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SEP-OCT 2006

To make things easier for our loyal suscribers we will adopt a new format of
providing news involving AUSTRALIAN Players in yellow text, while 
news about former AMLB IMPORT Players will be in white text.

Chris Snelling

Kevin Millwood

Geoff Blum

PAUL LoDUCA (Adelaide Giants 1995) managed to maintain his excellent consistency throughout the long season in 2006, batting 1-4 (.318) with a RBI to help his New York Mets to beat the Washington Nationals in the last game of the regular season. Comeback kid GEORGE LOMBARD (Melbourne Monarchs 1998) batted 0-1 (.143) for the 'Nats'. On Saturday LoDuca batted 2-5 with a RBI in the Mets 4-3 win over Washington.

One player to save his best for last was MATT HERGES (Adelaide Giants 1999) who battled through an up and down season to record his second win on the final day and to help the Florida Marlins to rally 3-2 over the Philadelphia Phillies. Herges closed the game with 2.0ip 1h 0er 0bb 1k to improve his record to 2-3, 4.31ERA. 

Resilient utility GEOFF BLUM (Hunter Eagles 1995) will find himself in the thick of another exciting post season this year after coming off the bench to help the injury depleted San Diego Padres clinch a playoff berth towards the end of the season. In the final game Blum batted 2-4 (.254) to assist the Padres to top the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-6 today.

... and from other MLB games over this past weekend:

PRESTON WILSON (Hunter Eagles 1997) maintained his reputation for being "hot and cold" when he emerged from a slump to blast his 17th 'jack' of the season on Saturday. Wilson batted 1-3 with two RBI's to help his St.Louis Cardinals to roll over the feisty Milwaukee Brewers 10-5. He followed this with 2-4 (.264) in yesterday's game which was won 3-2 by the 'Cards' over the 'Brew Crew'.

Preston Wilson

Matt Herges

Paul LoDuca

Peter Moylan

David Ross

Aussie outfielder CHRIS SNELLING has also been in action regularly for the Seattle Mariners, although he has found it tough to maintain his sizzling return to the big leagues towards the end of the long season. In today's game Chris may not have put up the big numbers, but he was again a good offensive contributor for his team in their 6-7 loss to Oakland. He batted 0-1 (.270) after grounding out to the first baseman in the second inning off little known starter Jason Windsor. In the fourth frame he laid down a successful sac bunt off Windsor before working a full-count walk facing Brad Halsey in the sixth. Yesterday Chris batted 1-2 in Seattle's 3-12 thrashing by the Oakland A's. He hammered a line drive single up the middle in the second inning and then struck out swinging in the fifth, both off Athletics' starter Rich Harden. He was replaced by lefty pinch-hitter Mike Morse in the seventh dig.
On Tuesday, in Seattle's 10-9 win over the Oakland A's in 10-innings, Snelling batted 0-2 before he was again replaced offensively by left-hander Morse in the sixth. Before that he struck out swinging on four pitches in the second inning and grounded out to the first baseman in the fourth, both facing the very experienced Esteban Loaiza.

... and from other MLB games over the last few days:

DAVID ROSS (MLB All-Stars 2001) continued his amazing "breakout season" with the Cincinnati Reds, adding home runs numbers 20 and 21 as the star of the Reds 5-3 win over the Florida Marlins. Ross went deep twice off the high-velocity pitching of tough Florida lefty Dontrelle Willis while batting 2-3 (.258) with the two huge RBI's. In this game MATT HERGES (Adelaide Giants 1999) pitched 0.1ip 1h 0er 0bb 1k (4.08ERA) for the 'Fish'. 

Still playing a vital role down the stretch for the contending San Diego Padres is GEOFF BLUM (Hunter Eagles 1995) who collected a World Series ring with the Chicago White Sox last year. Blum is filling in admirably in the Padres' infield, batting 2-5 (.255) to help them earn a vital 7-5 win over the St.Louis Cardinals. On Tuesday Blum batted 1-4 with a key RBI in another tight 6-5 victory, while PRESTON WILSON (Hunter Eagles 1997) batted 1-5 (.259) for the stumbling 'Red Birds'.

Chris Snelling

Ryan Langerhans

Peter Moylan

Paul LoDuca

Also finishing the 2006 season on a positive note is Australia's "surprise packet" pitcher PETER MOYLAN who had another very good outing for the Atlanta Braves in their unfortunate 9-10 loss to the Colorado Rockies. Our Pete kept the Braves in the game after supplying blanks in both the sixth and seventh innings although his offensive team mates were unable to rally for him to collect a win. Pete made short work of the bottom of the 'Rox' lineup in the sixth, having Troy Tulowitzski struck out on a foul tip, Chris Iannetta struck out swinging and pitcher Jose Mesa grounding out to first base. In the seventh he sat down the top of the order with Kazuo Matsui flying out to centrefield, Jeff Salazar grounding a come-backer and Garrett Atkins grounding out to the short stop. Moylan threw 13 of 22 pitches for strikes with 2.0ip 0h 0er 0bb 2k (4.50ERA) as he was hardly troubled by the high-altitude conditions that haunt pitchers at Coors Field, in Denver!

A trio of former ABL imports were unable to stop the Texas Rangers from tumbling to a 6-11 defeat at the hands of the Cleveland Indians today. Ace starter KEVIN MILLWOOD (Melbourne Monarchs 1997) took his 11th loss after pitching 4.2ip 7h 6er 5bb 6k for his season record of 16-11, 4.52ERA. His bullpen team mate RON MAHAY (Gold Coast Cougars 1996) couldn't contribute much with 0.0ip 1h 0er 0bb 0k (3.88ERA), while star hitter GARY MATTHEWS JNR. (Brisbane Bandits 1997) batted 2-5 (.318) with a RBI. Mathews also  batted 2-4 to help Texas to thrash 'The Tribe' 12-4 on Saturday.

... and from other MLB games over the weekend:

PAUL LoDUCA (Adelaide Giants 1995) went deep for his fifth 'dinger' of the season, batting 2-5 (.316) to help the New York Mets to double the Washington Nationals 12-6. On the receiving end were pinch-hitter GEORGE LOMBARD (Melbourne Monarchs 1998) who batted 0-1 (.222) and reliever FELIX RODRIGUEZ (Adelaide Giants 1993) who was knocked around with 1.0ip 3h 3er 2bb 0k (7.16ERA). 

Helping the Toronto Blue Jays to get on top of the scuttling Boston Red Sox 5-3 was All-Star slugger VERNON WELLS (Sydney Storm 1999) who batted 2-4 with a RBI on Sunday. He followed this today with another 2-4 (.307) and three RBI's to help Toronto to smash the 'Bosox' 13-4. Team mate JOHN HATTIG (MLB All-Stars 2001) batted 0-2 (.375) in this game.

Chris Snelling

Gary Matthews

Chris Snelling

Chad Paronto

SHEA HILLENBRAND (Gold Coast Cougars 1998) "went yard" for the 21st time this season, batting 1-4 (.281) for the San Francisco Giants in their 4-9 loss to Milwaukee.

... and from other MLB games yesteday:

In a game where Florida's dynamic pitcher Dontrelle Willis demonstrated his hitting prowess with TWO long balls, catcher PAUL LoDUCA (Adelaide Giants 1995) did his bit for the New York Mets, batting 3-4 (.316) with a RBI. It was not enough to beat the Marlins who topped the Mets on this occasion 6-3.

CHAD PARONTO (Perth Heat 1998) collected his eighth hold of the year after pitching a tidy 0.2ip 0h 0er 0bb 0k (3.25ERA) to help the Atlanta Braves to trump the Washington Nationals 7-3. RYAN LANGERHANS (IBLA Internationals 2001) batted 0-1 (.234) for Atlanta, while GEORGE LOMBARD (Melbourne Monarchs 1998) pinch-hit for Washington with a useful 1-1 (.250) 

S. Hillenbrand

Paul LoDuca

Peter Moylan

Gary Matthews

Kevin Millwood

CHRIS SNELLING could only contribute a walk today for the Seattle Mariners in their dramatic 10-innings 9-7 victory over the Texas Rangers. Chris earned a full count walk in the second inning but struck out swinging in the fourth, both facing little known Texas starter Edison Volquez. In the fifth frame he grounded into a fielder's choice to the second baseman off John Rheinecker, then he grounded out to first off Frank Francisco in the seventh to end his day with the lumber. Having a bigger influence on this game was former ABL import GARY MATTHEWS JNR. (Brisbane Bandits 1997) who slugged his 19th 'big fly' of the season while batting a gaudy 3-5 (.317) with two runs scored.
In yesterday's game Snelling batted 1-3 (.301) as one of the few hitters to get a knock against Texas Rangers former ABL ace KEVIN MILLWOOD (Melbourne Monarchs 1997) who was terrific again in earning his 16th win of the season. Our Chris was called out on strikes in the second inning, then he grounded out to first base in the fifth. He joined a skinny hitter's list in the seventh with a stinging line drive single to right field but it was not enough to save his Seattle Mariners from a heavy 1-8 defeat by the Texans. Millwood pitched a brilliant 7.0ip 4h 1er 2bb 4k to take his positive record to 16-10, 4.36ERA, while Gary Matthews batted 3-5 and he also scored twice.

... and from other MLB games yesterday:

GEOFF BLUM (Hunter Eagles 1995) figured to be one of the heroes for the San Diego Padres had they won one of the "wildest" games of major league baseball for many a year. The Padres led by four runs going into the bottom of the ninth inning only to see the rival Los Angeles Dodgers deliver FOUR solo home runs to square the game then, after San Diego scored again in the tenth, another two-run jack pinched the game 10-9 for the Dodgers. Blum could not be blamed for the loss after batting 2-4 (.260) with two RBI's. 

Not able to mount quite enough offence for the Toronto Blue Jays in their 6-7 defeat by the New York Yankees were VERNON WELLS (Sydney Storm 1999) who batted 1-4 (.307) or pinch-hitters JOHN HATTIG (MLB All-Stars 2001) 0-1 (.429) and JASON PHILLIPS (Hunter Eagles 1998) with 1-1 (.273).

SHEA HILLENBRAND (Gold Coast Cougars 1998) batted 2-4 (.260) as one bright light for the San Francisco Giants who were embarrassed 8-20 by the Colorado Rockies.

Chris Snelling

Geoff Blum

Chris Snelling

Gary Matthews

Also leaving the yard for the 18th time this year today was GARY MATTHEWS JNR. (Brisbane Bandits 1997) who batted 2-4 (.314) with two RBI's as a strong contribution to the Texas Rangers 8-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels. With some room to breathe late in the blowout game, Texas reliever RON MAHAY (Gold Coast Cougars 1996) pitched 1.1ip 2h 1er 1bb 0k (3.95ERA). Matthews also batted a healthy 2-3 with a RBI and two runs scored in the Rangers' 12-6 win over the Angels yesterday.

GEOFF BLUM (Hunter Eagles 1995) is enjoying a solid patch of consistent playing time with the San Diego Padres, batting 2-3 (.255) with a walk to help them to sneak past the rival Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 today. On Saturday Blum also had one of the Padres' two hits for the game when he batted 1-3 in the 1-3 defeat by the Dodgers.

... and from other MLB action over the weekend:

Catcher PAUL LoDUCA (Adelaide Giants 1995) starred again with 2-5 (.313) for the New York Mets in their 2-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday.

Lesser known catcher DAVID ROSS (MLB All-Stars 2001) continued his amazing "power surge" for the Cincinnati Reds with his 19th home run of the year while batting 2-4 (.267) with three RBI's as the main man in the Reds' 4-0 win over the Chicago Cubs.

VERNON WELLS (Sydney Storm 1999) batted 1-3 (.309) with two RBI's to really help his Toronto Blue Jays to get the better of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Saturday.

David Ross

Geoff Blum

Gary Matthews

John Hattig

Kevin Millwood

In today's game Aussie CHRIS SNELLING didn't get much opportunity to display his talents when he was only asked to pinch-hit in the eighth inning for the Seattle Mariners who were already trailing 6-10 on their way to a 8-10 loss to the Kansas City Royals. Chris struck out swinging facing Royals hard-throwing reliever Joel Peralta. SNELLING had a much more productive day yesterday, batting 2-3 (.302) with a walk as one of the best efforts for the Seattle Mariners who were blanked 0-10 by the Toronto Blue Jays. Chris enjoyed the pitching a Toronto's high-priced signing A.J Burnett when he drew a four pitch walk in the second inning and then he added safe hits in the fifth and seventh frames. Chris hammered a line drive single to left field in the fifth and followed with a stinging double to right field in the seventh. He hade his only out of the day when closer Justin Spier induced him to fly out to right field in the ninth dig. In this game JOHN HATTIG (MLB All-Stars 2001) enjoyed a 2-3 (.426) performance with three RBI's and two walks, VERNON WELLS (Sydney Storm 1999) batted 0-4 (.309) and JASON PHILLIPS (Hunter Eagles 1998) pinch hit with 0-1 (.200), all for the Blue Jays.

... and from other MLB action yesterday:

GEOFF BLUM (Hunter Eagles 1995) connected for his fourth 'big fly' of the season when he batted 3-5 (.252) with two RBI's for the San Diego Padres in their 10-0 shutout win over the Cincinnati Reds.

New York Mets is catcher PAUL LoDUCA (Adelaide Giants 1995) was in the thick of it again, batting 2-6 (.312) with three RBI's as a major contributor to the Mets 7-4 win over the Florida Marlins. Taking another loss for the 'Fish' was MATT HERGES (Adelaide Giants 1999) who pitched a shaky 1.2ip 4h 1er 1bb 1k to see his season record slump to a moderate 1-3, 3.92ERA.

CHAD PARONTO (Perth Heat 1998) had a mixed day pitching in both of the Atlanta Braves' double-header losses to the Philadelphia Phillies. He took his second blown save and the loss in the opening game, won 6-5 by the 'Phils', pitching 1.1ip 1h 0er 0bb 0k. In the nightcap he did little wrong in middle relief pitching 1.0ip 0h 0er 0bb 0k but the Braves still went down 2-7. His season record stands at 2-3, 2.82ERA.

Chris Snelling

Geoff Blum

Paul LoDuca

Peter Moylan

Vernon Wells

Paul LoDuca

Aussie "sidewinder" PETER MOYLAN was also back on the mound for the Atlanta Braves big league team when he pitched a scoreless eighth inning in Atlanta's home loss 2-8 at the hands of the unpredictable Chicago Cubs yesterday. 'Big Pete' was the epitome of efficiency with only seven pitches and five strikes required to deliver the three big outs when he erased the top of the 'Cubbies' batting order. His first victim was speedy leadoff man Juan Pierre who flied out to right field, followed by Freddie Bynum who struck out swinging and then heavy hitter Aramus Ramirez who grounded out to third base. Pete's line today was 1.0ip 0h 0er 0bb 1k (6.00ERA). In this game team mates RYAN LANGERHANS (IBLA Internationals 2001) pinch-hit 1-1 (.240) and reliever CHAD PARONTO (Perth Heat 1998) pitched 1.0ip 0h 0er 0bb 2k (2.90ERA). 

PRESTON WILSON (Hunter Eagles 1997) "went yard" for the 15th time this year while batting 1-5 (.262) to help the St.Louis Cardinals to a 6-5 win over the Houston Astros. 

Still strong for the New York Mets is catcher PAUL LoDUCA (Adelaide Giants 1995) who batted another terrific 3-5 (.312) and scoring twice to help his team to outlast the Florida Marlins 6-4. On the losing team, MATT HERGES (Adelaide Giants 1999) pitched to one hitter with 0.1ip 0h 0er 0bb 0k (3.88ERA).

FELIX RODRIGUEZ (Adelaide Giants 1993) enjoyed his first win of the year coming after his long injury layoff when he pitched 1.0ip 0h 0er 0bb 1k in the Washington Nationals' 5-4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. His record improves to 1-1, 6.23ERA. 

It was hardly the fault of GARY MATTHEWS JNR. (Brisbane Bandits 1997) that his Texas Rangers were defeated 2-3 in the final inning by the Detroit Tigers. Gary batted 2-4 (.307) with a RBI while his bullpen team mate RON MAHAY (Gold Coast Cougars 1996) took the tough loss when Carlos Guillen slugged him for a walkoff homer. The converted former ABL outfielder pitched 0.0ip 1h 1er 0bb 0k for his 1-3, 4.03ERA record. 

Chris Snelling

Preston Wilson

Felix Rodriguez

John Hattig

Nick Green

George Lombard

Australia's "comeback kid" CHRIS SNELLING continues to prove that you can contribute offensively in baseball without producing a safe hit. In today's game he batted 0-2 (.281) but he did contribute for the Seattle Mariners in their 2-4 defeat by the Texas Rangers. Facing the Rangers' 6'10" giant Adam Eaton, our Chris struck out swinging in the first inning, "took" a hit by pitch in the third inning, then he laid down a neat sacrifice bunt in the sixth. This effort moved his Japanese superstar team mate Ichiro Suzuki to third base from where he was to score during the inning. In the eighth frame he bunted again off Angels' reliever C.J Wilson, but this time Ichiro was forced out at second while Snelling reached first on a fielder's choice. In this game GARY MATTHEWS JNR. (Brisbane Bandits 1997) batted 2-4 (.305) for the Texans.
In yesterday's epic 3-2 win over the Rangers in 13-innings, Snelling batted 0-2 against the nasty pitching of Anaheim ace Jarrod Washburn. He struck out in the first inning then flied out to centrefield in the fourth. Chris then applied the pressure to reliever Robinson Tejada when he dropped down a bunt in the sixth and this induced a throwing error that saw the runner advanced and himself safe at first. He didn't get to see out the drama when he was replaced defensively by T.J Bohn in the eighth inning. In this game GARY MATTHEWS JNR. (Brisbane Bandits 1997) went deep for the 16th time this year while batting 2-5 and his team mate RON MAHAY (Gold Coast Cougars 1996) pitched a tidy 1.1ip 0h 0er 1bb 2k (3.86ERA) in late relief.
On Saturday Snelling faced ABL star KEVIN MILLWOOD (Melbourne Monarchs 1997) who was nailed for his tenth loss of the season although he provided another quality start for the Rangers before they were overrun by Seattle 7-2. Millwood proved a difficult customer for Chris when he struck him out three times. Snelling was over-matched by the crafty Millwood on this occasion, whiffing in the first and fourth innings before being called out on strikes in the fifth. He was again substituted with T.J Bohn in the eighth. Millwood pitched a very creditable 6.0ip 4h 3er 1bb 7k but he still saw his record slide to 14-10, 4.49ERA. 

NICK GREEN (IBLA Internationals 2001) "went yard" for the second time this season while batting 1-4 (.202) to help the New York Yankees to crush the Baltimore Orioles 9-4.

Back from a long injury absence today was veteran reliever FELIX RODRIGUEZ (Adelaide Giants 1993) who pitched a tidy 1.0ip 0h 0er 0bb 0k (6.48ERA) for the Washington Nationals in their "wild" 9-13 loss to the Colorado Rockies. In this game GEORGE LOMBARD (Melbourne Monarchs 1998) batted 0-1 (.200) as a pinch-hitter, this coming a after he had nailed his first home run of the year while batting 1-1 for Washington in their equally frustrating 8-11 loss to the 'Rox' on Saturday.

... and from other weekend games in the US majors:

GEOFF BLUM (Hunter Eagles 1995) batted 2-5 (.248) for the San Diego Padres who were topped 4-5 by the San Francisco Giants who had plenty of help from recent signing SHEA HILLENBRAND (Gold Coast Cougars 1998) batting 3-5 (.282).

Chris Snelling

Gary Matthews

Chris Snelling

Preston Wilson

Regardless of his good form to date, Aussie CHRIS SNELLING still hasn't managed to lock down a permanent position in the Seattle Mariners' outfield. Not for the first time lately, our Chris was asked to pinch hit for the Mariners late in their 5-4 win over the Detroit Tigers. He faced the near impossible task of trying to scrap an insurance run for the M's in the ninth inning against the intimidating 100mph Detroit flame-thrower Joel Zumaya. Zamaya can be hard enough to hit after five at bats, let alone coming in cold from the dugout... and so it proved with Snelling struck out swinging on three pitches. In the same game backup catcher VANCE WILSON (Melbourne Monarchs 1996) whacked his fifth home run for the Tigers while batting 1-3 (.284).

PRESTON WILSON (Hunter Eagles 1997) also left the yard for the 15th time this season to maintain his recent hot streak with his new club the St.Louis Cardinals. Batting in the leadoff slot yesterday, Preston batted 2-5 (.265) and he scored twice in the 'Red Birds' 6-7 loss to the Washington Nationals. Returning big leaguer GEORGE LOMBARD (Melbourne Monarchs 1998) pinch-hit with 0-1 (.000) for the 'Nats'.

Not managing a hit yesterday but having entirely different impacts for their teams were  SHEA HILLENBRAND (Gold Coast Cougars 1998) and DAVID ROSS (MLB All-Stars 2001) in the San Francisco Giants 3-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds. Shea batted 0-3 (.281) but he supplied a vital RBI for the Giants, while Ross found out again what a great "leveller" baseball is when he became a villain in this game after what has been a most productive season. He batted 0-4 (.269) on this occasion while striking out twice and leaving SIX team mates stranded on base!

GARY MATTHEWS JNR. (Brisbane Bandits 1997) batted 3-5 (.303) and scored twice to do his best for the Texas Rangers in their 6-9 defeat by the Oakland Athletics. 

Vance Wilson

Gary Matthews

Chris Snelling

Matt Herges

MATT HERGES (Adelaide Giants 1999) wasn't the worst of the Florida Marlins pitchers today when he threw 2.0ip 2h 1er 1bb 1k (3.92ERA) in their 0-4 shutout loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

... and from other major league games yesterday:

Toronto Blue Jays All-Star slugger VERNON WELLS (Sydney Storm 1999) launched his 31st 'jack' of the season while batting 2-4 (.316) with two RBI's. Team mate JASON PHILLIPS (Hunter Eagles 1998) batted 0-3 (.217) with a RBI as the duo supplied three of the four runs scored by the Blue Jays in their 4-3 win over the Cleveland Indians. 

Wells' former Toronto "bash brother" SHEA HILLENBRAND (Gold Coast Cougars 1998) batted 2-5 (.285) with a RBI and two runs scored for the San Francisco Giants in their 5-4 win over the Cincinnati Reds. Usual catcher DAVID ROSS (MLB All-Stars 2001) pinch-hit with 0-1 (.272) for 'Cincy'.

GEOFF BLUM (Hunter Eagles 1995) batted 1-3 (.253) for the San Diego Padres in their 7-5 win over the Colorado Rockies.

Vernon Wells

Shea Hillenbrand

Chris Snelling

Kevin Millwood

Shea Hillenbrand

Also good to see another Aussie PETER MOYLAN back in the majors as a specialist side-arm reliever for the Atlanta Braves and it was not his fault that the Braves were "squeaked" 7-8 in a wild finish by the Philadelphia Phillies. 'Big Pete' struck out switch hitter Chris Roberson on five pitches to do the job that was asked of him. His pitching line for the day was 0-1ip 0h 0er 0bb 1k (6.75ERA). In the second game of the double-header CHAD PARONTO (Perth Heat 1998) recorded his second win of the season, pitching 1.0ip 0h 0er 1bb 0k to take his record to 2-2, 3.02ERA after helping the Braves to beat the Phillies 3-1.

Also collecting another win with his second straight BRILLIANT start for the Texas Rangers was KEVIN MILLWOOD (Melbourne Monarchs 1997) who pitched 8.0ip 2h 1er 1bb 10k to anchor Texas to a 5-2 win over one of his former clubs the Cleveland Indians. Millwood's record improved again to 14-9, 4.49ERA.

SHEA HILLENBRAND (Gold Coast Cougars 1998) maintained his current power surge with his 19th home run of the year coming while batting 1-5 (.284) for the San Francisco Giants in their 7-4 win over the hapless Chicago Cubs. 

... and from other major league games this past weekend:

In a "blast from the past", long-forgotten former ABL import GEORGE LOMBARD (Melbourne Monarchs 1998) made his first appearance in the majors for three years when he pinch-hit for the Washington Nationals in their 4-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. George batted 0-1 in his only plate appearance for the game.

GARY MATTHEWS JNR. (Brisbane Bandits 1997) batted 2-4 (.306) with two RBI's but it was not enough to help his Texas Rangers who were beaten 5-6 by Cleveland.

On Saturday PRESTON WILSON (Hunter Eagles 1997) nailed his 13th 'bomb' of the year while batting 1-3 (.268) for the St.Louis Cardinals in their 3-1 win over Pittsburgh. 

Peter Moylan

Chad Paronto

George Lombard

Preston Wilson

Chris Snelling

Vernon Wells

GARY MATTHEWS JNR. (Brisbane Bandits 1997) crunched his 15th home run of the year today while batting 1-5 (.306) for the Texas Rangers in their 7-5 win over the Baltimore Orioles. This followed his 3-4 performance the previous day in Texas' 4-7 loss to the O's. In this game Rangers' reliever RON MAHAY (Gold Coast Cougars 1996) copped his second loss of the season in a horror outing consisting of 0.1ip 4h 3er 1bb 0k and taking his record to 1-2, 4.04ERA.

Toronto Blue Jays All-Star VERNON WELLS (Sydney Storm 1999) continues to build upon his great season with another 2-4 (.321) game with a RBI, although it was not quite enough to save the 'Jays from a 4-6 loss to the depleted Boston Red Sox. Wells also batted 3-5 in Toronto's 3-5 loss to the Cleveland Indians yesterday.

PAUL LoDUCA (Adelaide Giants 1995) seems to be benefiting from getting some rest behind the plate this season as he continues his late season sequence of multi-hit games for the New York Mets. 'Paulie' batted 2-3 (.319) today in the Mets 4-8 loss to the Colorado Rockies and 2-4 yesterday in the Mets 11-3 win over the 'Rox'.

Also finding some rare consistency for his new club the St.Louis Cardinals is PRESTON WILSON (Hunter Eagles 1997) who batted 2-5 (.268) in today's 5-2 win over the Florida Marlins and 2-5 with three RBI's in yesterday's 13-6 win over the 'Fish'.

... and from yesterday's other major league games:

Helping the Atlanta Braves to beat the San Francisco Giants 5-3 were RYAN LANGERHANS (IBLA Internationals 2001) who batted 1-2 (.242) with a RBI and reliever CHAD PARONTO (Perth Heat 1998) recorded his seventh hold of the year with 1.0ip 1h 0er 0bb 0k (3.15ERA). SHEA HILLENBRAND (Gold Coast Cougars 1998) batted 0-3 (.290) for the Giants but he did produce two of their three runs with RBI's. 

Gary Matthews

Chad Paronto