MONDAY ACTION

The last month of BARB play is upon us, and with an unbalanced schedule teams have from anywhere from 16-24 games to play as this goes to press . . .



WORCESTER 7, FROSTBITE FALLS 2

WP: Mark Lowe (2-0, 11.05)
LP: Cole Hamels (11-9, 3.73)

Joe Mauer took over the BARB batting lead from Cristian Guzman, rapping out two hits to raise his average to .351, and Mark Teixeira drove in five runs with three hits, including his 31st boundary belt, as the East-leading Eliminators (78-50) extended their lead in the division to four-and-a-half games with just 14 games to play. The Squirrels have lost six of their last ten during this stretch.

CASSELTON 2, DARWIN 0

WP: Carlos Zambrano (7-7, 5.32)
LP: Scott Kazmir (2-5, 6.27)

Recently-reactivated Scott Kazmir was decent, but ‘Big Z’ was better, holding a Milton Bradley-less lineup to five singles in going the distance to keep the sagging Darwin lineup at bay and keep the Horned Toads (67-59) within three games of Central-leading Pottsylvania, with the clutch knock being a rare HR off the bat of Orlando Hudson, a two-run shot in the second off Kazmir.

BROOKLYN 7, FRESNO 5

WP: Jon Lester (11-10, 3.51)
LP: Mike Pelfrey (9-13, 5.62)
SV: Rodriguez (23)

The Regulators rallied for three late runs in the ninth, but the Moabs (73-60) finally put them away to earn a win that kept them just a half-game behind Frostbite Falls for the wild card slot, as keystone combo Troy Tulowitski and Chase Utley combined for five hits and four ribbies.

YUMA 7, POTTSYLVANIA 4

WP: Joe Blanton (8-12, 4.45)
LP: Yovanni Gallardo (11-8, 3.91)
SV: Thornton (6)

Joey Votto had three hits and scored twice, including his third boundary belt in a Yuma ‘uni’, and new Firebirds starter Joe Blanton was effective in his Arizona debut to help Chris Melkonian’s club (68-52) pick up a game on the losing Finches. Yuma is now only two-and-a-half back with 24 games to play