Haren melt down (2 IP, 7 H, 6 ER) early. Haren was reportedly troubled by rumors that, after being acquired by the Rebels, he was already being shopped by Lexington GM Ronald Melkonian. As usual, there was no denial from the club and Casselton (and former Lexington) 1B James Loney simply snorted when asked about Haren’s misgivings. “That goes with the territory,” Loney snapped. “We all know what that guy’s like.”

BROOKLYN 12, LAS VEGAS 0

WP: Micah Owings (8-4, 4.27)
LP: Brett Myers (5-4, 3.62)

Still reeling from the loss of Roy Oswalt (their fourth starter to be sidelined this season), the Moabs took out their frustrations on Myers and the host Luchadores, with Jhonny Peralta lashing a three-run homer and Chase Utley adding a two-run triple to send Las Vegas’s starter to an early shower. Utley, whose triple gave him a BARB-leading 72 RBI, later started a pair of exceptional double plays to back Owings, and the Moabs went on to take the one-sided affair. Brooklyn (49-41) has won three straight and is only two games behind East-leading Darwin in the win column.

DARWIN 5, S-MART 3

WP: Chad Billingsley (2-2, 3.47)
LP: James Shields (8-6, 4.14)
SV: Broxton (5)

Josh Hamilton singled in a run, stole second and scored in an error-fueled third inning, and the Finches scored just enough runs to hold off a Boom Sticks rally in the fifth against a wild (7 BB) Chad Billingsley, as the Finches (51-35) held on to edge their hosts in…um….S-Mart. In an interesting tidbit, this was the first time in three weeks that any BARB opponent had managed to keep both Dan Uggla and Alex Rodriguez in the park. The pair of sluggers are likely All-Stars, having combined for 51 jacks, more than any other two teammates in BARB.