HEARD AROUND THE LEAGUE

The sibling struggle for control of the Western Division continues. Just hours after learning that the Commissioner's Office had nullifed a trade that would have netted them 1B Prince Fielder, the Firebirds acquired Brooklyn LHP Damaso Marte from the Moabs.

Moabs GM Eric Caskey has made no bones about shopping some of his club's talent, including recently-activated relievers Damaso Marte and Mike Gonzalez, C Benji Molina and IF Jhonny Peralta. As he put it, "I just think that injuries have put me out of the running for this season and I'm looking to the future."

For the services of Marte, Yuma had to part ways with RHP Carlos Carrasco. Caskey remarked, "Carrasco has ace-like stuff with a great change and tailing fastball. He is susceptible to the gopher ball though. Marte was a great Moab, but the Brooklyn front office felt time to deal the set-up man for the future."

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Darwin continues to play with house money, enjoying their largest lead of the season (4.5 games) in mid-August, and getting lucky. 3B Chipper Jones, who had been DH-ing for weeks, finally faced the inevitable and was placed on the disabled list, a major blow for most clubs....but at the very same time, Opening Day DH David Ortiz was pronounced fit to play, and activated. "We are leading a charmed life," confessed GM Scott Hatfield. "Other than losing Smoltz and Glavine early on, we've been pretty fortunate. Speaking of Glavine, he may be able to pitch later this month, and this is going to put us in a bind with Jonathan Sanchez, who has been inconsistent but seems to do better starting."

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FROSTBITE FALLS 6, S-MART 0

WP: Felix Hernandez (4-5, 4.99)
LP: Chuck James (2-4, 7.71)

“King Felix” went all the way, throttling the Boom Sticks on just five hits while fanning ten batters for his first shutout of the year, and Corey Hart and Edgar Renteria both hit two-run home runs to key the scoring as the Squirrels (53-40) moved within three games of East-leading Darwin.

OAKEYLAND 11, DARWIN 3

WP: Jamie Walker (2-1, 3.19) LP: Oliver Perez (8-3, 3.08)

Oliver Perez is the ‘girl with the curl’: when she is good, she is very, very good but when she is bad, she is horrid. Perez threw only 59 of 125 pitches for strikes, and the Ballers put together a six-run seventh against the lefty and reliever Tim Wakefield, capped by a grand slam off the bat of 2B Mark Ellis, to help Oakeyland (41-53) move within four games of the lead in the strange Central Division.

BROOKLYN 9, POTTSYLVANIA 2

WP: Scott Baker (5-6, 6.16)
LP: Braden Looper (3-12, 5.51)

Braden Looper became the BARB loop’s second 12-game loser, as the Moabs, led by Ichiro, scored early and often against the visiting Creepers. Suzuki collected three hits, among them his second circuit shot of the season, and Ryan Howard delivered a three-run blast, his 17th of the season, to help Eric Caskey’s club improve to 52-45.

LEXINGTON 8, CASSELTON 6

WP: Brandon Webb (10-6, 3.46)
LP: John Danks (0-4, 9.71)

The Rebels bullpen nearly let the Horned Toads back in the game, as the Casselton came off the deck to score six runs in the top of the ninth before Torri Hunter lined out to former teammate Brandon Philips. Hunter had begun the inning by grounding out to David Wright, but in-between those two outs Hunter’s teammates had worked the Rebels over: a Jose Guillen pinch-single, a wild pitch by Ryan Madson, a bases-loaded double by John Buck, and a three-run home run off the bat of Kendry Morales prolonging the agony.

Early on, it appeared that starter Brandon Webb might go all the way with a shutout bid, but Lexington’s ace tired after seven frames and was given the day off, leading to the nervous ninth. The Rebels (54-43) thus maintained the slimmest (a half-game) of leads over rival Yuma.


YUMA 9, BLACK MESA 7

WP: Roy Halladay (6-8, 3.70)
LP: Jarrod Washburn (3-12, 6.96)
SV: Corpas (6)

Rookie 1B Billy Butler had three hits, including a tie-breaking double in the fourth, and the Rebels put up enough runs against the middle of Black Mesa’s bullpen to survive Kevin Youkilis’s two-run single in the eighth. Butler was lucky to even be with the club, after a deal to acquire Las Vegas 1B Prince Fielder was nullified by league officials, but he did damage against Black Mesa’s pen. After posting a superb 2.93 ERA in relief, the pen (minus injured Takashi Saito) is finally showing signs of overwork. The quartet of Saito, Papelbon, Kuo and Fuentes has combined for 204 appearances, tops in the league.