It's a new era in BARB, as two teams which have never previously contended (New England and St. Francis) found themselves with 40 or more wins, with the Friars boasting a BARB-leading .662 winning percentage and an eight-game lead in the Central Division. But all of that changed in late June, as the Yankee Stompers came into Kansas and...well....stomped on their hosts pretty good, capping a four-game series with a doubleheader sweep!
In the opener, the Yankee Stompers (still dealing with the effects of trades shuffling their roster) were forced to use a variety of relievers early and often after Alexei Ogando could only last two innings. Joey Devine (1-1, 6.48) earned his first win of the year, however, when he and three relievers post six innings of shutout relief. Brandon Arroyo (5-7, 4.09) allowed just one run for the Friars (an RBI single by Corey Hart), but left trailing 1-0 in the sixth. Another newcomer, CF Austin Jackson, hit a two-out solo HR off Matt Guerrier to extend New England's lead to 2-0, so that when rookie starter Kyle Drabek came in, a run-scoring groundout by Jose Bautista was not enough to prevent him from collecting his second save of the season!
NEW ENGLAND 2, ST. FRANCIS 1!
Jackson, who had begun spring training with AC/BC, was wearing his third uniform of the young season after coming over in a trade with Philadelphia just days previously, and his insurance bomb was the first impact on the race of all the recent wheeling and dealing.
New England GM James Herndon had to be happy with the results, including the finale of the series. Ricky Romero (7-4, 4.96) gave the bullpen a break with six innings of one-run baseball to outduel Brett Myers (6-5, 3.07), and another player recently acquired (Jonathan Axford) collected his first save of the year by going the final three frames. Neil Walker had a pinch-hit triple off Axford to make the game close, but Axford (New England's ninth pitcher in the double dip) had enough off a margin to shrug off two late scores:
NEW ENGLAND 4, ST. FRANCIS 3!
Being swept by the opposition at home was a rude awakening for the Friars, who had come into the game with the loop's best record and an eight-game winning streak. Some owners are beginning to wonder if acting GM "Trader" Jack McKeon has lost his touch, as the club's only move to shore up its injury-plagued pitching staff has been to acquire Ricky Nolasco from Philadelphia. With Dallas Braden and Jorge De La Rosa lost for the year, and Myers and Arroyo struggling, the club seems to have a keen need to find a reliable lefty starter. So far, however, the Friars have shown little interest in dealing before the All-Star Break.
In other BARB action:
LOS ANGELES 5, AC/BC 4 (14 innings)
WP: Jeff Francis (1-0, 5.58)
LP: Hideki Okajim (0-4, 5.52)
Chad Billingsley's early departure put a strain on the visitors, as Alex Coffman's Ball Club was forced to use six relievers, and (eventually) usual starter Zack Greinke in relief in a long ballgame that went in the home team's favor largely due to rookie Michael Pineda. Pineda hurled three hitless innings in extra frames, long enough for 3B Chris Davis to hit a two-out, walkoff RBI single in the bottom of the 14th, giving the sagging Wolverines just their 17th win of the season.
YUMA 4, POTTSYLVANIA 2 (Game 1 of DH)
WP: Brian Matusz (1-1, 1.59)
LP: Santiago Cassila (1-1, 2.87)
SV: Storen (9)
YUMA 4, POTTSYLVANIA 1 (Game 2 of DH)
WP: C.C. Sabathia (9-4, 2.92)
LP: Chris Carpenter (4-11, 4.42)
SV: Storen (10)
Ryan Zimmerman homered twice for the visiting Firebirds in the opener, lefties C.C. Sabathia and Brian Matusz allowed just two earned between them on the afternoon and rookie Drew Storen continued to collect saves as part of Chris Melkonian's bullpen-by-committee to cinch a doubleheader sweep against the lowly Creepers in Pottsylvania.
The wins allowed the Firebirds to keep pace with hard-charging New England in the West, maintaining a slim (two game) lead. Pottsylvania, meanwhile, still has four regulars hitting below .200, and Skip Schumaker playing 2B instead of the free-swinging Aaron Hill. It's hard to believe that this club recently played in the BARB World Series, but a perfect storm of injuries and declining player performance has found them in major rebuilding mode less than 20 months after nearly winning it all. Such is baseball...
PHILADELPHIA 5, CENTRAL CALIFORNIA 4
WP: Jason Motte (1-0, 2.66)
LP: Dan Wheeler (2-4, 6.68)
Jered Weaver outpitched Matt Garza 3-2 through seven frames, but reliever Dan Wheeler served up a long ball to pinch-hitter Alberto Callaspo leading off the eighth to tie up the ball game, then stuck around long enough to surrender Adam Jones's walkoff RBI double as the Rebels bailed out reliever Jason Motte, who had earlier blown a save courtesy of Hunter Pence's two-run, go-ahead single.
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