BOOM STICKS BUSTED

Jeremy Hermida and J.J. Hardy hit solo home runs off an otherwise-effective Scott Shields (9-12, 4.39), and spot starter Derek Lowe overcame a pair of ninth-inning errors to go the distance as the Rebels edged the S-Mart Boom Sticks by a 4-3 score, thereby pulling within a half-game of West-leading Yuma and...in the process....eliminating the Boom Sticks from the post-season.

Things weren't always this way. S-Mart had pulled within a game of Central-leading Las Vegas as recently as June 1st, riding a home run surge from Alex Rodriguez, who had missed two weeks in the early going but who is arguably the favorite for league MVP honors this year after hitting .321 with 45 HR and 96 ribbies in 421 at-bats. But things unraveled for the club after that, with injuries to Jake Westbrook, Todd Helton, Gary Sheffield and Jason Isringhausen proving too much to bear for a team with a thin bench and uneven rotation. Lowe (8-5, 4.20) was brilliant, allowing just six hits and needing 111 pitches only because of errors by corner IF David Wright and Adrian Gonzalez.

With the loss, S-Mart becomes the fourth BARB team to be eliminated from postseason contention, joining Casselton, Pottsylvania and Black Mesa. The Oakeyland Ballers, therefore, are the last obstacle between Las Vegas and a second straight Central title. And the Luchadores, perhaps buoyed by the recall of LHP Francisco Liriano, is playing its best ball of the year down the stretch. Their 23-7 record since August 1st is tops in the league, keyed by an 11-game winning streak, and....against the Firebirds...more of the same:

LAS VEGAS 6, YUMA 4

WP: Brian Bannister (5-3, 4.00)
LP: Roy Halladay (8-11, 3.83)
SV: Rivera (24)

Prince Fielder homered twice, bringing his team-leading total to 40 (second in the league), and rookie Brian Bannister had his best-ever start in BARB despite fanning only one hitter, allowing three runs over eight frames to push the Luchadores to their third straigth win, and a season-high eight games over .500 (73-65). Las Vegas now owns the league's sixth-best record, and their magic number for clinching the division is now just eight games !

As for the Firebirds, the loss had them fall to 78-60, just a half-game in front of hard-charging Lexington, as they mustered only two hits after the third.

WORCESTER 5, BROOKLYN 4

WP: Jon Lester (5-2, 3.66)
LP: Scott Baker (5-10, 6.55)
SV: Morrow (8)

The Eliminators needed to use five relievers to do it after a pair of rain delays, but they held on to edge their sibling rivals on the road in Brooklyn to win for the 19th time in their last 30 games, the best mark in the East since August 1st. In the process, Worcester pulled into a tie with sluggish (14-15 since Aug. 1st) Frostbite Falls for second place in the East, three games behind the idle Darwin Finches.

It all happened because Jon Lester managed to outlast one of the rain delays for a solid four-and-two-thirds of an inning, and back-to-back homers in the drizzle off Scott Baker by Jermaine Dye and (most painfully) former Moab Jason Bay.