(AP- French Open, Paris, France)
TML Biff Barnes Highlight Reel - May 2010
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It's a Ruthian Battle!

The Arkansas Travelers (22-8 in May, 42-14 overall)
and the Danny Way Diamonds (20-10, 40-16) are
pulling away in the Ruth Division. Both teams are
playing over .700 ball! They already have a 20-
game lead in the division. For Arkansas, other
than Josh Johnson (8-1), 11 other pitchers have
2+ wins. Closer Angel Guzman is 16-16 in SVO and
has not been scored on yet! Pablo Sandoval (.350,
14 HR, 50 RC) and Shin-Soo Choo (.332, 12 HR, 60
RC) are leading their offense. For Danny Way,
the duo of Scott Baker (9-2, 2.46) and Adam
Wainwright (8-1, 3.04) are racking up the Ws.
Sean White (9 SV) and J.P. Howell (8 SV) are
sharing the closer duties out of the pen. On
offense, it's hard to pitch around Carlos Lee
(.335, 15 HR, 52 RC), Michael Young (.323, 12 HR,
47 RC) and Evan Longoria (.317, 18 HR, 54 RC).

In the Steinmetz, Walla Walla (22-8, 38-18) has
established solid leadership, playing .679 ball
and leads the rest of the division by over 10
games. The Wombats already have four pitchers
with 6+ wins (Zimmerman 6-0, C.Lee 6-3, Dempster
7-4, Hamels 6-4). The only real Oceanic Conference
playoff race remaining at this early date is in
the Williams, where Rocky Mountain leads Brandon
by 2 games and Oklahoma by 4 games.

In the Atmospheric Conference, Beverly (21-9 in
May, 42-14 overall) leads Carolina (20-10, 32-24)
by 10 games in the Gatto. That difference points
back to Beverly's 8-game sweep *at* Carolina in
April! Beverly has a solid trio of Roy Halladay
(8-4, 2.98), Dan Haren (8-1) and Justin Verlander
(9-3). Huston Street (4-0, 14 SV, 0.35) has been
very tough out of the pen. For Carolina, they
continue to lean on star Joe Mauer (.354, 9 HR,
53 RC). In the Gehrig, Toxic Waste (18-12, 31-25)
leads Traffic (14-16, 29-27) by 2 games. In the
Robinson, Duluth (16-14, 32-24) still leads
Rensselaer (16-14, 28-28) by 4 games. Except for
the Gatto, the other divisions and the Atmospheric
Wild Card are all up for grabs!

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Madison's Ichiro Suzuki took over the batting lead
and is currently hitting a cool .400! 'Skayuna's
Albert Pujols leads the TML in HR (27), SLG (.814)
and RC (78)! Valparaiso's Adrian Gonzalez leads in
RBI (61) and Runs (53) and is 2nd in HR (26).
Rabbit ... err, Wombat ... Michael Bourn leads in
SB (42). Crawfish Joe Mauer (10 IBB) is screaming
for a lineup change.

In pitching, Danny Way's Scott Baker (9-2) and
Beverly's Justin Verlander (9-3) lead the TML in
wins. Rocky Mountain's Scott Kazmir (8-0) has
yet to lose. Valparaiso's Tom Gorzelany leads
in ERA (2.25). Perth's Tom Greinke still leads
in K with 104. There is now a 4-way ties for the
saves lead between Arkansas' Angel Guzman, Duluth's
David Aardsma, Walla Walla's Jonathan Papelbon and
Toxic Waste's C.J. Wilson, all with 16 SV. Lake
Wobegone's Braden Looper (1-9, 9.21) and Daisuke
Matsuzaka (0-8, 10.47) are keeping their team
buried deep in the "Rabbit Hole."

Below are some awards and tid-bits from May 2010
in the TML American.

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** Player of the Month **

(VD) Nick Swisher
.347, 41-118, 7-0-16, 98 TB
33 R, 34 RBI, 19 W, 43 RC

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** Pitcher of the Month **

(DW) Scott Baker
5-1, 1.79, 6 GS, 5 QS, 1 CG, 1 Sho
45.1 IP, 26 H, 7 W, 37 K, .165 OAVG

Honorable Mention:
Javier Vazquez (TX) 5-0, 3.59
Scott Kazmir (RM) 5-0, 3.61
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** Best Offensive Performance of the Month **

BigWeez Juan Uribe led his team to a convincing
14-4 victory over Mudville. Uribe went 3-4,
driving in 7 with a solo HR, a Grand Slam and a
2-RBI double.

5/9/2010, M909-BZ09, Rangers Ballpark
_____________1_2_3__4_5_6__7_8_9______R__H_E
Nine_________0_0_1__2_0_0__1_0_0__ -__4__9_2
BigWezMachne_1_1_2__0_1_5__0_4_x__ -_14_14_0

BigWeezMachine____AB__R__H__BI___AVG
Uribe______________4__3__3___7__.305

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** Best Pitching Performance of the Month **

Madison's Max Scherzer served up a 1st inning
lead-off single to Burleigh's Scott Ellsbury.
It turned out to be the only hit he allowed in
the game! Scherzer's CG 1-hitter capped his
team's 6-0 win. He had 2 BB and 12 Ks.

5/3/2010, MN09-BB09, PNC Park
_____________1_2_3__4_5_6__7_8_9_____R__H_E
Danes________2_0_0__0_1_3__0_0_0__-__6_11_0
Blue Jays____0_0_0__0_0_0__0_0_0__-__0__1_1

Danes______________IP__H__R_ER_BB__K___ERA
Scherzer_(W 1-3)__9.0__1__0__0__2_12__3.77

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** The Dogfight Game of the Month **

The Chinooks blew a 12-2 lead, as the Travs
rallied for 9 runs in the bottom of the 8th.
The big blow was a Grand Slam by Ian Stewart
(who whiffed in his other 4 ABs). The Travs
capped their amazing comeback on a clutch
2-out, game winning, 2-RBI double by Francisco
Cervelli in the home 9th!

The Travs win ... thhhhhhhhhhhhhe TRAVS WIN!!!

The usually reliable Chinook closer Joe Nathan
(0-5, 1 BS) is having a tough start to the
season. Next time, Manager Chapman may not be
so quick to yank Ace Tim Lincecum after 7 IP
(5 H, 10 K) even with a 10 run lead!

5/14/2010. RM09-AR09, Busch Stadium
______________1_2_3__4_5_6__7_8_9_____R__H_E
Chinooks______0_1_0__4_3_1__3_0_0__-_12_12_0
Travelers_____1_1_0__0_0_0__0_9_2__-_13_12_0

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** Overtime Game of the Month **

5/19/2010,VD09-DT09, Angel Stadium
_____________123_456_789_012_345_678_9___R__H_E
Drench_______300_130_000_000_000_010_1_- 9_17_0
Thndrcats____210_012_100_000_000_010_0_- 8_21_1

Game winner: Casey Blake solo HR in 19th!

Note: The Thundercats did load the bases with
2 outs in the bottom of the 19th. Seay got
Theriot (1-10 in the game) to bounce into a FC
to end the marathon.
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Up next ... June highlights!

Staff Columnist - Biff Barnes