Week 6 - May 5, 2008

Got A Quarter?

Every team in the DMBL has played at least 40 games on the season -- meaning the first quarter of 2008 is already in the books! Take a look at an all-new Number Crunch with Cecil Fielder for a closer look at the first quarter results.

None of the three teams at the top of the standings had a winning week, giving everyone a chance to make up some ground. The Las Vegas Rat Pack have finally come back to earth, going 4-6 this week -- including six straight losses in a row. But they had such a great first month that they've still got the best record in baseball... The Philadelphia Endzone Animals could only pick up a half-game on the Rats, leaving them 1½ games out, after going 5-6, including back-to-back losses... And the team behind them, the Newark Sugar Bears, could also pick up just a half-game after they split their 10 games this week. They're now a game behind the Animals and 2½ games behind the Rats... The Vancouver Iron Fist didn't squander their opportunity, however. They went 8-3 -- and are riding a five-game winning streak -- to move up two places in the standings to 4th place overall, and 4 games behind Philly for the division lead... The D.C. Bushslappers also are red-hot, winning 7 out of 9 games this week to land in a tie for 5th place. They're now tied with the Hillsborough Hired Hitmen, who could only manage a 6-5 record. Both teams are a game behind the Iron Fist.

There's five teams battling it out in the vast no-man's land between the post-season and the lottery. The Tampa Bay Plunkers are thudding back to earth after a fantastic start, going 3-7 -- including five straight losses -- to fall to .500. Last week they were tied for 4th overall; now they're 2½ games out of the post-season... The Carolina Mudcats have had the opposite season so far -- after a miserable start, they've been slowly clawing their way back into contention. They went 7-3 this week, including three straight wins, to get within a game of .500... The Arkansas Golden Falcons started out the week dropping five out of six, but recovered with four straight wins to get back to .500 for the week... After spending much of the first month near the bottom of the standings, the Blue Ridge Bombers are showing some signs of life. They went 6-4 this week to land in 10th place. More importantly, they're now just 3 games behind Tampa Bay in the battle of the first-year franchises... The Hoboken Cutters have really gone into the tank. They were in 5th two weeks ago; now they're in 11th. In fact, they're closer to dead last (4 games) than to the post-season (6 games). The Cutters went 2-9 this week, including three straight losses... The battle among the three teams at the bottom of the standings is almost as exciting as the battle among the three teams at the top. The league's three worst teams are essentially tied for 12th -- or if you prefer last -- at 15 games under .500. Matthew's Mighty Men of Marietta went 5-6 and the Sardine City Straphangers went an impressive 7-4, finally breaking the double-digit barrier for wins on the season. New Jersey Team Buddah had the worst week of all, going 2-7. Will any of these three teams be able to climb out of the basement over the second quarter?

Sizemore, more, more!

Carolina's 7-3 week was fueled by an offense that scored 50 runs in 10 games. Leading the attack was offensive sparkplug Grady Sizemore. The 25-year-old outfielder had another monster week, hitting .432 (1.452 OPS) with 3 2B, 5 HR, 12 R and 10 RBI; he led the league in OPS, OBP (.533), SLG (.919), runs, runs created (18.4), RC/27 (22.6), total average (1.909), total bases (34), tied for the league lead in HRs, and was second in batting average, walks, secondary average (.676) and AB/HR (7.4) to win the JRCigars.com Smoking Batter of the Week. After a slow start, Sizemore has really come on the last two weeks, with 8 HR and 20 R; on the season, he's now hitting .290 (.893 OPS) with 14 2B, 7 HR, 36 R and 25 RBI. Sizemore reached the post-season as a rookie in the 2006 campaign, but the Mudcats were knocked out in the first round; last year the team finished 2 games out after a miserable first half. They're hoping to avoid repeating that mistake as they battle their way back to .500. "We're hitting on all cylinders now," Sizemore said. "Watch out, Philly!"

This week's other top batters: Blue Ridge's Prince Fielder (.325, 1.088 OPS, 3 HR, 8 RBI); D.C.'s Jeff Kent (.366, 1.083 OPS, 5 2B, 10 R); Hillsborough's Russell Martin (.371, 1.021 OPS, 2 HR, 7 RBI); Hoboken's Travis Buck (.357, 1.223 OPS, 3 HR, 8 RBI); Marietta's Casey Kotchman (.389, 1.183 OPS, 5 2B, 7 RBI); and Vancouver's Todd Helton (.344, 1.113 OPS, 2 HR, 5 RBI).

Remember me? There's rumors that his retirement party is already planned for October, but Barry Bonds isn't going quietly into that good night. The future Hall of Famer set a new DMBL record by driving in 11 RBIs... not in one week, but in one game! Bonds did the deed Friday against Marietta as the Golden Falcons rolled to an 18-3 win. Bonds had two grand slams and a three-run homer; he also singled with two on in the first inning, but the slow-footed Sean Casey stopped at third. Even after the game, Bonds was fuming that third base coach Barry Larkin didn't give Casey the green light. "That would've been an even dozen, man. Lark owes me one." In his other nine games this week, Bonds had 2 HR and 6 RBI.

Burnett is Red Hot!

A.J. Burnett should made it easy on the voters this week. The Las Vegas ace added another point to his Ben McDonald Award application by throwing the first no-hitter in the DMBL since 2004 -- and he did it against the league's best offense! Burnett held the mighty Sugar Bears hitless, walking three and striking out 11, in an easy 8-0 win. The only time the Sugar Bears had any kind of a threat was in the top of the third, when there was still no score in the game. Jarrod Saltalamacchia walked to lead off the inning, then a bunt moved him along to second. A ground-out got him to third, but Nick Swisher grounded out to short to end the inning. Swisher did it again in the top of the 6th, when Bobby Abreu walked with one out; Swish then hit into the inning-ending 6-4-3 double play. And that was it as Burnett set down the final nine in order. His next start, against Vancouver, Burnett held the Iron Fist hitless for 2 1/3rd innings; Michael Young finally snapped the streak with a one out single in the third, and the scoreless streak finally ended in the top of the 4th, when David Ortiz and Victor Martinez led off the inning with back-to-back doubles. Burnett was pulled with two outs in the 6th with the score tied at 1-1 after giving up 6 hits, 2 walks and 1 run, with 10 Ks. (He got a no-decision; the Rats lost in extra innings.) Between the two starts this week and the two previous starts, Burnett had a 13-inning hitless streak (dating back to a shutout of D.C.), plus a 24.1-inning scoreless streak! So it all adds up to a 0.57 ERA (1 ER), 6.3 R/9 (6 H, 5 BB), and 21 Ks in 15.2 IP. Quite a week for A.J., who has to be considered one of the early favorites for the Most Valuable Pitcher Award after going 5-0 with a 1.88 ERA over the first quarter. He leads the league in ERA and is tied for the lead league in Ks (76), W% (1.000), quality starts (7), QS% (.778) and shutouts (2). He's also leading the league in Pitcher of the Week honors (he also won it in Week 2) as he takes home this week's award, sponsored by Javascript Mario.

This week's other top pitchers: Arkansas's Chuck James (1-0, 2.77 ERA, 11.1 R/9, 7 BB, 13 K in 13.0 IP); Blue Ridge's Tim Byrdak (1 ER, 5 H, 5 BB, 15 K in 10.1 IP); Carolina's Roy Halladay (2-0, 3.38 ERA, 12.9 R/9, 2 BB, 9 K in 16.0 IP); D.C.'s Derek Lowe (2-0, 1.23 ERA, 9.2 R/9, 9 BB, 15 K in 14.2 IP); Hillsborough's C.C. Sabathia (1-2, 1.25 ERA, 11.2 R/9, 4 BB, 18 K in 21.2 IP); Marietta's Daniel Cabrera (2-0, 1.25 ERA, 8.3 R/9, 9 BB, 23 K in 21.2 IP); Philly's J.J. Putz (3 SV, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 6 K in 3.2 IP); Sardine City's Akinori Otsuka (1 W, 1 SV, 0 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 7 K in 6.2 IP); and Vancouver's Zack Greinke (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 10.9 R/9, 10 K in 12.1 IP).

Marvelous Marmol

Las Vegas's Carlos Marmol is the early leader in the Dennis Eckersley Rolaids Reliever of the Year Award standings. The 25-year-old right-hander picked up 3 wins and 10 saves, with just 2 losses and 1 blown save, for 23 relief points over the first quarter. (Remember, it's 2 points for each win and save, and -1 point for each loss and blown save). Right behind him in the standings, with 20 points, is Japanese League veteran Takashi Saito, who is a perfect 10-for-10 in save chances so far this year. Philly's J.J. Putz (19 points), Tampa Bay's Lee Gardner (16 points), D.C.'s Jonathan Papelbon (16 points) and New Jersey's Bobby Jenks (14 points) are also off to fabulous starts on the season.

First Quarter Relief Points Standings
Reliever	ERA	W	SV	L	BS	Pts
Marmol,LV	4.68	3	10	2	1	23
Saito,HIL	2.79	0	10	0	0	20
Putz,PHI	1.37	1	9	0	1	19
Gardner,TAM	1.13	0	8	0	0	16
Papelbon,DC	1.71	4	5	1	1	16
Jenks,NJ	1.46	0	7	0	0	14
Street, BR	4.91	2	7	2	2	14
M.Rivera,MAR	2.87	0	7	2	0	12
Izzy,HBK	3.32	1	6	2	0	12
C.Wilson,SAR	3.54	1	6	2	0	12

Tied for 11th are Carolina's Brian Fuentes (0 W, 9 SV, 4 L, 3 BS) and Philly's Francisco Cordero (5 W, 1 SV, 0 L, 1 BS) at 11 points; and behind them, at 9 points, are D.C.'s Joe Nathan (3 W, 3 SV, 1 L, 2 BS), Hillsborough's Jeremy Accardo (4 W, 1 SV, 1 L, 0 BS) and Las Vegas's Rafael Betancourt (3 W, 2 SV, 0 L, 1 BS).

Cry Babies

Call in the pediatricians! Lots of youngsters went down with injuries this week.

We previously reported about the injuries to Sardine City's Phil Hughes and Marietta's John Danks. Joining those two kids in the nurse's office will be Marietta's Micah Owings, New Jersey's Melky Cabrera and Hoboken's Hanley Ramirez. "We think there's a bad case of chicken pox going around," one team physician said.

A few veterans also caught the bug, apparently -- but all have been struggling so far this year, so maybe it's a blessing in disguise. Las Vegas's Placido Polanco was only supposed to miss two games after stubbing his toe on the dugout steps, but that didn't stop the Rat Pack front office from putting him on the 15-day D.L. "We don't like whiners on this team," hitting coach Crash Davis said. However, it might be more likely that Polanco's .246 BA, .632 OPS had more to do with it... Arkansas wasn't so quick to put Adam Dunn on the D.L., even though doctors said he might miss up to a week. Dunn is hitting just .192, but he's slugging .490 (4 2B, 9 HR, 25 RBI in 104 AB). He still has his usual all or nothing approach at the plate, with 30 Ks in 32 games. In fact, he got hurt when he tried to swat a fly and missed, hitting the edge of the table and bruising his thumb. "That fly must have a good breaking ball," hitting coach Brian Harper quipped... Sardine City will also try to make due without Kevin Youkilis for a few games. The "Greek God of Walks" (who is actually a Romanian Jew) is hitting just .179 with a .616 OPS, and also has been piling up the strikeouts -- 40 whiffs in 40 games. The cornerman says he's been "trying to do too much" and get the Straphangers into contention this year. The team wants to give him a few days off to clear his head, a front office exec said. "Seriously, Youk -- we suck. Don't try too hard."

Ruffling Some Feathers

The Golden Falcons opened the season with a seven-game losing streak - and would lose six more in the first two weeks. A 5-13 start is sure to make your owner mad, but especially when your owner is the famously volatile Mike "Stump" Matiash, who after losing the7th game of the 2004 World Series didn't just trash a hotel room -- he bought the hotel and then had the whole building imploded! Matiash let his displeasure be known after those first two weeks by cutting veterans Tim Wakefield and Emil Brown. That seemed to do the trick as the Falcs caught fire, winning nine out of their next 13, including a six-game winning streak and a sweep of the World Champion Sugar Bears. But apparently not even winning can sooth Stump's savage temper, as he again brought the hammer down on his squad this week, cutting Mark Ellis, Joey Gathright and Brad Ausmus. "It's time this organization got serious. We won six in a row but three of those wins were by three runs or less. We have the talent that we should be winning by six, eight runs a night," Matiash said. The three were replaced on the roster by Ryan Ludwick (now with his third franchise this year, after playing for Vancouver in Spring Training and Hillsborough last month), Luis Castillo and Yorvit Torrealba. After the changes, the team dropped five out of six games. Despite the rough start, manager George Brett is confident changes will pay dividends in the long run. "This team got turned around 180 degrees when we cut those other bums," Brett said. "Now we cut some more dead weight and we'll turn another 180 degrees." But the newly signed Castillo wasn't impressed. "Wouldn't that be a circle, so we'd just wind up where we were before?" Moments later, Castillo was released. Immediately after that, the team won three in a row. "See, we turned 180 degrees again," Brett said.

Ryan Spilborghs, like Ludwick, has had a pretty busy six weeks. The 27-year-old rookie outfielder was drafted by Hillsborough in the 3rd round (#34 overall), but was cut less than two weeks into the season after going 1-for-9. He was then almost immediately signed by Philly, where he smacked a 2-run homer -- and then went on the Disabled List. Ryan came off the D.L. on Monday but the Animals released him; he was claimed by Vancouver two days later, and already has a home run for his new team. Three teams in six weeks! We'll see how long Ryan will last in Vancouver, where he'll have to fight with five other outfielders for playing time (not to mention hot prospect Adam Jones, still in Triple-A). Can he become the first player in league history to play for all 14 teams in the same season?

This week's other comings and goings: Arkansas activated Brandon Phillips; Carolina got back Mike Redmond and released Javier Valentin; Hillsborough released Todd Wellemeyer and signed Santiago Casilla; Hoboken dumped Philip Humber and added Carlos Silva; Las Vegas picked up Chad Gaudin and cut prospect James McDonald, and also put Placido Polanco on the D.L. and claimed Mark Grudzielanek, but soon released him after claiming Luis Castillo; Marietta released Zach Duke and Anthony Reyes, put Micah Owings on the D.L. and added Randy Wolf, Kyle Lohse and Todd Wellemeyer; Philadelphia cut pitching prospect Carlos Carrasco and OF Marlon Byrd, activated Mark Texeiera, and scooped up Jonathan Sanchez; Sardine City put Phil Hughes on the D.L. and signed Noah Lowry; and Vancouver picked up Paul Maholm and dropped outfielders Norris Hopper and Cameron Maybin.