Fresno—Down a run in the sixth, the home team rallied for their fourth straight win and a sweep of the visiting Worcester Eliminators, but it was not enough to prevent the Regulators (70-68) from being formally eliminated from the pennant race with six games left in the Eastern Division schedule, as the defending world champion Flying Squirrels blanked the Moabs in Brooklyn.
Josh Beckett (10-10, 4.27) evened his record with a gutty seven innings that saw him surrender 12 hits, including a pair of bombs by Eliminators SS Hanley Ramirez (#25 and #26). His teammates gave him second life with two out in the bottom of the sixth: David Wright and Adrian Gonzalez singled, and Bobby Abreu followed with his 14th jack of the season, a three-run poke off Jeremy Guthrie (7-11, 4.90) that made the score 5-3.
After each team exchanged a run in the seventh, Fresno’s bullpen got the last six outs without allowing a baserunner. Fresno had won, 6-4....but soon enough, the sigh of relief was crushed by the news from Brooklyn: Felix Hernandez (10-9, 3.56) had gone all the way on a seven-hit shutout of the Moabs, while his teammates (led by Nate McLouth’s 19th circuit shot of the year) put together three runs. This dropped Brooklyn (75-63) two games behind the Squirrels (77-61) and four off the wild card....as well as eliminating the Regulators, a playoff team in 2008 whose hopes this year were dashed early by the injury to ace Brandon Webb.
Just seven teams remain in the hunt for four playoff spots:
In other BARB action:
YUMA 7, ST. FRANCIS 1
WP: Roy Halladay (15-6, 2.51)
LP: Jamie Moyer (6-13, 4.80)
Ultra-efficient Yuma scored single runs in each of their last six times at bat to slowly strangle the expansion Friars and keep the rival Finches lead in the West to just one game. Roy Halladay pitched another complete-game gem, needing only 93 pitches to set down the St. Francis lineup four times.
DARWIN 7, LOS ANGELES 1
WP: Zack Greinke (17-5, 2.95)
LP: Dana Eveland (7-12, 4.89)
Zack Greinke got a rare ‘gimme’ win as his teammates took advantage of Eveland’s early wildness, with both Aaron Rowand and Jeff Francouer lining two-run singles in a four-run first. Greinke took a shutout into the seventh en route to notching his BARB-leading 17th victory. The Finches best hope in the final two weeks, clearly, is to start the league’s likely Cy Young as many times as possible....if they get there, that is.
CASSELTON 10, BLACK MESA 7
WP: Bobby Jenks (3-5, 4.48)
LP: Jonathan Papelbon (5-7, 2.51)
BARB phenom Mike Napoli snapped an 0-for-27 stretch with a pair of homers off the longball-prone Ted Lilly, but it was Alex Rios who made overworked Anomalies closer Jonathan Papelbon pay for a mistake pitch in the eighth following an error by Kevin Youkilis, smacking his 14th of the year, to keep the Horned Toads (72-63) in the hunt for the Central pennant.
Napoli’s pair of belts give him a BARB-leading 40 home runs to go with a declining batting average (.219, down sixty points since the All-Star break) and 112 RBI. Yes, yes, yes. Mike blankety-blank Napoli. I can't make this stuff up.
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