Days 111-120 - Mark McGwire in Beast Mode, Backwoods gets 1st no-hitter of the year!

WHAM!  Another homer!

Mark McGwire compiles the most powerful ten-day stretch of the season so far, batting .417 with 11 home runs and 21 RBis in just the last 36 at bats!!!  The big man is now at astonishing 59 home runs, with 47 games left to play!   It is only July 28th in this replay, Roger Maris is a foregone conclusion at this point.  McGwire is now on pace for  83 home runs and 162 RBIs!!!  Will be fun to see where this ends.  Not coincidentally, Fort Wayne went 7-3 this stretch to crawl into the wild card race with Monterrey and Las Vegas. 

Rocco's Replicas are the hottest team in the league now, going 8-2 and getting to  .500 in the very competitive East Division.  Backwoods went 7-3 to continue to pad their lead there.  Backwoods starter Juan Guzman tossed the first no-hitter of the year, blanking the Buttheads for 0 hits, 0 runs, 5 walks, and 12 K's!

Henderson and Monterrey continue to fight tooth and nail in the Central, with the Rickeys clinging to a 1/2 game lead. 

Our two leading home run hitters

Hate to have a repeat winner of the Player of the Block award, but I just cannot deny McGwire for this set of games.  Others worthy of note:  Rocco's Ugueth Urbina with 4 saves in 8 shutout innings, Kevin Brown of Brookline with 2 wins and a 1.00 ERA in 18 innings and 27 K's, Barry Bonds of Backwoods with a .390 average, Fort Wayne's Kevin Millwood with 2 wins and 0.56 ERA, and Brooklyn's Chipper Jones at .438 with 6 home runs.



This Bugs Bunny clip makes for a good soundtrack
to this steroid steason!

Day 111  After giving up two runs in the top of the 9th to lose their lead, Monterrey rallies for two more to turn back the Dubliners 8-7.  The Bastards thrash the Goombies 12-1, Fernando Vina with three hits.  Bill Mueller knocks in three for Jimmy as they beat the Fremonts 5-3.  Jeff Fassero holds the Juicers to 1 run, and David Cone wins his elevenths as the Replicas beat the Buttheads.  Mark McGwire hits two homers, and his second one (#50 for the year) was a walk-off as Fort Wayne beats the Rickeys 12-10!

Day 112  Cliff Floyd and Juan Gonzalez homer for the Bastards in a 7-6 win over Midland. Aztecs top the Dubliners with John Rocker getting his 4th save,   Shawn Green continued to pound the ball, blasting two HRs for Vegas.  Ken Griffey hit his 40th that game as well.  Randy Johnson whiffed 12 Rickeys and Mark McGwire had ANOTHER two HR night!  PED-Co's Kerry Wood held Verona to two hits, and Brooklyn's J.D. Drew cranks a walk-off HR against Rocco. 

Day 113  Monterrey gains ground by beating Henderson, Carlos Delgado has 2 HRs and 4 RBIs while Kevin Brown tosses a two-hit shutout for the Buttheads.  Three more hits for Backwoods 2B Fernando Vina as they roll past the Fremonts, Verona's Chuck Finley slows down the Frosted Tips, limiting Mark McGwire to 0 home runs.  Rocco got past Jimmy 7-5, Carl Everett homered and drove in three. 

Day 114  Big day for A-Rod, two home runs and 5 RBIs as Henderson drops Monterrey.  PED-Co beats Dublin 9-7 on Matt Stairs' two-run walkoff homer.  LV's Kenny Rogers (Chicken) outduels Backwoods Hideo Nomo in that rarest of treats this year, a 1-0 victory.  Only 8 combined hits in that one!  Kevin Millwood dominates Verona in Fort Wayne's 6-1 victory. 

Day 115  Rick Reed (wasn't he the father in the Brady Bunch?) goes the distance for Monterrey as they eke past the Rickeys.  Las Vegas gets past the Bastards 4-3, Cal Ripken driving in the game-winner.    Midland gets a walk-off walk to beat Brooklyn in 13 innings.  Verona's Aaron Sele helped shut out mighty Fort Wayne.  Mike Simms drove in three as Rocco topped Getting Jimmy 6-5. 

Day 116  Midland's Pedro Martinez earned his league-leading 15th win, the Buttheads beat the Rickeys in a back and forth game, PED-CO used Sammy Sosa's 44th homer to top Verona Ridge, Edgar Martinez had three hits and 3 RBIs for Rocco, and Brian Moehler gets the win as Dublin beats Fort Wayne 4-3.  Bombs blasting in Backwoods as they get two HRs in the bottom of the ninth to beat Getting Jimmy (Barry Bonds hit the first, Rafael Palmeiro the second)! 

Day 117  Quite a few one-sides games today.  Brooklyn stomps the Rickeys 9-2, PED-Co wallops Verona Ridge 11-1, Rocco beat Las Vegas 92, and Fort Wayne thrashed Dublin 16-3!  Mark McGwire hit his 54th, but Ellis Burks was the main man for the Frosted Tips with 2 HRs and 5 RBIs. There was a close on in Midland as the Goombies beat the Aztecs 11-10 on a Carlos Hernandez walk-off home run. 

Day 118  Mark McGwire has just another day at the office, smashing two HRs against Dublin.  Henderson gets 4 in the 9th to beat the Buttheads, the Juicers Curt Schilling got his 14th win in an 11-5 win over the Roadrunners.   Rocco' 'replicated' 15 runs and 16 hits against Vegas.  Denny Neagle K'd 15 for Midland.  David Wells shut out Jimmy as Backwoods rolled 8-0.  Juan Gonzalez belted his 40th home run of the season. 

Day 119  Backwoods Bastard starter Juan Gonzalez recorded the first no-hitter of the year, dominating Brooklyn.  A performance like that deserves the box score's full quote...

It took a while to pry Guzman away from his teammates as they all wanted to show their appreciation and joy.Finally, however, Steve Willnus got to offer his own congratulations with a big bear hug and the comment, 'That was one of the best pitched games I have seen in all my years in baseball - Guzman was masterful out there tonight!'

Henderson scored 5 runs in the last two innings to top Midland, Tony Saunders of Vegas held Getting Jimmy to just one run, Scott Hatteberg had three hits and Scott Erickson 11 K's for Monterrey, and Verona wins on a walk-off error!  Biggest non-Guzman news of the day, though, was Mark McGwire with yet another two home run game - his 9th this season!

Day 120   Verona wins with a walk-off HBP when Frank Thomas was drilled with bases loaded in the bottom of the 13th inning.  Chipper Jones homered twice and knocked in 5 to get Brooklyn past the Bastards.   McGwire struck again, clouting homer #59 in Fort Wayne's 5-1 win over the Juicers.   Rocco got a home run from Albert Belle and fine pitching from David Cone to top the Aztecs.