TRADES, TRAGEDY IN CENTRAL

SANTANA WINS GAME, LOSES S

SANTANA WINS BATTTLE . . .BUT LOST FOR THE WAR!

In a key game against a division rival, the Casselton Horned Toads prevailed 2-0 over the Arizona Thunder, but lost ace LHP Johann Santana to an eighth-inning elbow injury that will sideline him for the rest of the year, and perhaps require surgery.

Casselton (67-51) won their third straight as Santana (10-5, 4.19) won his 24th start of the year, but when the southpaw grabbed his elbow with one out in the eighth, it was clear that they had suffered a bigger blow than just a loss to Arizona. MRI's after the game confirmed what was feared: Santana would miss the rest of the regular season, and the post-season as well.

With the highly-paid Carlos Zambrano still on the roster, the Horned Toads would have no problem fleshing out the rotation, but it was the latest in a series of setbacks for Santana, once regarded as one of the top 10 starters in all of BARB. At the time of his injury, the lefty was shooting for his first complete game of the season, which had so far eluded him. That in itself was a sign that he was not himself: Santana had led all of BARB with 11 complete games in 2007 while pitching for Frostbite Falls, and had managed 8 route-going exercises last season while pitching for Casselton, and a total of 22 over the last three seasons.

Newly-acquired starter Gavin Floyd (see article below) took the loss despite a solid outing (7 IP, 4 H, 2 ER) to fall to 7-12 with a 3.92 ERA, the big blow being a two-run bomb by Toads 2B Jose Lopez to snap a scoreless tie in the 6th.

In other BARB action:

LOS ANGELES 4, ST. FRANCIS 3

WP: John Maine (2-1, 6.58)
LP: Frank Francisco (2-5, 6.59)
SV: Lidge (9)

Nick Swisher and Carlos Santana homered as part of a three-run eighth off Frank Francisco, and John Maine struck out two of the three hitters he faced in 104-degree heat to nail down a comeback win for the host Flyers (43-77).

YUMA 6, OAKLAND 0

WP: C.C. Sabathia (8-7, 3.09)
LP: Wade Davis (2-5, 2.57)

Ryan Zimmerman drove in four runs with a first-inning HR (his 15th) and a two-run single in the fifth, while C.C. Sabathia went all the way for his first shutout (and fourth complete game) of the season, to help the warming Firebirds (65-48) win for the ninth time in their last ten games.

FROSTBITE FALLS 5, MADTOWN 2

WP: Tim Lincecum (12-8, 4.11)
LP: Jason Vargas (2-8, 5.68)
SV: Soria (19)

Ricky Weeks (#21), Michael Young (#17) and Victor Martinez (#9) all went deep against Jason Vargas, and Tim Lincecum overcame a shaky first inning to fan 11 Murlocs and keep the Flying Squirrels (67-53) within one game of idle Worcester in the East.

BROOKLYN 6, BLACK MESA 3

WP: Justin Verlander (11-7, 2.83)
LP: Erwin Santana (2-10, 7.92)
SV: Wagner (5)

Former Moabs 3B Miguel Cabrera connected off Justin Verlander in the fourth, but otherwise the hit parade was one-sided, led by Ryan Howard's 40th poke of the year and three-hit effort from Utley, including his 15th. Brooklyn stays within a game-and-a-half of Worcester in the Eastern Division logjam, with 31 games to play!

CENTRAL CLUBS MAKE...OR DON'T MAKE MOVES

At the TRADE DEADLINE . . . .there was little more than a blip, as BARB clubs for the most part adopted a 'stand pat' stance toward their rosters. The one exception (gasp!) was the Arizona Thunder, whose GM (the peripatetic Ronald Melkonian) adopted an 'about-face' in a bid for a playoff spot.

As recently as mid-September, the Thunder was seen by most observers as out of the race. Their GM had said as much, by dealing away supposed staff ace Yovani Gallardo to the Brooklyn Moabs along with veteran slugger Manny Ramirez and CF Vernon Wells. This was widely perceived by the media (and an angry clubhouse) as a 'white flag' trade, especially when Melkonian was quoted in the Arizona Republic as saying that the traded players were "unable to help the team reach their goal of winning a pennant this season" and that they were now going to "focus on . . . future plans for contention."

A funny thing happened on the way to rebuilding: the team got healthier (notably Alex Rodriguez), the bullpen kicked it up a notch and (perhaps most critically) neither Casselton nor Pottsylvanis has played well enough to pull away from the Thunder. So it was that the club found itself in contention, and with an eye on the shaky health of Ricky Nolasco, picked up St. Francis RHP Gavin Floyd for a player to be named.

WHAT DID THE OTHER CONTENDERS DO DOWN THE STRETCH?

In a word, not much. Brooklyn, of course, had already shot its bolt, dealing (among others) RHP James Shields and several prospects to get Gallardo and company from Arizona. A playoff team last year, their hopes on another playoff berth pretty much depend on the roster they have outplaying Frostbite Falls and Worcester down the stretch.

Casselton, despite losing Santana, despite the injuries which slowed 1B Derek Lee, despite a series of meltdowns by closer Bobby Jenks, did nothing to shore up any of those holes. Is this a message of confidence for those struggling, or is it simply a vote of no-confidence in rivals like Pottsylvania and Arizona? Unless either gets hot, the Horned Toads will make their first playoff but it remains to be seen if they will be any threat once getting there.

Frostbite Falls had hoped to get a boost with the return of CF Carlos Beltran, but held on to their most tradeable commodity (2B Rickie Weeks) due to injury concerns with 3B Evan Longoria and SS Jose Reyes. The multiple (2003, 2005, 2006, 2008) BARB champions will try to add 'one for the thumb' with the hand they've been dealt.

Madtown had extra SP to give, which would've made them everyone's favorite in spring training. But, since the Murlocs are very competitive, some of their potential trading partners were rivals (Yuma, Darwin) or else couldn't afford to deal the sort of full-time catcher with a solid bat that Madtown might've liked to have added to their mix.

Pottsylvania: the 2009 Central Division champs have had a lot of injuries to key personnel, and they have to hope that 3B Aramis Ramirez can pull out of his season-long funk in the next four weeks. LHP Brian Fuentes was dangled, but there were no bites. Team leader Jason Varitek was traded away, and CF Matt Kemp was a lightning rod for media criticism. The club just doesn't have a lot of extra talent it can dangle. Hard-throwing LHP Aroldis Chapman could make some noise in September...

Worcester was approached by more than one club with interest in 2B Robinson Cano, but the Eliminators (saddled with heavy payroll) lacked the flexibility to take on salary and in any case probably were wise to reject lowball offers where Cano was concerned.

Yuma had originally hoped to shore up its rotation by offering a significant package for St. Francis RHP Roy Oswalt, but saw the deal fall apart when Oswalt put together a hot streak for the Friars.