May 18
Brett Myers and Mike Mussina lock horns in a pitchers duel that ultimately is decided by the bullpens. 

The Mafia scored in the first on solo shots by Alfonzo and Berkman.  That would be all they would get off Myers.  The Doughnuts were able to get two clutch singles in the first and 5th to muster a pair themselves.  Darren Holmes came in to relieve Myers after he was lifted for pinch-hitter Mike Hampton (which is absolutely ludicrous, but no one in this league cares about stuff like that, so anyway).  Holmes felt something pop on his first pitch.  After the game it was determined he would miss up to 8 days and was disabled.  Reliever tim Worrell ran into huge trouble in the bottom of the 8th.  He walked the first two hitters, and hit the next.  He then struck out Lance Berkman and Ellis Burks.  With closer Robb Nen throwing in the Mafia pen, Mark McLemore popped to second.  Alan Embree went out in the top of the 9th and shut the Doughmen out in order.  The bottom of the 9th started poorly for New York as well, as Rich Aurilia booted a routine grounder.  Jeff Kent then singled pinch runner Larkin to third.  Todd Pratt popped up, and Adam Dunn was intentionally walked.  with the bases loaded and one out, Jose Mesa was brought in to pitch to Edgardo Alfonzo.  He struck him out.  With lefty Jim Thome at the plate, the Doughmen went to LOOGY  (Lefty One Out GuY) extraordanaire Scott Sauerbeck.  Despite the apparent mismatch, the Mafia stuck with their horse, and Thome responded with a clutch double off the wall, winning the game.  Final, Mafia 4, DoughNuts 2

NYD            1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0        2    7    1
Mafia           2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1        3    6    0

NYD pitching: Myers 6.0, Holmes 0, Worrell 2.2 (L), Mesa .1, Sauerbeck .1  & Lopez
Mafia pitching: Mussina 7.0, Embree 2.0 (W) & Varitek
HRs: Alfonzo, Berkman
SBs: Catalanotto
Injuries: Holmes 8 day prorated
Limits: Pratt 1 ABR

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Day 19
The DoughNuts again got the early lead on 5th starter Joe Beimel, by plating two in the 3rd.  But the Mafia responded by scoring 5th themselves off New York starter Aaron Harang.  Ellis Burks homered, Lance Berkman singled, Alfonzo doubled and Jeff Kent tripled consecutively, creating a mini cycle of sorts.  Beimel couldnt survive the 5th, but Ramiro Mendoza minimized the damage.  Another 5 run inning for the Mafia in the 8th put the game out of reach.  However, it wasnt all good news for the Mafia, who lost Jim Thome for 4 days. Final  Mafia 11, NYD 3

NYD pitching: Harang 2.2 (L), Kim 1.1, Haney 2.2, Gryboski .1 & Barajas
Mafia pitching: Beimel 4.2, Mendoza 2.1 (W), foulke 1.0, Nen 1.0 & Huckaby
HRs: Burks, Huckaby
SBs: none
Injuries: Thome 4 days
Limits: Beimel 1 spot start

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Day 20
The DoughNuts were hoping to avoid the sweep, and sent ace Randy Johnson to the hill.  The Mafia wanted the sweep to keep some distance between them and second place.  The weather didnt want to cooperate with anyone on this day.  The DoughNuts scored first again, this time plating two off David Wells in the 1st.  However, after 1 1/2 innings, the skies opened and a lengthy rain delay ensued, knocking Wells and Johnson from the game.  The Mafia uncoiled on long reliever Sun Woo kim to the tune of 6 runs.  The Mafia brought in tomorrow's proposed starter Roy Oswalt to bridge the gap from the ealry innings to the rest of the pen.  He never seemed comfortable, however, and gave up 3 runs over 3 innings.  The DoughNuts were just warming up.  They tied the score off Alan Embree in the 6th.  Ricj Aurilia then gave New York the lead with a two run shot in the 7th.  For good measure, Errin Boone hit a three run shot off Robb Nen in the 9th.  Meanwhile, the Mafia offense had decided that 6 runs were enough and didnt score again after the 3rd.  For the game, the DoughNuts collected 18 hits and scored off all five Memphis pitchers used.  Final NYD 11  Mafia 6

NYD            2 0 1 0 2 1 2 0 3        11    18    1
Mafia           0 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0         6      9    2

NYD pitching: Johnson 1.0, Kim 2.0, Gryboski 2.0, Worrell 2.2 (W), Mesa 1.1 (S) & Lopez
Mafia pitching: Wells 2.0, Oswalt 3.0, Embree 1.0, Foulke 2.0 (L), Nen 1.0 & Huckaby 5, Varitek 4
HRs: Aurilia, Boone, Burks, Berkman 2
SBs: Durham, Gonzalez, Robinson
Limits: Pratt 1 ABR
Injuries: none

stats to follow

Players in minors
(NYD)
Benard, Marvin * (m1)
Magee, Wendell (m)
Hafner, Travis * (m1)
Silva, Carlos (d)

(MM)
Bernero, Adam (m2)
Carpenter, Chris (m)
Johnson, Mark L. (m2)
Martinez, Victor * (m1)