ELIMINATORS FIRST TO ELIMINATE!

ELIMINATORS FIRST TO ELIMINATE!

Black Mesa—On the road somewhere in the American southwest, the Worcester Eliminators (73-57) lived up to their namesake, rallying from a 3-0 deficit to beat the host Anomalies 5-4, denying them any chance at a division title! Yuma's win earlier in the day against Frostbite Falls gave them 71 triumphs on the year, and Black Mesa's loss guaranteed they could, at most, win 70 games (assuming they swept their final 30 contests of the season).

As for the Elims, the win kept them in a virtual tie (73-57) for first in the East with hard-charging Frostbite Falls. Heath Bell (8-7, 3.95) got the win in relief after Derek Jeter scored on a Nolan Reimold single in the top of the eighth to snap a 4-4 tie, and Mariano Rivera made it stand up with a scoreless ninth for his BARB-leading 32nd save of the season.

Rivera's save total could soon approach historic levels for a baseball simulation, as their save totals tend to be deflated regardless of the software. The highest save total ever seen by your Commissioner in 18 seasons of running such simulations was 36 (Trevor Hoffman, 1994) and the highest ever seen in BARB's seven campaigns was the 35 collected by Joe Nathan during Frostbite Falls' 2008 run.

Worcester's win also eliminated Los Angeles from the wild card chase, but the PF Flyers remain mathematically alive in the Central due to the recent poor play of the division's top three clubs.

In other BARB action:

POTTSYLVANIA 4, ARIZONA 2

WP: Mark Buerhle (13-7, 3.65)
LP: James Shields (6-10, 4.91)

Buerhle scattered four singles and allowed only one earned run in going the route against host Arizona, and Matt Kemp had a two-run double to put the Creepers up for good in the seventh and keep the Creepers six games out of the wild card race.


ST. FRANCIS 11, CASSELTON 7

WP: Francisco Cordero (4-6, 4.65)
LP: Ramon Ramirez (1-3, 6.00)

Mike Adams allowed a tieing single in the eighth, and pinch-hitter Neil Walker hit a grand slam off Ramon Ramirez in a walkoff win, as the sizzling Friars won for the eighth time in their last ten games. Jason Varitek worked a walk to load the bases to start the rally for the Friars in the eighth, and was intentionally walked to get to pitcher Bronson Arroyo, and continues to get lots of praise for the stability he brought the club since being reactivated.


YUMA 3, FROSTBITE FALLS 2 (11 innings)

WP: Rafael Soriano (3-2, 3.18)
LP: Chris Perez (0-4, 4.98)

Soriano and Hong-Chih Kuo boasted three scoreless innings between them, and Nick Markakis scored on leadoff man Darnell Span's single with no out in the bottom of the 11th, a walkoff win that helped eliminate division rival Black Mesa from contention. Matt Garza (10 K) had outdueled Halladay through seven frames, but Joakim Soria blew the 2-1 lead by walking Chone Figgins with two out in the top of the ninth and the bases loaded, his sixth shortcoming of the season.


OAKLAND 9, DARWIN 2

WP: Danny Haren (11-10, 3.79)
LP: Max Scherzer (8-6, 5.69)

Colby Rasmus stuck a dagger into Darwin's increasingly-thin playoff hopes with a 3-HR, 9-RBI performance just days after complaining about a lack of playing time vs. veteran Andruw Jones. Jones, who also homered in the contest, could only shake his head over Rasmus's big day: Rasmus raised his season totals to 21 HR and 60 RBI in just 427 at-bats, and has seemingly cemented his hold over the CF job after hitting a three-run shot and a grand slam in his first two at-bats versus Max Scherzer.