AND NOW . . .

A THREE-WAY TIE!

With twelve games left to play, Darwin, Frostbite Falls and Worcester all sport identical 82-58 records, as the Unnatural Selections (who once led this division by as many as five games) are in danger of missing the playoffs all together!

To make matters worse for the Darwinians, it came at the end of a four-game set with the Eliminators that saw Matt Caskey's troops first take two of three from Darwin on the road in Australia, then win the opening game of a three-game set at home. In each case, Worcester rallied against Darwin's fading bullpen. In the latest debacle, Darwin led 4-0 behind Oliver Perez after six-and-a-half innings. But rookies Max Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw, called to pitch relief, gave up five hits and three walks, as the Eliminators batted around to score seven runs, the big blow being a bases-loaded triple by Hanley Ramirez. Darwin scratched out a run in the top of the eighth on a Jeter throwing error, but Worcester answered with Grady Sizemore's two-out RBI triple off Hideki Okajima, and in the ninth new closer Brandon Morrow dispatched all the Darwin hitters for his ninth save of the year.....WORCESTER 8, DARWIN 5! Jon Lester, who had been outpitched by Perez for six frames, ended up getting the win, improving to 6-2 with a 3.92 ERA while Kershaw (1-1, 6.57) took the loss.

With the win, the Eliminators have now won 9 of 13 games since this month began, while in comparison Darwin (4-8) and Frostbite Falls (5-7) have losing records.

But what of the Squirrels, who recently shuffled their roster and added an extra pitcher? They got a good start as well from their man, Tim Lincecum, but through five-plus he was also being outpitched by Brooklyn's Fausto Carmona (9-4, 2.93). Carmona took a shutout into the sixth, and a 2-0 lead thanks to solo homers off the bats of Ryan Howard (31) and Ken Griffey (24), but in the bottom of that frame the Squirrels put their first two men on, moved runners over, and after a sac fly, got a go-ahead bomb from Magglio Ordonez, his second in as many games. From that point, it was up to Frostbite Falls' bullpen...and eventual winner Eric Flaherty (5-1, 4.18), Russ Springer and Joe Nathan (save #27) were up to the task! FROSTBITE FALLS 3, BROOKLYN 2!

So, with the Squirrels and Elims both winning and Darwin dropping its third contest in four games with Worcester, the Eastern Division was all knotted up at 82-58! This sets up the following dramatic finish in the East:

Darwin on the road for 5 more games against Worcester and Brooklyn, then 7 straight (at home) versus Frostbite Falls.

Frostbite Falls at home for five more games against Brooklyn (2) and Worcester (3), then 7 straight on the road at Darwin.

Worcester at home for 2 more games with Darwin, a three-game series at Frostbite Falls, then 7 straight (at home) versus their sibling rivals in Brooklyn.

The schedule thus, curiously, favors Worcester with two more home games than either Frostbite Falls and Darwin. It will probably come down to which team pitches the best: will it be the Squirrels, who have moved to a four-man rotation of Sheets, Hamels, Lincecum and Hernandez? Will it be Worcester, whose rotation has been riddled by injuries but has posted a BARB-leading 3.31 team ERA since Sept. 1st? Or will it be Darwin, whose bullpen has blown a BARB-leading four saves since the same date while posting a 4.82 team ERA?

Stay tuned!

In other BARB action:

S-MART 12, YUMA 5

WP: Alan Embree (12-2, 3.11)
LP: Roy Halladay (8-12, 3.82)

A five-run third benefited middle reliever Alan Embree, as neither starter Hideki Kiroda or Roy Halladay were able to escape a wild second inning that saw the two clubs score 11 runs between them. The Boom Sticks, however, were able to keep up the scoring, taking it to the tiring bullpen of Jon Rauch and Trevor Hoffman. Meanwhile, S-Mart third sacker Alex Rodriguez scored four times without virtue of a hit, reaching five times on three walks (one intentional) and two errors. "A-Rod" leads the loop with 45 HR....and 37 (!) intentional walks!

LEXINGTON 5, LAS VEGAS 1 (1st game of DH)

WP: Josh Beckett (8-7, 3.35)
LP: A.J. Burnett (13-7, 3.69)

LAS VEGAS 3, LEXINGTON 2 (2nd game of DH)

WP: Brian Bannister (6-3, 3.75)
LP: Mike Gonzalez (1-1, 6.04)

Josh Beckett, who has battled injuries this season, came off his second stint on the DL to put the hurt on host Las Vegas, twirling a three-hitter and getting homers from mid-season acquistions Curtis Granderson and Adrian Gonzalez. Beckett would go all the way, giving the Rebels pen a break, and propelling the Rebels to a win in the opening game of a twi-night doubleheader in Las Vegas.

But in the nightcap, with Johann Santana locked in a duel with Luchadores starter Brian Bannister, the Rebels took a 2-1 lead into the ninth on the strength of former Vegas C A.J. Pierzynski's RBI single. Hanley Ramirez led off the bottom of the ninth against Santana by walking on a 3-2 count. Former Moabs reliever Mike Gonzalez came in to pitch to the left-handed hitting Prince Fielder....who then hit his team-leading 42nd HR, a two-run, game-winning walkoff job to stun the Rebels!

Lexington thus fell to 79-64, but still picked up a game in the standings against Yuma, which dropped their game versus S-Mart. Meanwhile, the Luchadores (75-68) lowered their 'magic number' to clinch the Central Division to four games.