GAME DAY 139

Black Mesa---The secret’s out. The ‘Half Life’-inspired baseball team, despite a terrific start, has finally ‘decayed’ out of existence, joining Pottsylvania and Casselton as the league’s teams that will miss the post-season, as visiting Central Division leader Las Vegas (72-65) put an 8-2 licking on the host Anomalies.

Matt Holliday hit his 30th home run of the year, but it was Prince Fielder’s two-run single in the first that was the first scoring, and with all the offense A.J. Burnett (13-6, 3.64) had little trouble talking his manager into letting him work deep in the ballgame. Burnett (8 IP, 2 ER, 7 K) would bookend a pair of single-run innings between the second and the sixth, but would not be seriously challenged by Black Mesa’s increasingly one-dimensional attack. Jarrod Washburn (7-15, 5.55) was hurt, as many Anomalies hurlers have been hurt of late, by the decision to play OF Reed Johnson in the middle of the diamond with many Anomalies IF injured or otherwise on the outs. Washburn would allow six runs, but only four were earned.

In other BARB action:

BROOKLYN 10, DARWIN 9

WP: Matt Lindstrom (3-3, 4.16)
LP: Brandon Lyon (1-4, 2.71)
SV: Rodriguez (29)

The Finches put a six-run fourth on Roy Oswalt and the Moabs pen, but the host Darwinians couldn’t handle the good fortune, allowing four late runs in part due to errors by SS Cristian Guzman and 1B Lance Berkman, and with Francisco Rodriguez on the mound for his BARB-leading 29th save, it was yet another win staving off elimination for the Moabs, who are eleven-and-a-half games back with 19 contests left on their dance card.

WORCESTER 6, FROSTBITE FALLS 3

WP: Jeremy Guthrie (12-8, 3.14)
LP: Ben Sheets (9-9, 3.80)
SV: Morrow (7)

Derek Jeter scored three times, driving in the game’s first runs off Ben Sheets, then helping the speedy Elims abuse Squirrels catcher Victor Martinez with a successful double steal as Worcester (77-56) pulled within a half-game of the wild card lead and only three-and-a-half games out of first in the ultra-competitive East.

LEXINGTON 7, POTTYLVANIA 5

WP: Francisco Cordero (8-3, 3.34)
LP: Brad Thompson (2-6, 6.45)
SV: Street (21)

Recently-recalled rookie Jay Bruce hit a solo homer, his sixth of the season, then helped trigger a SIX-run eighth against the Billy Wagner-less Creepers pen, an inning capped by Adrian Gonzalez’s 23rd circuit shot, a three-run blast, and the recently-abused Rebels pen came through this time to help Lexington improve to 76-60, a game-and-a-half out of first in the West with just SIXTEEN games left. . . .