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Division Series: Columbus (Indians) 9, Durham (Rays) 4; Columbus leads series 1-0

Powered by nine strikeouts from veteran righty Kyle Davies and home runs from David Murphy, Matt Carson and James Ramsey, the Clippers jumped all over the Bulls and starter Alex Colome to take the first game in the best-of-five series. Top Indians prospect Francisco Lindor collected three hits and scored a run. Ramsey, acquired from St. Louis in the trade that made Justin Masterson a Cardinal, [Cardinals would probably give up a player to get rid of Masty now] went 2-for-4 with the home run, two RBIs and two runs scored. A quartet of Columbus relievers allowed just three hits over the final four innings to make Davies’ work stand up.

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Division Series: Richmond (Giants) 3, Akron (Indians) 2; Richmond leads, 1-0

The Squirrels’ winning rally was set up by Mario Lisson‘s leadoff walk in the 11th inning and culminated with first baseman Angel Villalona‘s double a batter later. Giants’ Cuban signee Daniel Carbonell went 1-for-4 in the win with a triple and a run scored, and Villalona collected two hits. Indians second baseman Joe Wendle went 1-for-4 in the loss. Adalberto Mejia fanned seven for the Squirrels, who got solid relief behind him from Steven Okert, Cody Hall and Jose Casilla. Duke von Schamman gave Akron seven solid innings of two-run ball.

Re: Minor Matters

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Clippers and RDucks lose out in the first round.

Captains keep going. They win the first game of the second round behind big lefty Luis Lugo and the bats of Frazier and others.

Lugo fanned 9 in 5 3-hit innings; only run allowed was unearned. Robbie Aviles added 2 scoreless innings;
Frazier singled and doubled; Rodriguez singled and walked; Zimmer doubled in a run; Papi singled but then exited fro a pinch runner.

Dace Kime with a chance to even the series today; he's been terrible in his last month of the season. 31 innings, 22 earned runs in August. Although he did squeeze one 6 inning one hit shutout in there, so we can hope he can bounce back again.

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Boring game story:

(Fort Wayne, IN) - Luis Lugo started for the Captains and pitched five innings while allowing three hits, one unearned run, one walk and he fanned nine as the Captains beat Fort Wayne 5-1 on Saturday. With the win, the Captains took the one game to nothing lead in the best of three Midwest League Eastern Division Championship Series.

Fort Wayne took the early lead in the bottom of the first inning. Trea Turner doubled and was sacrificed to third base and scored on a fielding error. The unearned run put the TinCaps up 1-0 after one inning.

Lake County scored two runs to take the lead in the top of the second inning. The Captains used two hits, an error and two sac bunts to plate the two runs in the inning. Claudio Bautista knocked in the go-ahead run on a grounder to shortstop. Lake County led 2-1 after two innings.

The Captains scored three runs in the top of the third inning and took command of the ballgame. Clint Frazier and Bradley Zimmer had back-to-back doubles to begin the inning and the score was 3-1. Zimmer scored on sacrifice fly from Paul Hendrix and the Captains led 4-1. With two outs, Dorssys Paulino singled home a run to cap the inning, with the Captains ahead 5-1.

RHP Robbie Aviles pitched two scoreless innings of relief. Aviles walked one and struck out a pair. Aviles gave way to RHP Justin Brantley. Brantley pitched one scoreless inning and struck out two. Trevor Frank pitched the ninth for the Captains to close out the ballgame.

LHP Jeffery Enloe got the start for the TinCaps and allowed six hits five runs, three earned runs and he struck out one in two and one third innings of work. Enloe took the loss. Fort Wayne used three pitchers in relief to finish off the ballgame.

The Captains will host Game Two on Sunday at 7 PM and Game Three, if necessary, on Monday at 7 PM. The winner of the series advances to play the Western Division Champion on Wednesday September 10.

In Game two, the Captains will send RHP Dace Kime (7-14, 5.22) to the mound. RHP Ronald Herrera (6-9, 3.92) will start for Fort Wayne. First Pitch is scheduled for 7:00 PM from Classic Park in Eastlake, Ohio.

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BEST PLAYER: Stud shortstop prospect Francisco Lindor hit .276/.338/.389 with 31 extra-base hits and 28 stolen bases in 126 games between stops at Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus this season.

BA ANNUAL REVIEW OF FARM SYSTEM HIGHLIGHTS, WRITTEN BY ABJ'S STEPHANIE STORM

BEST PLAYER:

SS Francisco Lindor. “Francisco has a vision for himself that he works day in and day out to reach,” assistant farm director Carter Hawkins said. “He’s 20, but he approaches his work and career with a veteran’s focus. When you see him go about his business for an extended period of time, it’s clear why he’s been able to have so much success . . .

“He’s knocking on the door to Cleveland, but is more focused on what he can do to get better each day.”

BEST PITCHER: Lefthander Ryan Merritt, a 16th-round pick from McLennan (Texas) CC in 2011, opened the year at high Class A Carolina and quickly became one of the Carolina League’s top hurlers. He went 13-3, 2.58 over 25 starts, and over 160 innings he racked up 127 strikeouts and issued just 25 walks.

“Ryan’s consistency and competiveness are the primary drivers of his success,” Hawkins said. “He isn’t the biggest, strongest, or hardest-throwing pitcher in the organization, but I’d be hard-pressed to think of someone who out-works him . . .

“He goes after hitters with his fastball, shows the ability to spin his curveball and has an above-average feel for his change.”

KEEP AN EYE ON: Cuban third baseman Yandy Diaz signed with the Indians for $300,000 in September 2013, but his debut season at Carolina took time to get going after he injured a hand sliding into third base on Opening Day. After returning to the field on June 5, he hit .286/.396/.367 in 76 games.

“Once he was able to get on the field, we were most impressed with the progress he was able to make at third base,” Hawkins said. “Yandy played multiple positions in Cuba, and he didn’t have much experience at third. But he and (manager) Tony Mansolino put together a great plan . . . and saw great improvement. As (Diaz) gains more experience, we see his power coming on naturally.” [virtually no power this season]


SMOKE SIGNALS

• Rookie-level Arizona League first baseman Bobby Bradley, a third-rounder out of high school in June, won the league’s MVP award and triple crown after hitting .361/.426/.652 with eight home runs and 50 RBIs.

• The Indians awarded three Columbus players with September callups: first baseman Jesus Aguilar and righthanded relievers Austin Adams and Bryan Price. [and all three have added extra nothing to the team in their first week in Cleveland]

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Lake County moves on to the Midwest League championship round after a 4-3 win Sunday. Kime was solid for 5+ innings, allowed just one run. Miserable reliever Carlos Melo's walks and throwing error let the score get tied, but South Bend returned with the favor, go ahead run scored on their throwing error. The hitting stars were Rodriguez with another homer, a three run job, Frazier two hits and Zimmer one.

Captains had a miserable start to the season, featuring a 10+ game losing streak. But they solidified the pitching in the second half, as Mitch Brown got himself turned around; Kime was good for a month or two before breaking down again, at about the same that Luis Lugo got himself back on top of his game. Lefty Anderson Polanco joined the rotation late after a promotion and helped out, too.

With Papi and later Zimmer joining Rodriguez and Frazier, Indians have many of their top young bats in this lineup.
Finals begin Wednesday. The rotation will be Brown, Polanco, Lugo; if necessary Kime, and if necessary, Brown for the finale since there's a midseries day office giving me adequate rest.

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Here's a nice balanced stories about the two teams who've qualified for the Midwest League finals.

The Kane County Cougars enjoyed a wildly successful regular season, and the postseason has been similarly charmed so far.

The Class A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, which won more games than any other team in the Minors this year and has yet to lose in the playoffs, took a 4-2 contest from Cedar Rapids on Sunday to win the Western Division Finals to punch a ticket for the Championship Series.

Kane County finished first in its division in both halves of the regular season, ending with an overall record of 91-49. The club swept Wisconsin in the first round of the postseason before taking care of Cedar Rapids in similar fashion.

"It's been incredible," manager Mark Johnson said. "It's been a dream, a dream summer. We've had a lot of movement throughout the year, and each guy that comes in here has stepped up and has followed suit with the program. And the guys that have been here all year, you've got to give them credit for just really dedicating their lives to the game and being good teammates and being true professionals."

In their first Championship Series appearance since 2006, the Cougars will meet the Lake County Captains, as the Cleveland Indians affiliate completed a semifinals sweep of the Fort Wayne TinCaps on Sunday. Kane County won its only championship in 2001.

Starter Paul Blackburn, the Cubs' No. 17 prospect, allowed just one baserunner in five innings. Ryan Walker led off the third with a single, he was caught stealing by catcher Cael Brockmeyer as Blackburn faced the minimum of 15. The right-hander struck out seven and did not issue a walk, getting six groundouts and one flyout.

"He turned it up a notch," Johnson said. "Me and [pitching coach David Rosario] both know that he's got it in him to be able to do that. And it's good to see, a guy in his first full season and being able to come out there and really stay focused and stay under control and be able to locate all his pitches and control the game."

After Kernels starter John Curtiss matched Blackburn with five one-hit innings, Jared Wilson (1-1) entered in the sixth and gave up a solo homer to the Cougars' Jacob Rogers. Following a two-run blast by Chad Christensen off Tyler Ihrig (1-0) in the top of the seventh, Carlos Penalver reclaimed the lead with a two-run jack off Wilson in the bottom of the frame.

"That just shows this ballclub's guts and resiliency and just passion to want to win," Johnson said. "It's contagious and it's just a really fun thing to watch on a daily basis."

In the eighth, Jeffrey Baez reached on a one-out single, stole second and third and plated an insurance run on Chesny Young's single.

Ihrig gave up two runs and three hits over 3 1/3 innings, while Wilson surrendered three runs on two hits and a walk with two strikeouts across 1 1/3 frames. Francisco Carrillo entered with one out and a man on second base in the ninth and struck out two batters to earn his second save of the playoffs.

The Midwest League Championship Series will begin Wednesday in Kane County. The Cougars and Captains met back in April, when Kane County swept the three-game series by a combined score of 21-13.

In other Midwest League playoff action:

Lake County 5, Fort Wayne 4

Nellie Rodriguez hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning and scored the go-ahead run on an error in the eighth. No. 12 Indians prospect Dorssys Paulino also plated a run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth. The Captains' only other Midwest League Championship Series appearance occurred in 2010 and ended with a title. Box score

Re: Minor Matters

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Thanks to the kids in the Arizona League the Indians' farm teams {DR excluded} finished right in the middle of the pack in winning pct and had a winning record.

15 Indians 349 340 .507 4 playoff team 1 champion: AZL Indians [Lake County in MWL finals could make it two]

We've been sub-500 regularly in recent years so this is a modest step up. Especially nice to see the best is, apparently, to come with the Arizona kids moving on up to Mahoning Valley or Lake county next season; and LC's second half was a marked improvement over the first.

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Cubs Kris Bryant unsurprising Minor League Player of the Year. Here's the full BA story,

http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/k ... ayer-year/

Bryant led the minors with 43 home runs, 78 extra-base hits, a .661 slugging percentage and a 1.098 OPS. He wasn’t just a swing-for-the fences slugger, as Bryant posted his gaudy home run numbers while hitting a robust .325 and posting the minor’s second-best on-base percentage (.438).