Days 131-140 - Fort Wayne and Rocco go 8-2, full fledged playoff chase is underway!

Fort Wayne skipper Guy Fieri and his bench coach
 reflect on Fort Wayne's recent hot sreak

Fort Wayne and Rocco's Replicas both vaulted into contention with 8-2 records in this block of games. The Frosted Tips bested their arch-rivals the Juicers a few times, but PED-Co remains in charge of the West with an 8 game lead.  Fort Wayne is now just 1 game behind wild card leader Monterrey, and is riding a six game winning streak!  Rocco moved into second in the East, just a game and a half behind the Backwoods Bastards, and two games out of the wild card themselves.  32 more days remain in this season, and a thrilling finish is sure to follow!

The Home Run Chase is a one-man contest right now.  Mark McGwire connected on six more home runs this set, and is now at the 70 he hit in real life this year!  And he still has 31 more games to go!

Randy Johnson is as happy as
a schoolgirl to get the award!

Player of the Block honors go back to Fort Wayne, to one very large man named Randy Johnson!  The Big Unit picked up three wins against zero losses over the last 10 games.  His 22 innings yielded
28 strikeouts, just 10 hits allowed, and an ERA of 2.04.

Special mention must go to Rocco's Ugueth Urbina, who accumulated three wins AND three saves this set, and teammate Edgar Martinez, who batted a smoking .480 over the last 10 games

Day 131  Fort Wayne rolls over the Juicers 7-4, McGwire with a homer and Randy Johnson with the win.  Rocco defeated the Fremonts 3-2 on a Ray Durham sac fly. adding Greg Maddux to the top of the list with other 15-game winners Pedro Martinez, Curt Schilling, and Chan Ho Park.  Dublin's Francisco Cordova  ("Francisco, that's fun to say") throws a four hit shutout.  Mo Vaughn's power and Tom Candiotti's, um, 'craftiness' get Midland over Monterrey.  Getting Jimmy with It has what it probably the greatest comeback of the season:  Trailing the Bastards 6-2 in the  bottom of the 9th, Jimmy improbably rallies for six runs, punctuated by Todd Helton's three-run game-winning homer!!!!

Day 132  Jose Canseco slugs two HRs for the Bastards, Sterling (Silver) Hitchcock gets his 11thw in and adds 10 K's to his season total, Rocco tops the Fremonts in 13 innings by putting up a six spot in the top of the 13th!  Old Man Al Leiter pitches the Rickeys over the Buttheads, and Mike Mussina goes the distance in yet another Goombie win.  Tis the season for big last innings, as Dublin, trailing Verona 8-2 somehow puts up EIGHT runs in the bottom of the 9th to win it!  Scott Rolen's three run HR was the winner there!

Day 133  Two homers from Larry Walker give Goombies another win, Dubliner top Fort Wayne 6-4, Verona's Justin Thompson gets his 9th win of the year, Brooklyn powers past Monterrey 9-5, and Jimmy bests Rocco in a classic 'Lima Time' performance.  After suffering a devastating loss the other night, the Bastards rebound with 9th inning HR's from Jose Canseco and Nomar Garciaparra to top Vegas. 

Day 134  The Rickeys rally for four in the ninth to top Midland, Brian Moehler's solid outing gives the Dubliners another win,  Craig Biggio's hits propel Verona Ridge over PED-Co.  It was a huge game for The Kid, as Ken Griffey Jr. hit two home runs and drove in SEVEN!  Brooklyn's bats exploded for 11 runs to go over Monterrey, and Rocco topped Jimmy 8-5. 

Day 135  Big day for Henderson's Alex Rodriguez, who goes for 5 hits and 4 RBIs.  Mark McGwire's 66th pushed Fort Wayne over Dublin, Jeff Fassero extended the Roadrunner's winning streak to three games. Las Vegas' Brett Tomko only allows three hits to the Bastards, and Rolando Arrojo tossed seven shutout innings for Brooklyn. 

Day 136  Slammin' Matt Stairs hit two home runs and the Juicers rolled up 17 hits and 10 runs against Dublin.  Curt Schilling gets his 16th win of the season to stand alone on top of the league leaders for now.  Roger Clemens K'd 10 Fremonts and earned his 12th win for Jimmy.  Henderson tops Brooklyn in a 11-10 slugfest.  Fort Wayne's Kevin Millwood stopped Verona, and Mike Bordick cranked two HRs for the victorious Replicas. 

Day 137  Tim Wakefield is now 2-0 for PED-Co, Cal Ripken homers and drives in three in a Vegas win over Jimmy, and Carlos Perez of Brooklyn baffles the Rickeys.  Scott Hatteberg had three hits for the Aztecs in their 6-1 win over Midland, and Barry Bonds  29th homer helped the Bastards beat arch-rival Rocco.  Fort Wayne's Woody Williams is now 5-2 as the Tips topped the Roadrunners 5-3. 

Day 138  Sammy Sosa's 54th HR of the year lifts the Juicers over the Dubliners, Albert Belle's two home runs are the difference in Rocco's 8-7 win over Backwoods, and Brooklyn eked past the Rickeys 3-2.  Las Vegas Fremont Ken Griffey's 53rd was a highlight in the win over Jimmy.  Frosted Tips' slugger Mark McGwire connected for #68 in a 7-4 win over Verona.  Monterrey smashed Midland as Scott Hatteberg continued his little hot streak with 2 doubles and 3 RBIs. 

Day 139 Getting Jimmy and Brooklyn were locked in a scoreless game when Jimmy exploded for 5 runs in the top of the 9th.  Derek Jeter's grand slam accounted for most of those runs.  Carl Everett had three hits, including the walk-off,  as the Replicas beat the Goombies in extra innings.  Sammy Sosa hit #54 in the Juicers win over the Aztecs.  Randy Johnson struck out 12 Bastards and Mark McGwire smashed historic homers #69 and #70!!!

Day 140   Mark Grace's two-run shot aided Brooklyn in their win against Getting Jimmy, and the Rickeys scraped past Verona 5-4.  Rocco snuck past Midland 3-2, and Vegas trounced Dublin 8-3.  Kevin Millwood tossed a four-hit shutout for red-hot Fort Wayne.  Lot of runners left on base south of the border as Monterrey edges the Juicers 4-3, despite  a combined 28 hits!  The Aztecs won in the bottom of the 12th when PED-Co reliever Scott Service threw a wild pitch!