Bears Take Second Game From Riversharks, Rubber Match Tomorrow

It had been a bad stretch of games for the Bears heading into last night's game. Losers of 4 in a row, not much had been going right. Inconsistent pitching had been the biggest problem, marred by problems such as way too many hits given up and even handing out balks, the Bears were putting themselves in holes that were too hard to dig out of. Fortunately, Bobby Brownlie helped turn things around last night.

Stepping up to help stop the bleeding, Brownlie pitched seven innings of one run ball along with 4 strikeouts. Keith Foulke and Cory Willey came on in relief to give up one run (charged to Foulke) and close out the game. Continuing his recent hot streak while batting, Anthony Manuel, the son of Mets Manager Jerry Manuel, contributed 3 hits and 2 RBI's to help pace the offense. The Bears go for the series win today at 11:05.

This weekend's series: The Bears face off against the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs this weekend. the probable starters are as follows (Bears vs. Blue Crabs):
Thursday: Fultz vs. Rayborn
Friday: Martinez vs. Baugh
Saturday: Bicondoa vs. Buckvich
Sunday: Brownlie vs. Halama

Other news: The Bears will be celebrating NASCAR night at the stadium on this Friday night, June 5, with 2004 Sprint Cup Champion Kurt Busch making an appearance with his #17 car. Busch will be signing autographs for fans. Fans will also have the opportunity to win the chance to sit in Busch's suite during the game as well as win tickets to see the Pocono 500.

Shawn Chacon, who gets the nod tonight, has had a busy couple of seasons

Lately, it's been pretty quiet for Shawn Chacon. After being released from the Houston Astros last season following a reported altercation with Astros G.M. Ed Wade (more on that in a bit), Chacon has had a tough time breaking back into the majors. Chacon has had a respectable career thus far compiling a 45-61 lifetime record to go along with a 4.99 ERA, including a 35 save season in 2004 for the Colorado Rockies. To go along with the Rockies, he has also played for the Yankees, Pirates, and Astros. His best season came in 2005 when he was traded from Colorado to the Yankees mid-season and posted a 7-3 record 2.85 ERA after the trade. He made one appearance in the playoffs, coming in that same season, and came away with a no decision after pitching 6 and a third innings of 2 run ball. He had a tough time in 2006, compiling a 6.36 ERA with the Yankees and Pirates, but bounced back with a solid 2007 season by compiling a 3.94 ERA. Then came last year.

Chacon admitted getting into a physical confrontation with Wade in June of last season, a confrontation he claims that Wade provoked him into doing (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3461058). He was suspended for insubordination (funny thing Ed Wade has never been suspended for insubordination for making some of the worst trades in MLB history) and was later released. Now, he has had no offers from MLB teams since and is here with the Bears trying to get back. He's off to a good start after pitching 5 innings and allowing 2 earned runs in his start last week and is looking to give the Bears a solid effort tonight as they play the Somerset Patriots in a battle for first place in the Freedom Division. A good start tonight could go a long way in his comeback to the big leagues.

Notes:
Lineups to be posted around 5:30 tonight.
Follow the Bears on twitter, http://twitter.com/NewarkBears
Jim Leyritz will be making an appearance at Sunday's game, which will include an autograph session. Leyritz is a former Bear who won a World Series with the Yankees.

Bears Looking To Rebound After Tough Series

Heading into this weekend's series against the Somerset Patriots, the Bears will be in an unfamiliar position; second place. After staying in first place for most of May behind solid pitching from bullpen arms Keith Foulke and Sendy Rleal and some big offensive output from Carl Everett, Rob Mackowiak and Jay Gibbons, the Bears find themselves slumping as the calendar gets set to turn to June.

The Bears are percentage points behind the Patriots with one more loss as they are 18-13 and 18-12 respectively. While Manager Tim Raines is probably not pleased with the outcomes recently, he does have quite a few bright spots on the roster so far. Carl Everett is hitting .350 with 6 home runs and 21 RBI's at this point already, putting him on pace to finish with over 100 RBI's on the season, all that to go with an eye popping .473 OBP. Jay Gibbons is also providing some run production as he has knocked in 15 runs, and Ramon Nivar is batting .349 and getting on base at an impressive clip. Keith Foulke has looked like he has been in top form as he has 8 saves and an ERA of only 1.84. Starter Bobby Brownlie has pitched a team high 44 and 1/3 innings with a respectable 3.65 ERA. Clearly, Raines has some blocks with which to build on.

Big weekend ahead as the Bears can get back into first place in the Freedom Division with a series win over last years champions.

Majors Update:
Quick roundup of Bears who are now with MLB teams:
Daryle Ward- Ward, who signed with the Chicago White Sox, is playing with the White Sox AAA affiliate and playing very well. He is currently batting .309 with 4 home runs and 7 RBI's. With the White Sox struggling to produce runs at the major league level so far this season, Ward could be looking at a call up to the majors soon.

Abraham Nunez- Nunez is also in AAA right now, after having signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Currently, he's hitting .308 with 3 runs scored and 6 RBI's.