Rock Cats finishing on positive note

With the playoffs a lost cause, the New Britain Rock Cats continue to claw their way toward a respectable finish.

With mathematical elimination from the postseason imminent, the scrappy Rock Cats have won six of their last nine games after dumping the Bowie Baysox Friday night.

While manager Stan Cliburn would prefer another shot at an Eastern League title, he's enjoying his job as much as ever.

"It's a lot of fun to watch. If we don't win games, we're always in them," he said.

Not only are the Rock Cats staying afloat with three regulars batting under .215, they're doing it with a roster that's two players short. No replacement was sent when EL All-Star outfielder Kevin West was promoted to Triple-A Rochester two weeks ago. No pitching help came when right-hander Jon Pridie (shoulder) was shut down for the season.

Cliburn coaxed his resilient Cats to make the most of the games they have left.

"I addressed it. When you address it and players respond, it makes you feel good as a manager," he said. "They love playing the game. I told them it's not how you start but how you finish. We're playing the best baseball we've played all year."

Cliburn said right from the start of the season that the Rock Cats would have to keep mistakes to a minimum to win games. He saw a lineup that lacked punch, and that was before the early promotion of number-three hitter Jason Kubel, the retirement of Billy Munoz and most recently West's departure.

"I see more enthusiasm on the bench than I've seen all year," he said. "We've got to play perfect to win and we're almost playing perfect, offense, defense and pitching. It's a fun team to manage. When you've got this kind of team, it's lots of fun to come to the ballpark every day."

PAY DAY: Former Reading Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard is pushing toward the inaugural Joe Bauman Trophy, which will be awarded to the most prolific home-run hitter in Minor League Baseball.

Entering the weekend, Howard, who now plays for Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre, had slammed 45 round-trippers this season. Mitch Jones of the Trenton Thunder was tied for second with 37.

The trophy is nice but the cash that comes along with it is better. The Bauman winner will receive $200 for each dinger, which means Howard's reward would approach his Phillies salary.

CAT-A-LOG: Friday's win over Bowie drew the Rock Cats even (32-32) on the road. They're 31-34 at home.

The Rock Cats finish the season with 12 games against Southern Division teams. Wouldn't it figure that the EL would want teams to be playing within their own division given the possibility of playoff implications?

The Rock Cats finished 45-54 against Northern foes. The only Northern team they had a winning record against was Trenton (11-9). They broke even with Portland (10-10). They stand 18-12 against the South.

Going into Saturday's game with Bowie, three Rock Cats had hitting streaks in double digits.

Garrett Jones tied West for the longest streak of the season when he extended to 19 games with a homer Friday. Luis Maza has hit safely in 11 straight and Jake Mauer in 10.

Jones is batting .392 with six homers and 18 RBI during his streak. Since July 1, the strapping first baseman is hitting .351 with 11 homers and 49 RBI in 51 games. He needs four more homers to equal the New Britain franchise mark owned by Michael Cuddyer (30).

Mauer is hitting an even .500 (16-for-32) over his last 10 games. He's been a different player since Cliburn handed him the everyday third-base job. Since July 1, Mauer is batting .319.

"He's shown people that he can compete at the Double-A level," Cliburn said. "He can play other positions, too, and that makes him valuable in the organization."

Maza, a model of consistency, has hit in 11 straight.

The Rock Cats bullpen rose to the occasion Friday to lock up the first Double-A win for Francisco Liriano. Jason Miller and Bobby Korecky retired all 12 hitters they faced, eight on strikeouts.

Korecky fanned five and retired the sixth on a tapper to the mound to notch his league-leading 27th save. The EL All-Star has saved five of New Britain's last six victories and has blown just three chances all year.

Outfielder B.J. Garbe, the Twins' first draft choice in 1999, continues to regress at the plate. Garbe, dangerously close to falling beneath .200, is 15-for-108 (.139) since July 1. In his last 38 games, he has two extra-base hits (doubles) and just six RBI.

The 9,104 who jammed into Bowie's Prince George's Stadium represented the largest crowd New Britain has played before this season.