OAKLAND: SEVEN STRAIGHT WINS!

OAKLAND’S WINNING STREAK REACHES SEVEN!

Oaktown----Kevin Youkilis drove in six runs while hitting two of the five United long balls surrendered by Worcester pitching, as the resurgent (19-16) club won their seventh straight to move into control of second place in the competitive Eastern Division, outhitting an Eliminators ballclub that has six regulars hitting .286 or better in BARB play, to win a 10-6 slugfest at home in Oakland.

Oakland gave starter Derek Lowe (2-5, 6.07) a lot of runs to work with: by the fifth, the club led, 9-0 against Anibal Sanchez (3-4, 4.57), who gave up four long balls, including both hit by Youkilis. But Lowe made things interesting in the seventh: Joe Mauer’s fourth hit of the contest was a two-run double, and Billy Butler hit a pinch-HR off the well-traveled Trevor Hoffman to lower the gate for good.

Incredibly, the loss dropped the Eliminators two games below .500, which is difficult to fathom given the club’s talent and health. But it is the wild and wooly East, which had three teams contending for a Series berth with just a week to play two of the last three seasons. Speaking of other seasons, here’s some more BARB action:

BLACK MESA 9, YUMA 2

WP: Rich Harden (1-4, 3.75)
LP: Roy Halladay (4-3, 3.29)

‘Doc’ Halladay lost a no-hitter in the ninth in his previous start, but here he came up on the short end of the stick, as the visiting Anomalies cranked out a season-high 17 hits. Dustin Pedroia had four of those hits from the leadoff spot, Miguel Cabrera had a pair of RBI singles and Rich Harden worked seven shutout frames to earn the ‘W’.

ST. FRANCIS 4, LOS ANGELES 3

WP: Jamie Moyer (3-1, 3.96)
LP: Kevin Slowey (0-5, 8.44)
SV: Sherill (4)

47-year-old Jamie Moyer took a shutout into the ninth vs. the PF Flyers, but Los Angeles made a late run at it, getting late home runs from Howie Kendrick and pinch-hitter Mike Lowell as part of a three-run ninth to make things interesting.

Moyer received a standing ‘O’ from fans after giving up both homers and departing, tipping his cat to the crowd but otherwise showing no emotion in a season that has, so far, been well above the losing record he posted with last year’s expansion club. “I don’t focus on age,” Moyer said, “Because it’s not in my power to change how old I am. I don’t give myself extra credit for getting hitters out, and putting my team in a position to win ball games. That’s what I’m paid to do.”